Results 25,941-25,960 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Leaders' Questions (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I join Deputy Micheál Martin in condemning the senseless and brutal crimes we have seen in the past few days. We condemn them unreservedly. Although nothing we can say will bring Ana Kriegel or Jastine Valdez back, I hope we can provide some reassurance to the many young women and families out there who are scared and concerned. I particularly recognise An Garda Síochána for...

Leaders' Questions (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I have discussed the matter again with the Minister for Education and Skills and he is very much aware of it. We are of the view that we are complying with the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the matter. If it is the case, as the Deputy said, that abuse has occurred and there is no doubt about that fact, then that is something we will have to consider. However, people will...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I know there has been a lot of talk during this referendum campaign about those hardest of hard cases - young women who are just girls themselves who have become pregnant, often as a result of incest, women who are victims of rape or perhaps young couples or couples with a pregnancy that is very much wanted but who get the devastating diagnosis that the child they are...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The draft legislation which the Government has put forward is exactly that. I saw somebody pointing to it and claiming it was the law - it is not the law, it is the draft scheme of legislation that we intend to introduce if the referendum is carried on Saturday. That provides for the termination of pregnancies up to 12 weeks but after 12 weeks only where there is a medical indication, where...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have details of the expenditure that Deputy Mattie McGrath mentioned. That is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. However, Government Departments regularly retain outside advice, whether that is legal advice, accountancy advice or people who come in and provide ICT projects for example. When a Department uses outside consultants it generally does so for...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I can assure the Deputy that I have never been entertained by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, at least not in the form of libations or food and drink. It has entertained me in other ways on a number of occasions, but not in the way the Deputy thinks. Every Government Department has an entertainment budget. My own Department, for example, may provide refreshments or a lunch...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----head of state or government. That is entirely appropriate. When a person is invited into one's house one very often offers refreshments, and I believe it would be poor of us, as a country, not to do so. It may extend to the kind of refreshments we put on at national commemoration events, such as the very successful one we had in Tipperary only a few months ago where a very nice spread...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The OPW is a part of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, so the Deputy is quite correct. Many of his constituents benefitted from that particular expenditure.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are no biscuits in the Department of the Taoiseach anymore, but that is another story. The Deputy does make a serious point about CCTV schemes. It is a good scheme, and I am aware that the Minister of Justice and Equality is very much behind it. I am also behind it, and we want to streamline the process to make sure that communities can draw-down that money and put CCTV systems in...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I agree with the Deputy on one point. I know there is enormous and growing public concern about the impact that plastics are having on our environment. I think anyone who saw "The Blue Planet" or any of the programmes like that can see the impact it is having, particularly our marine and maritime environment. I know the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If it is revenue neutral and if it will not cost the Exchequer anything then obviously it does not require a money message but I will need more than the afternoon to examine the Deputy's numbers and determine whether his claim is true that it will not cost the Exchequer anything. The Deputy has form in this regard. He was, of course, a Minister in the Government that promised us the...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As is absolutely the case, if it is Exchequer neutral and if it does not cost the Exchequer anything it will not require a money message, so obviously we will examine the Deputy's claim to see whether his numbers add up. I would have reservations about any scheme that caused us to have to reduce or limit public expenditure in other areas. Even the richest country that wants to balance...

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have an up-to-date note on the Act in front of me but I will ask the Minister for Education and Skills to write to the Deputy with an update on the sections not commenced and when we propose to commence them. With respect to services, there have been two very significant improvements under way in the past few months. The first is the new pilot to provide speech and language therapy...

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Speech and language therapy will be provided in schools, meaning children will not need to go on a Health Service Executive waiting list. It might be the way forward for many children who need speech and language therapy. There is also an additional €10 million to be put into respite, allowing us to open approximately 12 new respite homes across the country. That will be very much...

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Some of the data were made available by CervicalCheck on 5 May. It provided statistics across the three labs currently being used indicating a similar positive predictive value in each of those labs but differences in terms of high-grade lesions, low-grade lesions and so on. I am told by the people who know about these things that it is not straightforward and the data must be put together...

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We do not want bits of information that people may misinterpret. It is important that when we get the facts, we get all of them. We do not have all of them yet.

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Cabinet agreed this morning to give the Minister for Finance authorisation to draft the Bill to which the Deputy refers. The rainy day fund will be established in 2019, so-----

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, next year. Therefore, the legislation will obviously need to be in place sometime before the end of next year to allow the fund to be established, with €1.5 billion going in from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, and €500 million being added per year. To answer the Deputy's question very frankly, a balance is required. Yes, we absolutely need to invest in...

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: While I appreciate the Deputy's earlier remarks, and I know many people who have been campaigning, and talking to people would probably share her sentiments, we should wait until the people speak-----

Order of Business (22 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----before we move to legislation. The referendum is only a few days away now. The public will vote on Friday; we will know the result on Saturday. Should the people decide to delete the eighth amendment, Article 40.3.3°, from our Constitution, the Government and I hope the Oireachtas will support us in this regard. We will legislate along the lines we have proposed in the general...