Results 25,161-25,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: How can the Deputy stand over such allegations?
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has nothing on which to base these allegations. He has made a lot out of an email that has appeared in the newspapers with an instruction that content should be laid out as normal editorial. This email is from August 2017, which predates the establishment of the strategic communications unit and it relates to Creative Ireland, an arts and culture promotional campaign.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: If this is so, why has the Leader of the Opposition consistently misrepresented that again and again, as though it came from the strategic communications unit-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----and as though it related to Project Ireland 2040? I will sit down but I need to say one last sentence.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The principal charge made against me by the Leader of the Opposition is that I have somehow blurred the lines between the Civil Service and politics.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Let us listen to what Deputy Martin said about freedom of information yesterday on "The Last Word".
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: He said they were refused first. He said that it was interesting that the Taoiseach had concealed a lot of information and it was interesting that there was opposition to revealing information that was contained in a freedom of information request that The Sunday Business Postreceived. They were first refused and then they went to the information commissioner for the reasons why the...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: To state some facts, the budget for mental health this year is approximately €900 million. It has increased by €150 million or €200 million in recent years. One can argue about how much the increase was but it was certainly a lot more than €5 million. It was probably closer to €35 million.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Therefore, I am not sure whether Deputy McDonald's assertions count as fake news or spin but they are certainly untrue. The €5 million budget came out of my Department's administrative allocation. My Department is one of the few Departments that had their budgets reduced for 2018, and I imagine that €5 million budget will be reduced further, if not eliminated altogether,...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----to the company with which the SCU had a contract.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: It is, therefore, the subcontractor, it is alleged, that did this, yet the assertion that Deputy McDonald is trying to make, the slur, the spin, the twist-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----that she is trying to put across is that someone in my office or the communications unit, or perhaps me personally, did this. If she has any evidence for this, let her present it.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Before somebody answers a charge one is actually supposed to present some evidence to back up the charge and then the person can respond to it.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: If the Deputy has any evidence of that effect I ask her to present it. She quoted some correspondence between Media Force and an unknown media organisation. What she did not say was that was an email that predated the establishment of the SCU. She implies it came from the SCU.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: What she did not say is it related to Creative Ireland, which was an arts campaign - and a relatively uncontroversial arts campaign - that had no connection with Project Ireland 2040. If that is not spin and innuendo what is spin and innuendo? To present something that predated the SCU that was about a different campaign as somehow being the same as Project Ireland 2040 and as somehow being...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----and to make allegations about a fourth party, a subcontractor, and somehow imply that what was done by a subcontractor must have been done by officials in my Department is pure spin. That is pure conjecture. It is also a slur, in my opinion.
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I would really rue the day when I was respected by Deputy McDonald. We see what she means by respect-----
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----when she speaks about a public servant in that way. It is not that long ago that Deputy McDonald stood up in this Chamber and accused any number of people of having Ansbacher accounts and offshore accounts and they did not have them. She has yet to apologise for having done that. Once again, she has stood up here in this Chamber and maligned people who are not in this Chamber and I...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I understand in relation to this matter a complaint has been made to the Standards in Public Office Commission. It is chaired by a High Court judge. It is independent. It is the guardian of the standards Acts, the ethics Acts and also the electoral Acts. That is the best body in my view to carry out any independent investigation. I am happy to answer any case that needs to be answered if...
- Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2018)
Leo Varadkar: In relation to committees, I believe there are three committees looking for me to go before them. The committee I will go before is the one on finance, public expenditure and reform and Taoiseach. That is the one for my Department which, of course, covers the Estimates. I understand the kind of thing that is going on here, which is try to inflict political damage on me and on the...