Results 25,521-25,540 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Great minds think alike sometimes. It is a good proposal because we do not want to go back to the mistakes of the past whereby, in a downturn or slowdown, public spending was reigned in and people were asked to pay more taxes at the worst time for them.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In terms of what is available to allocate in the budget, it is important to state most of what may appear as so-called fiscal space is already allocated. We have already announced that capital expenditure will increase by €1.5 billion next year. That means extra money for housing and health care, such as the children's hospital. The cost of that really falls into next year. There...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: ----- increase in the number of students in school, and after a number of very difficult years, the number of prefabs has been reduced to 1,325. That contrasts significantly with the position in 2008, when there were more children in prefabs but fewer children in school. At that time, there was a much worse situation than currently. With regard to the capital allocation for education,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 9 together. Cabinet committee B last met on 26 March and while the date of its next meeting has not yet been scheduled, it is likely to meet next month. The committee covers the areas of social policy and public service reform, including education, children, social inclusion, Irish, arts and culture, and continued improvements to and reform of public...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will cover as many as I can. I will begin with Deputy Howlin's questions on the roadmap to pensions reform that has been agreed and published by Government. I am committed to this. I started this work as Minister for Social Protection and I am keen to drive it through to completion if I have the opportunity to continue in my current office. We have run into some difficulty getting it...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I can try to answer the rest of the questions.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 17, inclusive, together. I travelled to Berlin on 20 March for a bilateral meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel as part of my strategic engagement with our European partners. We discussed preparations for the March European Council, including Brexit, trade, Economic and Monetary Union, EMU, and the tax challenges of digitalisation. I also took the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There should be fewer questions and more time to answer them.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Leaving party politics aside, when one has three minutes in which to answer 17 questions, one will only be able to answer two or three of them.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: To give an example, Questions Nos. 6 to 9, inclusive, were grouped together. Those questions were to ask the Taoiseach when Cabinet committee B will next meet and when it last met. It is fair to group those questions together but there still was not sufficient time to answer them because they were omnibus questions.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Strategic Communications Unit (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101 to104, inclusive, and 107, 108 and 117 together. On 27 March 2018, the Government noted the comprehensive Review of the Operation of the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) completed by the Secretary General to the Government, and accepted its recommendations. Having taken a wide range of issues into consideration, as set out in the Review report, the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Ministerial Allowances (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not receive an allowance in respect of my role as Minister for Defence. I am in receipt of one office holder allowance - in respect of my role as Taoiseach.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: National Security Committee (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Having regard to the confidential nature of the National Security Committee, it would not be appropriate to disclose information about the dates of individual meetings or about its proceedings. The Committee is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government and comprises representatives at the highest level of the Departments of Justice & Equality, Defence and Foreign Affairs...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Training (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 110 and 111 together. No training has been delivered in my Department on the use of social media and no media training on the use of social media has been provided to me or officials in my Department. My Department did, however, recently run a training session on Mobile Journalism which was attended by officials from other Government Departments. Company...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee F last met on 8 February and was attended by Ministers and Senior Officials from the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform; Foreign Affairs and Trade; Justice and Equality; Health; Communications, Climate Action and Environment; Transport, Tourism and Sport; Housing, Planning and Local Government; and Defence. Also in attendance were key personnel from...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has not engaged any social media consultants. A company was engaged in January of this year to provide mobile journalism training to press officers from Government Departments. This training concentrated on the effective use of mobile photo, video and audio recording equipment. Company Details Amount Glen Mulcahy T/A Titanium Media Mobile Journalism Training (January 2018)...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has awarded no contracts to the company in question.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Project Ireland 2040 Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The campaign for Project Ireland 2040 all events and activities had an indicative budget of €1.5 million. Of this indicative budget, to date, the Department has committed to spending almost €500,000 on this campaign. The following table sets out the the overall indicative budget and the spend to date in each category: Project Ireland 2040 Media Budget Breakdown (ex VAT) ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: During the period in question, just one consultancy company was engaged by my Department. The details are set out in the table below: Year Company Details Amount 2015 RA Consulting Design & Implementation of a Staff Consultation Initiative €9,298.80 My Department has not had a requirement for this specific type of consultancy since 2015 because my Department participates...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Law Reform Commission (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has not enacted or published any legislation which originated in work carried out by the Law Reform Commission in the past 10 years.