Results 25,541-25,560 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: State Visits (17 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Since 2014 my Department has assisted with five State Visits to Ireland. The President of the Republic of Mozambique visited in June 2014, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany visited in July 2015, the President of Cyprus visited in October 2016, the President of the Republic of Croatia visited in April 2017 and President of the Italian Republic visited in February 2018. The...

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

Leo Varadkar: There are no temporary Clerical Officers or temporary Clerical Assistants employed by my Department.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, will make a statement to the House this afternoon on the matter referred to in The Irish Timesin respect of the proposed acquisition of the Celtic Media group by INM. I have not seen the affidavit and do not think anyone in this House has. As it is a matter before the courts and sub judice, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on...

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, contacted me and my staff last night to inform us that the story would appear in the newspapers today and I have spoken to him since. I still do not have all the facts and nobody does. None of us has seen the affidavit.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The matter is before the courts. It is fair to say it would have been better if this conversation had not happened, but I am satisfied that the Minister did not give any confidential information. There seems to be a misunderstanding of the nature of the process. It is not secret. Guidelines on it are publicly available on the Department's website and the same guidelines were subject to a...

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The answer to the sole question the Deputy asked is "Yes". The Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, is willing to come before the House this afternoon to make a personal statement. I understand that has been agreed for 3 p.m. The Minister will be willing to take questions on foot of that. He informs me the date was 4 January 2017, not November 2016. The information, as I said earlier, was...

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Has the Deputy ever registered when somebody lobbied her?

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Could the Deputy say that again?

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Almost anyone in Ireland can have access to a Minister. It is not that difficult to have access to politicians or Ministers in Ireland, whether it is through a constituency clinic or simply by requesting a meeting or telephone call. With regard to the lobbying Act, as the Deputy well knows as a serving politician, the obligation is on the person carrying out the lobbying - the lobbyist - to...

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It does not appear to me that this is sensitive information or confidential information. It may be the case that the PR executive or the lobbyist claimed it was, but that is part of what lobbyists do. They often take information that is publicly available or easily available and present it as being confidential in some way.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and Broadcasting Authority of Ireland act and make their decisions independently. The Minister has clearly stated all previous decisions were based solely on the advice provided by his officials. He has reiterated that he had adhered to that approach in this case as well. What he said was that he would follow the advice of his officials....

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I think it can be ordered so that questions are taken.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment rang me, I missed the phone call and I rang him back. We could not get each other because we were at different events yesterday evening.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: He told me what I have told the Deputy.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: He told me what I outlined. I wrote it down and I just read it into the record of the Dáil.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It took a while to get to the question.

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Rents in Ireland are high, particularly in Dublin, and they have increased considerably over the past couple of years. They fell quite a lot during the recession and have increased very much over the past couple of years. Nonetheless, while it may come as a surprise to the Deputy, people are paying them. There are few vacant rental properties because people will not pay these rents; the...

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure what Deputy Boyd Barrett is proposing. He seems to be proposing legislation whereby the Government would intervene and slash rents. We all know why that would not be a practical solution. That would not provide an additional property for any person in the State. If anything, the Government coming in to slash rents would create other problems. There would not be additional...

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am confused by the Deputy's proposal. A minute ago he said rents were unaffordable; then he called for a rent freeze. If they are unaffordable-----

Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not see how a rent freeze would work. We have brought forward rent certainty and rent controls which ensure nobody in most of the country - 60% of people are now covered by rent pressure zones - will faces a rent increase of more than 4% in any given year. I have demonstrated how that is having an effect, with the average increase in the last quarter being just over 1.1%. It is not...