Results 26,401-26,420 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----before he has even taken up office. When it comes to the issues of truth and reconciliation, everyone has a part to play. Yesterday I expressed in the Dáil the Government's strong view that there should be a public inquiry into Pat Finnucane's murder. The Tánaiste has met members of the family and will do so again. Truth and reconciliation require that everyone plays...
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----Sinn Féin and all the people associated with Sinn Féin as much as it does to anyone else.
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Government is very interested in and very welcoming of an open debate on budget priorities. I came from the National Economic Dialogue this morning in Dublin Castle where Government is engaging with unions, employers, NGOs, charities and academic experts. It will run all day today and tomorrow and Cabinet Ministers will attend it over the next two days. It is an initiative Deputy...
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We all know that GDP is not a true measure of our economy-----
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----because of our very large multinational sector. The way it accounts for intellectual property and other things our GDP makes our economy seem much bigger than it really is. The best way to look at debt and spending-----
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----is to take the total amount we spend and divide it by the number of people in the country. It is a very simple and common-sense calculation - how much we spend divided by the number of people in the country per head or per capita, whatever term one wants to use. The same thing applies to debt. When we take our national debt and divide it by the number of people in the country we have...
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: What are the real economic needs of the Irish people?
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: It is jobs. Unemployment is now one third of what it was seven years ago. It is 5.3%. Long-term unemployment is down to 2%. We are approaching full employment. What do we want as well as jobs? We want good jobs.
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We want jobs that pay well. Wages are increasing again. Poverty and deprivation are falling. Income inequality is narrowing.
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: All of these things are going in the right direction. There is one thing I agree with the Deputy on. We need to invest in our public infrastructure in the years ahead. That is why we have precommitted to increasing capital spending next year.There will be a €1.5 billion increase in capital spending next year.
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I reassure the Deputy that far from standing in the way of change once again the Government is making change happen. This is an important matter, which we broadly agree on. We agree on the importance of our children and young people receiving age appropriate, up-to-date information relating to their sexual health. The question is how we best go about making that change happen. Is it...
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We did not oppose Solidarity–People Before Profit's Bill because, as is often the custom in the House, if we are broadly supportive of the general approach and the policy principles, we do not seek to divide the House unnecessarily. I do not, however, believe that primary legislation should be used to change the school curriculum or that politicians should legislate to determine a...
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We are reforming and modernising the RSE curriculum. It will be a new, modern curriculum covering areas that I mentioned earlier such as consent, LGBTQ issues and contraception. We will expect every school in the country to deliver that curriculum just as they do for other subjects regardless of the ethos of that school.
- Leaders' Questions (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Schools that want to give other forms of education, such as religious education or faith formation should do that during a different time of the day.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: There is nothing to publish and nothing to hide. As I have told the Deputy previously we have no formal agreement, written or verbal, with any Independent Deputy. There are, however, several Independent Deputies who generally support the Government and because they generally support the Government, we are happy for them to raise constituency or policy issues with Ministers. If we can work...
- Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: It is not a formal written or verbal agreement and there is certainly nothing to publish.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: It is also important to acknowledge that those Deputies who are not part of the Government, such as Deputies Lowry and Grealish and others, do not always vote with the Government. Deputy Martin mentioned Deputy Lowry, in particular. His voting record over the past two years has him voting against the Government on ten occasions, not voting at all on 71 and with the Government on 89.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: According to the HSE, the number of patients on trolleys in our accident and emergency departments, and adjoining our emergency departments, was 192 this morning. That is 32% fewer than this day last year and 32% fewer than the year before. The good weather may be a factor but it is significantly lower than the last two years. As always, there is enormous variation from hospital to...
- Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I am delighted that Deputy Bríd Smith was at the national economic dialogue and that she was able to pick up some aspects of my speech.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Jun 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Those figures come from the Central Statistics Office survey of income and living conditions. They show that poverty is falling, deprivation is falling and income inequality is narrowing. I am glad that is no longer disputed by people on the left.