Results 28,081-28,100 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am sure the Minister will be happy to come before the House-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and make a statement on it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I would have to check my diary. A couple of weeks ago. I do not remember the exact date.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not want to mislead the Dáil. I cannot remember the exact date.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Thanks very much, Deputy. First of all, it is not €3 billion. No projects will be stopped and no projects will be cut but some projects may have to be-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: ----deferred. It requires a reprofiling of about €100 million worth of capital expenditure this year out of a total capital budget of €7 billion. It requires a reprofiling of the budget of somewhere between 1% and 2%, half of that coming from the Department of Health and the other half coming from other Departments. Where there are overruns in expenditure, there are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----with 15 theatres, five MRI machines, parent accommodation, and outpatient and-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----urgent care centres in Blanchardstown and in Tallaght-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----allowing a whole new model of paediatric care to happen in this country, the kind of which we have never seen and a hospital that will be born digital with an electronic health record. That is the value of it. Like many of these big, expensive, important projects, whether it is the port tunnel or terminal 2 at the airport or the Luas, when it is built, everyone will be glad that it was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: An investigation will be carried out into the reasons for the overruns. PwC, the major accounting and consultancy firm, has been retained by the Department of Health to carry out that investigation. I am always afraid to put a timeline on investigations or inquiries, as they always seem to take longer than we expect-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----but as soon as it is done, that report will be furnished to the Government and published thereafter. If people wish to make further inquiries on foot of that, having all the facts, that would be very welcome. Mr. Robert Watt is the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. He regularly accounts to committees - the finance committee and the Committee of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We will make it available when we have it. As the Deputy is aware, in the procurement process for any project there are a number of steps along the way. A project must have planning permission; it must then to go to tender and be built. We may find other projects have been delayed for reasons beyond our control. For example, sometimes a project will not receive planning permission, which...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I very much share the distress and disappointment of former residents of the mother and baby homes that we do not yet have a final report from the commission which we should not forget was established by the Oireachtas. None of us believed at the time that it would take as long as it has for the commission to do its work and issue its report. The commission is independent. The whole point...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The information I have is that the interviews are not yet concluded. There are 26 or more yet to be carried out.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My information note is dated 22 January. Although it may be out of date, the information I have is that the interviews have not yet concluded. The information I have is that the discovery of records is complete and the files have been delivered, although that does not preclude the possibility that further records may be found, as happens on occasion, particularly with historical records....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Government very much values and appreciates the work of carers, family carers in particular, in looking after their loved ones. As a Government, we are determined to support them. Those are not just words, as we have demonstrated in the past couple of years. We fully restored the carer support grant which was cut by another Government some years ago. The carer's allowance and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised that the current average number of weeks to award carer's allowance and carer's benefit currently stand at 17 weeks and 14 weeks, respectively. However, the vast majority of applicants do not wait that long. Some 70% of carer's allowance applications and 90% of carer's benefit applications are decided in less than 12 weeks. However, I fully appreciate that the delay can be...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy again. I should clarify that I was informed of this through my adviser, who was informed by the Minister for Health. That was a few weeks ago. I understand there are some tests that need to be repeated and that the patients will be informed individually by letter. I believe some have been informed already but I do not know for sure so I will ask the Minister to provide...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have no difficulty in asking the Minister for Health to provide answers to these questions. I do not believe they are unreasonable. I will ask the Minister to provide the answers to the Deputy but obviously not in a way that would compromise anyone's medical information. I am sure the Deputy is not asking for that.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Staff (23 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit. Within my Department, staff across several divisions contribute to the work on Brexit. The International, European Union and Northern Ireland Division covers work on all international, EU and British-Irish and Northern Ireland affairs within the Department,...