Results 27,621-27,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: On the daft.iereport, it is important to note that its figures relate to a sample of rents advertised on that particular website and do not include people who remain in the same apartment or house year on year. That is the reason the figures are as they are. The RTB figures are far more accurate and cover the entire rental market. They indicate that rents are rising too fast, but certainly...

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

Leo Varadkar: It is wrong to demonise landlords. Before anybody asks, let me clarify that I am not a landlord.

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

Leo Varadkar: We need landlords and property owners in this country. Without them, there would be no properties to rent and people would find themselves paying higher rents or unable to find a rental property. Approximately half of rental properties in Ireland have a mortgage against them. In such cases, the property owner needs to pay the mortgage before gaining an income from the property. As has...

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

Leo Varadkar: As are many colleagues of the Deputy.

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

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will recall that concerns were expressed in the run-up to the papal visit that people would be thrown out of hotels and find themselves on the streets unable to find hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation during that period, but that did not happen. It did not happen because we had dealt with the issue and we will deal with this issue also. The Deputy will know from previous...

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

Leo Varadkar: It is in Northern Ireland where Sinn Féin is supposed to be in government. Deputy McDonald comes into the House to make out once again that her party has a monopoly of compassion.

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

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy does not. If she really did care about homeless people, she would get busy in dealing with homelessness in Derry where there is a Sinn Féin MP and Sinn Féin is the largest party in the council. It should be at Stormont. According to Simon Communities, there are 200,000 people homeless in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin does not want to do what I suggest because it...

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

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy wants to weaponise homeless and vulnerable people to score political points for her party, which is just disreputable.

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

Leo Varadkar: It is my understanding that the Deputy already does not have confidence. As I believe he voted to demonstrate it, I do not know what he means when he talks about continuing to have confidence. He has already made the decision not to have confidence, but I do have confidence in the Minister. I have confidence in all of the Ministers who serve with me around the Cabinet table and I also have...

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

Leo Varadkar: Does the Deputy have confidence in his deputy leader? Does he have confidence in Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, given her performance and that of Deputy Kelly when they held the housing brief together for five years?

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

Leo Varadkar: It appears that Deputy Howlin is applying some pretty unfair double standards in that regard because the situation emerged and got worse during the tenure of the two former Ministers. It is unfair to target the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, personally when the Deputy is not willing to express a lack of confidence in his own colleagues. Let us not forget that 40% of the Labour...

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

Leo Varadkar: Long before the people vote on the proposition in May, they will understand what they are being asked, just as they understood what they were being asked in the referendums on the eighth amendment and blasphemy.

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

Leo Varadkar: The straight answer to that question is that Túath Housing is a housing association. It issued a notice to quit to people with 18-month tenancies, but none of them will be evicted to emergency accommodation. The Deputy has that assurance.

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. It is an issue in which I have a real, personal interest. The national maternity strategy, which was produced when I was Minister for Health, provides for us to co-locate all our maternity hospitals adjacent to or on the campus of adult hospitals. This is the best way to provide modern maternity care. If a pregnancy goes wrong, all the...

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

Leo Varadkar: I am glad everyone in the House agrees with the principle of co-location, but saying one agrees with something and wanting or demanding something are very different from delivering it. As someone who has spent a good bit of time in government, I understand this more and more. We are not starting from scratch. We have the Coombe, the Rotunda and Holles Street, voluntary hospitals that have...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: This is a very important issue, and I share the Deputy's concern that people in some families turn to moneylenders at this time of year in order to pay for Christmas and then find themselves in the spring having to pay back massive loans, much greater sums than the money they borrowed because of the high interest rates charged. The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I launched it when I was Minister for Social Protection. When last I checked, about 100 credit unions around the country were offering the loan-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----but it was difficult to get some credit unions to sign up.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly remind the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, of the matter and we will be proactive in encouraging credit unions to take part in the scheme. It is important to point out in addition that the Christmas bonus is being paid last week and this week. For the first time in a very long time it is being paid at 100% of the weekly payment....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As Deputy McDonald will acknowledge, the Government does not set the price of energy. It is regulated by an independent regulator and is largely related to the cost of oil and gas on international markets. That is not something anyone in this country can control. It is, however, important to help people who may be struggling with fuel bills. What supports are available? There is the fuel...