Results 27,921-27,940 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I tried my best to answer her question earlier. The Minister, Deputy Eogahn Murphy, has been to Vienna and knows it well. That is one of the reasons he has been driving forward the cost rental model as part of the solution to our housing shortage. To resolve the housing crisis, we need houses of all sorts. We need houses built by developers for young people to buy or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. For the record, the decision to opt for the St. James's Hospital site was made when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The decision in respect of tendering was made when I was Minister for Social Protection. Planning permission was secured when I was Minister for Health.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I was a member of all of those Governments. Therefore, I accept collective responsibility for the decisions in question, as should everyone who was around the Cabinet table at those times.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It was decided at an early stage that the best way to pursue the new hospital, and ensure it was built well, was by establishing a national paediatric hospital development board. A dedicated board, with its own chairman and its own accountability structure, was established to make this development happen. The employees had a substantial amount of experience in delivering big projects like...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Additional things, including ICT equipment and sprinkler systems, had to be added along the way.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The cost was always likely to increase, although not by the amount by which it has increased in recent months.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Further inquiries are required. The Department of Health is making those inquiries. I imagine that the Committee of Public Accounts and others will want to do the same.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: When we discuss the cost of the new national children's hospital, we should not forget the value of what we are building. The main hospital will be at the St. James's Hospital site. The satellite centre in Blanchardstown will open this year and the satellite centre in Tallaght will open next year. We should not forget the value of what we are building. Something struck me when I was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We are building this hospital not for one generation but for three, four and five generations. Let us not lose sight of the value of this development.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There will be an individual room for every child with the possibility of their parents being able to stay in the room with them, five MRI machines and 15 theatres. This has the potential to totally transform the quality of paediatric care in Ireland, and not just for one or two years. This is a project that will last 100 years or more.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The cost as of today is exactly what it was back in December. I do not have the exact figure in front of me but it is about €1.4 billion with additional contingencies above that, particularly around construction inflation. If there has been any change since the week before Christmas, I have not been informed of it. It is what it was then. In terms of whether I would have signed...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and what the pros and cons of those were, and there were many cons in terms of a greenfield site. Regarding capital projects, Deputy Catherine Murphy will know that we added 250 beds to the acute hospital system last year. The service plan provides for another 140 to 150 to be added this year, and that will happen and will not be affected by this. However, we will need to find an...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I must say, I agree.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As I understand, we already have quite robust legislation in this area, in that there is a 5 km exclusion zone around airports-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and a drone of more than 1 kg must be registered. We have stronger laws than the UK has. Obviously enforcement is a different issue from laws. I am perhaps not as well briefed-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----as either the Deputy or the Minister, Deputy Ross. I will let the Minister know the Deputy raised it and ask him to speak directly to him.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As someone who was actually there and knows what I said, I did not give anybody dietary advice or suggest that anyone else do anything. I was specifically asked what I was doing on climate change and I said that I was trying to eat less red meat. I am not giving it up. Indeed, I had a very nice Hereford steak last night.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I said that I was trying to eat less red meat for two reasons, namely health and climate change. My comment was not flippant. It is a fact that red meat increases the risk of cancer and contributes more to climate change.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I can assure Deputies that I have not become a vegan or anything like that.