Results 28,281-28,300 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is uniquely unusual that when this issue arises in the Chamber, I am criticised for not having more advisers-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am asked why I do not have an adviser for X or an adviser for Y. It must be the first time in decades when a Taoiseach has been criticised for not having enough advisers. I do not have as many as the previous three Taoisigh.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will provide the figure for the Deputy, but I do not have it in front of me.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Yes.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the other questions I was asked, I have not given any instruction to Ministers on who to hire. On occasion, they will ask my opinion if they are going to hire someone. They do not always do it, but they usually do. It is true that a number of journalists have been hired by Ministers as their advisers. One of my advisers is a former journalist. It is particularly useful, if one...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I believe it is useful experience for a person-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----who is going to be working in the media-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----to know how the media work and operate. There are also many journalists who know a lot about topics.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Quite a large number of journalists have been following a particular issue or policy matter for many years, indeed decades. While they may have not worked for an NGO or might not have a particular academic qualification in that area, they do actually know a lot about what they write about-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----precisely because they have been following a particular matter for ten or 20 years.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am fascinated by the quality of the advisers among Deputy Micheál Martin's staff who have trawled through all of my speeches to find out how many times I have mentioned the children's hospital.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure trawling through my speeches is the best use of taxpayer's money. I had not noticed that was the case, but I will make sure to include the national children's hospital in more of my speeches in the future. It is a project the Government will deliver. It has been said many times that it will cost €1.7 billion. One only gets to that figure by including the €30...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am answering the questions as they were asked, but the number of interruptions makes it harder to answer them. I was also asked-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am getting to it. As I said, I believe he did the right thing back in August in seeking full information. He did not have a figure in August.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know what he was told, but he was-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to answer that question again

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As I was not party to the conversation, I do not know exactly what he was told-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----but what he has told me is that he was told that there was a concern about escalating costs at the national children's hospital and that he wanted due diligence to be carried out. There was no figure and he asked for figures to be provided. It was part of commercial negotiations with the contractor. Due diligence was carried out in order to bring down costs; to negotiate with the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----to investigate whether there were other options, including retendering-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff (5 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and to see if specifications could have been taken out. There was no definitive figure until November.