Results 27,261-27,280 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There is a difference there. I will make everything available to the Dáil that I can but there is a difference there. We are talking about legal advice. This is an EU-UK agreement. It is not an agreement between the UK and Ireland or the UK, the EU and Ireland. It requires ratification by Westminster and the European Parliament so the UK Attorney General is in possession of his own...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----not just specifically-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----our own.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Regarding Palestine, Palestine is regularly raised at European Council meetings, most recently around the status of Jerusalem, where the European Union was united in our view that the embassy should not be moved to Jerusalem until the final status of that city is decided. Deputy Boyd Barrett has raised the Kimberley process before. I have written to him about this. I am not sure if he has...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: He never mentions them and I just thought I would put that on the record. On the backstop, it is important to remember the joint report in December which set out options A, B, and C. Option A is about avoiding a hard border through the future relationship; option B provides for specific solutions proposed by the UK; and option C is the backstop. We should never forget that this is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It has to be there. It has to be legally operative. It cannot have an expiry date and cannot be cancelled by one side unilaterally. That is the position we have had persistently all the way through. We should always bear in mind the objective, namely, the avoidance of the emergence of a hard border on our island. That is the objective. Whether it is a double backstop, a backstop to a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We often have review clauses in treaties and legislation. I have no doubt that if the Deputy was leading the negotiations, she would have walked away by now over the review clause. We then would have no deal, just as we have no deal in Northern Ireland.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am adopting a different approach, which is willing to consider creative solutions and creative language where necessary.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: When I met Mark Durkan at the presidential inauguration on Sunday night, he reminded me of the fact that the Good Friday Agreement has a review clause. Part of the understanding behind the Agreement was that if one wanted it to be long-standing and enduring, it made sense to build into it review mechanisms.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That was his understanding of it which I thought was wise. There is no review clause yet. It is a proposal that has been put forward and is under consideration.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot describe something that does not exist yet. It was put forward by the UK side.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have been clear that we are willing to consider a review clause but we are not willing to consider a backstop that can be unilaterally terminated by one side.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Every time we try to have a serious discussion about Brexit, I am more convinced that there would be no deal if Sinn Féin were leading these negotiations. It is evident that this uncompromising and extreme approach would not work. If we are going to have an agreement between the UK and the EU, one has to be willing to be generous on occasion and give them something, so long as one...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together. It is a totally factual answer. I have chaired five Cabinet committee meetings since June 2018. Cabinet committee B, social policy and public services, met on 7 June and 22 October. Cabinet committee C, European Union, met on 21 June. Cabinet committee A, economy, met on 9 July and 12 November. Cabinet committee D, infrastructure, is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are often things in the media that are reported-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Obviously, I have been here for the last two hours and I have not spoken to my officials or been able to speak to them in that time. I was asked about working mechanisms and it is always sensible to be flexible in that regard and practical about how one decides to operate Government business. As Members have acknowledged and unlike the case with previous Governments, I have focused on...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is imminent. I do not have an exact date, but it is imminent. The second matter is the making of a decision on the bid. We will have to take into account the costs, timelines and practicality in deciding whether to go ahead.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I have not seen it. As I said, it has not arrived yet but it is imminent. There are no proposals for a referendum on compensation payments currently. I acknowledge in this context the work done by the Minister of State, Deputy Michael D'Arcy, and his predecessor, the current Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, which has had results. For example,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Under the rules one has to have been refused by a bank or credit institution but one must also be able to afford to pay the loan back. That is a prerequisite of any loan. There have been a lot of complaints, however, including at least six to me from my constituency. It is a new product and 1,000 people have already qualified for it, but it may be the case that it can be improved. That is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I dealt with that but the Deputy was not listening. She was chatting. It is on the record.