Results 26,641-26,660 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 50, 51, 52 and 55 together. I travelled to New York on Sunday 1 July to take part in a series of events marking the launch of Ireland’s election campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-2022 term. I was joined at a number of these events by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney,...

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

Leo Varadkar: The Committee has met once this year on 8 February last. The meeting was attended by Ministers and Senior Officials from the Department 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. Arrangements are being...

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

Leo Varadkar: I met with the Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, in Dublin Castle on Sunday 8 July. The Chancellor’s visit to Ireland took place as Austria begins its six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It followed my own visit to Vienna in February. Topics discussed during our meeting included Brexit, migration, trade, the digital agenda, and the EU's budget post 2020 -...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Ministerial Advisers Data (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Government Press Secretary acts as a spokesperson for me, as Taoiseach, and the Government and is supported by the Assistant Government Press Secretary in coordinating the media relations of all Government Departments. The Government Press Secretary is paid at Assistant Secretary level while the Assistant Government Press Secretary is paid at Principal Officer level. The Deputy...

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

Leo Varadkar: The Government approved the establishment of Cabinet Committee C on 5 July 2017. This Cabinet Committee covers issues relating to the European Union, and assists the Government in its ongoing consideration of Brexit, as well as considering broader international issues. It also supports my participation as a member of the European Council. Cabinet Committee C has met three times;...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: General Data Protection Regulation (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 119, 121 and 122 together. As the Deputy will appreciate, my Department is not a holder of personal data on the scale of some other public service bodies. As regards access by persons to their own data held by my Department, such access was previously provided for under the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003. On the coming into effect of the General Data...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (11 Jul 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to protecting the rights and privacy of individuals in accordance with the Data Protection Acts and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The Data Protection Officer (DPO) in my Department - who is at Assistant Principal (Higher) grade - is a member of the Information and Records Management Unit. There are currently 7.9 whole time equivalent staff...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy and welcome him back. I hope he had a nice summer. I want, of course, to start by joining him in acknowledging the really valuable and important work that is done in section 39 organisations, whether it is hospices around the country, like St. Francis Hospice, which is very near to where I live, whether it is disability organisations around the country or whether it is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: What the Deputy may call waffle and nonsense, other people would call facts. The fact is they are section 39 organisations. They are section 39 organisations in the Health Act, an Act the Deputy brought into this House. They are not publicly owned bodies. These are private organisations that receive grant funding from the Government to provide a particular public service. That is the way...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Labour Court's determinations apply to the employers. In this case the employer is not the State. The way these organisations work is that they receive grant aid from the Government. They also have their own income streams. They have a decision to make as to how they should spend the money they are given. Some organisations have provided for pay restoration for staff, while others...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On behalf of the Government and everyone on this side of the House, I acknowledge the extent to which we share the concerns of everyone in the country and the Opposition about the impact the housing shortage and homelessness crisis are having on people across Ireland. It is something about which we all know from our constituency clinics, the increased workload and the increased numbers of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I note that many of the protests are taking place in the central Dublin city area. Sinn Féin and left-wing councillors dominate Dublin City Council, so I assume that if Sinn Féin and left-wing-dominated councils are not compulsorily purchasing properties in Dublin city centre, they have a reason for not doing so.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I assure the Deputy that I have no rabbits to pull out of the hat and I have no quick fixes. This is not a problem that will be solved by an announcement, by some sort of quick-fix measure or by changing one law or one piece of legislation. That is just not the case. To every complex problem there is an easy and simple solution that probably does not work. A rent freeze is probably one of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have to bear in mind what a rent freeze might do. On the face of it, a rent freeze sounds like a good idea, but we should think about the unintended consequences of that kind of a measure.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: For example, we should think about what it would do to supply. Would more people be willing to rent out a property? Would more businesses be willing to build properties for rent-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----if they were put in a situation whereby Sinn Féin decided the rent charged rather than themselves? Would people be willing to move from property to property? People who live in rent controlled cities say that if one has a rent controlled apartment, one should hang on to it and not move. That means less churn and fewer people moving. What often happens with these kinds of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: What might seem like a solution on the face of it, a simple, easy answer, might actually do harm to many people.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy can be assured that Brexit is very much at the top of the Government's agenda. We had a detailed discussion on Brexit contingency planning and Brexit planning at our Cabinet meeting this morning. As the Deputy served well and successfully in government for a period, he knows that if it was as simple as turning up at an EU summit to sort it all out, I would have done that a long...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There is much briefing going on.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Whatever people may say about me and the Government, I can guarantee the Deputy it is not coming from Government Buildings or from the European Commission.