Results 27,601-27,620 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Seanad Reform (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My sense of the university seats is that, if they did not already exist, one would never establish them. However, if we look back historically, the contribution of the university Senators has been enormously positive. I would like to see them retained in some way, perhaps with a third constituency for the newer institutions that are not included. We could just merge them all into one, but...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 5, inclusive, together. I travelled to Helsinki last month where I had bilateral meetings with the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, and the Prime Minister of Finland, Juha Sipilä on 7 November. Finland and Ireland are like-minded on many issues and both bilateral meetings were very warm and constructive. In my meeting with Prime...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I think we will all agree that the First World War, or the Great War, was a truly terrible war that caused great suffering and the death of tens of millions of both soldiers and civilians. Its impact and the changes that followed therefrom still affect us and echo in the politics of today. Some good lessons were learned from the First World War. There was a move away from monarchy towards...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I see a former Minister for Foreign Affairs nodding, so I think it is already expressed in the treaties.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I support Ireland's participation in permanent structured co-operation, PESCO. That was endorsed by a very large majority in this House. That means Ireland participating in greater co-operation around security and defence with our European partners where we believe it makes sense to do so. For example, that could be in areas such as peacekeeping. Ireland participates in an EU mission in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 10, inclusive, together. While the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led by the Tánaiste, has overall responsibility for Brexit, it is clear that Brexit will have implications for each Department and agency. Staff across several divisions of my Department contribute to the work on Brexit. The international, EU and Northern Ireland...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On the various information seminars, we will keep doing them all the way through to Brexit and perhaps beyond. The suggestion I thought I heard from Deputy Martin was that the seminars should be all done and dusted by now. It is not the case at all. It has to be a continual process of informing business as the situation unfolds. In terms of percentages, all firms that need to be...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: They will be voting for the deal or at least we expect the majority of them will.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department, as outlined in the Strategy Statement, provides assistance to the Taoiseach and the Government, including the Independent Members of Government, through the Government Secretariat, the Parliamentary Liaison Unit, the Programme for Government Office and the Cabinet Committee structure, to ensure Government business is managed to the highest standards. The Chief Strategist for...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: British-Irish Council (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 15 together. I attended the 31st British Irish Council (BIC) Summit in the Isle of Man on Friday 9 November, hosted by Chief Minister Howard Quale. I was accompanied by the Minister for Natural Resources, Community Affairs and Digital Development, Sean Canney TD. The discussion at the summit covered political developments for Administrations...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In keeping with the spirit of the Official Languages Act, my Department is committed to developing and maintaining a culture that encourages the use of Irish both within the Department and with our customers. To that end, my Department's Irish Language Scheme 2016 - 2019 contains a number of commitments designed to ensure that any customers of the Department of the Taoiseach who wish to...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In communicating the work of Government, it is important to provide information to citizens in a manner in which they wish to receive it, which includes the medium of video. The following is the breakdown of costs which have been processed by my Department relating to video production from June 2017 to November 2018. Note that amounts represent payments fully processed through the finance...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Funding (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has not provided any funding or grant aid to this association from 1 January 2008 to date.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts Data (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The following table details the external consultant reports commissioned by my Department in each of the years from March 2011 to 2017 and to date in 2018. Name Costs Date of Commission Date of Publication Consultant Health and Safety Statement 2011 €1,270 2011 2011 QTS Ltd Health and Safety Statement 2012 €1,270 2012 2012 QTS Ltd Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts Data (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has not awarded any contracts or tenders to the company in question.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We would all agree that the core to the solution to the housing crisis is additional supply. That alone is not the solution but it is the core to it. We are making real progress when it comes to additional supply. This year, between 18,000 and 20,000 new homes and apartments will be built. That is the biggest increase in the number of new homes built this decade and a significant increase...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The 18,000 or so new apartments and homes that I referred to do not include student apartments. If one adds the student apartments to those 18,000, the figure increases by 2,000. If one adds some of the ghost estates that are still being brought back into use and vacant properties being brought back into use, the number of new places to live being built will increase to well over 20,000....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: One of our policies was to change the regulations that made it more economic for developers to build offices and student accommodation than one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments. On the daft.iereport versus the RTB reports, it is important to put on the record that the figures on the daft.iewebsite relate only to new properties being advertised on that website. The Residential Tenancies...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Those increases would otherwise have been far higher. However, it does not apply to new properties coming on the market or to certain parts of the country and that contributes to the rate of increase presented in the daft.ie figures.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I answered the Deputy's question yesterday regarding a tax break for people who are renting. Through the Finance Bill and the budget, the Government is providing an income tax or universal social charge reduction for more than 1 million people because we recognise that there are people who are struggling to pay the rent. We also recognise that there are people who are saving for a deposit...