Results 28,101-28,120 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Before I begin, I wish to offer my condolences and those of the Government to the family and friends of the people who lost their lives on the roads in the week gone by, particularly the four young men in Donegal who lost their lives on Sunday last. I know that Míchael, Sean, Daniel and John were very much loved in their communities. Their deaths will be mourned...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Labour Court is a Government body and it is part of the State's industrial relations machinery. If there is a recommendation, Government will look at it with that in mind. It would be very unusual for a Government to reject a Labour Court recommendation. I have seen unions doing it. I am not sure I have ever seen Government bodies doing it-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----or if they have, it has been a rare occasion. No Taoiseach and no Government could commit to a recommendation they have yet to see. The Labour Court does not make its recommendations on the basis of it being mandatory on both sides. That is not the way our industrial relations machinery works. The Deputy is incorrect to say that the resolution of the Garda dispute did not have a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to put on the record of the House once again that we have a pay deal already not just with nurses and midwives but with all public servants, and that pay deal runs until 2020. It provides for pay increases of approximately 7% over that period, full pay restoration for anyone earning under €80,000, increments,and special increases for the low paid and those recruited...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: In terms of the facts, the national children's hospital will not be the most expensive hospital in the world; Karolinska in Stockholm alone will cost-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----between €2 billion and €6 billion.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think that correcting a factual inaccuracy should cause such laughter and controversy. It was a factual error.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy must be aware at this stage that back in 2013 Ministers in the then Government decided that they would not accept any pay restoration and have not done so. I am not sure that is true of Sinn Féin TDs by the way. There is a way by which Government intervenes to resolve industrial relations disputes. It is done through the Workplace Relations Commission and if that fails, it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and just promise everything to everyone, every interest group, and promise it now. The buck does stop with me and that is why I have to be honest with people. There are parameters under which we can come to a solution and there are solutions that are beyond those parameters. It has to be something that we can afford as taxpayers----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and it has to be something that takes into account that there are other people working in the health sector and there are other public servants, and we cannot afford a special deal for everyone, so we have to bear in mind things that do matter. Can taxpayers afford it? What will the impact be on other public servants-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and their claims, which Deputy McDonald has said nothing about today, and also how can we make sure that we are fair to patients?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have absolutely no doubt about the depth of feeling of midwives and nurses about their pay, terms and conditions. I do not doubt the considerable public support which they will have over the coming days and weeks, if it comes to that. Deputy Bríd Smith is in a different position from me. She is a populist. She stands up in the Dáil every day of every week and supports...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Her support for nurses and midwives is insincere because it is meaningless, because she supports everyone's cause. That is not a realistic position. I have to be honest with people. Department of Finance projections indicate that in the event of no deal on Brexit, unemployment in Ireland will rise. The Central Bank said the same last week. This is not made up and is not a matter of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We need to bear that in mind with any decisions we make as a Government. Efforts are under way in the Labour Court to resolve this. We want to resolve it and to avert the strike tomorrow. We do not want to have industrial action next week or the following week which adversely affects patients in any way but any solution we come to has to be affordable for taxpayers or it will not be...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will again outline to the Deputy the facts, for what they are worth. All €13 billion has been collected from Apple-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and will stay in the escrow account until the European Court of Justice decides who the rightful owners of that money are. That is-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: If Deputy Bríd Smith does not know that, she is-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----really not following this issue very closely at all. To answer the Deputy's question, if I am permitted to, the €13 billion-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----from Apple has been collected, is in an escrow account and will stay there until the courts decide who the rightful owners are.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to bear in mind that it could be taxpayers in other parts of Europe. Britain, absolutely no one else, is to blame for Brexit. I am not interested in beating anyone with sticks. That is entirely the Deputy's language. I am interested in trying to find a solution. This is why we are working in the Labour Court to try to come to a solution. I am certain that, as is the...