Results 26,781-26,800 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There is legislation pending on the rent pressure zones and to strengthen the provisions therein. The ESRI report today actually says something quite different from what the Deputy claims. It indicates that 18,655 new homes will be built this year, rising to 24,500 units in 2019. Therefore, it indicates we will meet or exceed our new build targets.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot give any particular commitments on the budget at this stage. There are many moving parts, and decisions have yet to be made on tax or spending.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to take a look at the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, NCPE, report myself. Efficacy is never just a case of whether it works or not but to what extent it works, what difference it makes and for how long that difference is sustainable. I will read the report for myself and I will correct the record if the Deputy is correct.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I am not familiar with the detail of that particular issue but I will certainly inform the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, that the Deputy raised it. I will ask him to send a written response.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that the Deputy has raised this important question. All of us know from our personal lives or from our constituents that a large number of people have to spend a lot of money to access IVF treatment. The Government's objective is to legislate for it. We do not have any legislation governing assisted human reproduction in Ireland. It is an unregulated area, which is far from...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: This is a budgetary matter but no decisions have yet been made on spending our taxation in the budget. There was an increase in funding for third level of €50 million last year and it is anticipated that there will be a similar increase for next year but I cannot say for sure how that will be divvied up. That is yet to be decided.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, to provide a reply to the Deputy on the specifics. He must, however, bear in mind that what we are trying to do at the moment is increase our social housing stock. A huge amount of social housing stock was sold off and there are consequences as a result. It is not the cause of the housing crisis by any means but we need to be careful...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to ask the Minister for Health to provide a response to the Deputies. Chronic Lyme disease, as opposed to acute Lyme disease, is a controversial diagnosis. There are disputes among medical professionals as to whether suggested treatments, such as long-term antibiotics, are appropriate, and there are often issues around the accreditations of laboratories overseas.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I have explained the reasons the Government, and the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in particular, have a problem with the Bill proposed by the Deputy. It is not the case that we do not do environmental legislation. We have passed legislation in this House to divest the State from investing in hydrocarbons and similar types of investment, while legislation on...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The scheme is still being worked on. The Minister of State brought some proposals to Cabinet, but there were difficulties with them. Part of the issue is how a new scheme is designed and deciding on those to be included. The wider a scheme is, the more it costs, which makes it harder to do. Finding the correct balance for a new scheme and ensuring that it is doable and affordable is one...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for bringing the great southern greenway to the attention of the House. I was on that greenway when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport years ago, and I will certainly ensure that my office passes on his concerns about signage to TII. There are rules about how many people must use a facility before it is brown-signed, but I will certainly make the authority...

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 8, inclusive, together. I travelled to New York in July to participate in the launch of Ireland’s election campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-22 term. During that visit, I attended and spoke at the event that formally launched Ireland's bid. I also spoke at an event commemorating Ireland's record of 60...

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My view, and the position of the Government, is that all refugees should be allowed to return to their homes and recover any property expropriated from them. That applies to all refugees and not just Palestinian refugees. I did not have a chance to hear President Trump's speech in full, although I heard some extracts from it. I am always reluctant to comment on extracts of a speech...

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is not all history.

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to study that matter.

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputies are quite right. The events are in the past but they are still current, as the inquiry is under way and has yet to report.

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 11, inclusive, together. The committee last met on 8 February this year. The meeting was attended by Ministers and senior officials from the Departments 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...

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Yes.

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee F is a new committee, which I set up to deal with national security issues. It is not designed to meet on a regular basis but on an ad hocbasis as needed. A separate Cabinet committee deals with public sector reform, including justice reform. My practice, as I have explained to the House in the past, is to deal with more issues in the Cabinet as a whole. I believe in...

Ceisteanna (Atógáíl) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: No, we have not made any decisions in principle. We said that we would note the report, publish it and develop a reasoned response and implementation plan before the end of the year.