Results 26,621-26,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----that is no good to them. This is where we need further Government intervention and it is our expectation that the contract to provide broadband to the last 500,000 or so premises will be signed this autumn.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. I was pleased to welcome the Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, to Government Buildings on Thursday, 21 June, where we had a very constructive and friendly meeting. This was President Juncker’s first visit to Dublin in his current role. He was accompanied by Commissioner Hogan and Mr. Michel Barnier, the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: From the top, I have not spoken to President Juncker since the Chequers statement was issued. I anticipate that I will speak to him later this month when we have seen the White Paper. As often said, the Chequers statement is three pages long while the White Paper, which we have yet to see, will be more than 100 pages long. Consequently, I would like to see, read and digest that before...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is also important to state an obvious fact, which is that the United Kingdom does not want to be in the Single Market. I wish it did, but its Government has said on many occasions that the UK is leaving the Single Market and we need to respect that. What we can do, however, is negotiate access to the Single Market for them, or we can negotiate as the EU with the UK for the United Kingdom...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----and I think that is where the negotiations can go in the next couple of months. Other people said it was Jesuitical. I think it is very clear.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Being in the Single Market, yes.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That is obviously part of the negotiations that are going to have to pan out. Cherry-picking would be having access without giving anything in return. Like I say, I do not wish to engage in a running commentary on the talks and I am not in a position to make any concessions on behalf of the European Union on the floor of the House. Any concessions or modification of the EU's position has...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Urban Renewal Schemes (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 8, inclusive, together. My Department is actively involved with the work of the programme implementation board, headed by its independent chairperson, Mr. Michael Stone. The board and its four subgroups meet every month to oversee progress on the 54 actions set out in the Mulvey report. The chairman of the board reports on a regular basis to an...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Urban Renewal Schemes (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am not a member of the Sub-Committee on Dáil Reform, but a bit longer for me to answer the questions and a bit less time for them to be asked might be a solution, but if that is not possible I understand.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Urban Renewal Schemes (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I was asked about the priorities in terms of capital projects. The priorities are Fitzgibbon Street Garda station and Rutland Street school. With regard to Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, €3 million has been approved for enabling works and the Garda and the OPW continue to engage closely to finalise the details on the accommodation brief. A design team has been appointed and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 25, inclusive, together. I have an ongoing programme of strategic engagement with my EU counterparts, including by means of formal bilateral meetings as well as informal discussions in the margins of EU summits. I report to the House regularly on these engagements. Recent formal bilateral meetings included those with the Belgian Prime Minister, Mr....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The negotiations will be bilateral, not trilateral. They will be negotiations between the EU on the one side and the UK on the other. I have explained why that should be the case. I agree with Deputy McDonald's analysis as to why that should continue to be the case. There will not be any softening of our position on our core objectives. They include the common travel area, no hard...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The European political parties, as we all know, are wide churches and umbrella organisations. I know the Czech Government, which I think is in the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party, ALDE, - the liberal group of which Fianna Fáil is part - has almost identical views to Viktor Orbán on migration. Deputy Micheál Martin may wish to check that out and see how...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Sinn Féin is in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left, which is a group that is highly Eurosceptic and euro-cynical. I know Sinn Féin denies that it is a Eurosceptic party but it continues to be in a group of people who want to break up the European Union in many cases. I am not altogether sure who the European bedfellows of Solidarity–People Before Profit are.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If there are any, I shudder to think of some of the more extreme opinions they may have. Anyway, I do not agree with Viktor Orbán on these points. I do not agree with him on migration, civil rights or academic freedom. On the one occasion we had a bilateral meeting in Budapest – the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McEntee, was there...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): European Council Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: When we do not agree with people we should, at least in our own heads, try to understand why they have the views they have. That is the best way we can change them. If we want to change the views of others, we need to try to understand what they think and then convince them otherwise. We should not swat them away and dismiss them in an elitist fashion. If we do, what happens is that they...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 32 to 34, inclusive, together. I had a very positive tête-à-tête meeting with Ms Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, in Government Buildings on 25 June. I also hosted a dinner to mark her visit to Ireland on the evening of 26 June. Our exchanges covered the economic outlook, international trade, and gender equality issues. On the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 36 together. I had a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister May on the margins of the EU Council in Brussels on June 28. We discussed the current political situation in Northern Ireland where I emphasised my Government’s full commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and we re-affirmed the determination of both Governments to secure the effective...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: British-Irish Council (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I attended the 30th British Irish Council (BIC) Summit in Guernsey on Friday 22 June, hosted by Chief Minister Gavin St. Pier. I was accompanied by Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy TD. The discussion at the summit covered key political developments for Administrations since the last summit in November. The discussion focused largely on the implications...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee E last met on 11 April 2018. The Committee has met once since January 2018