Results 28,461-28,480 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It does not matter.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I actually made it clear last Tuesday in the Chamber. I appreciate that the Deputy was not here and that she was otherwise occupied, perhaps in Northern Ireland or London – I am unsure. I outlined in detail exactly which projects would be affected. In the health service there is none. Of the €100 million that has to be found within other parts of the capital budget,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Even when they know that it is not true, it is smart cynical politics to make such a false claim. Therefore, they will make them all over the country on all sorts of project. Projects are delayed for all sorts of reason.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Sometimes it is because they do not yet have planning permission from the county council.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Sometimes it is because there are objections or they are being appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Sometimes there are changes in design or they go to tender. Sometimes the tenders come back higher than what was budgeted for.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: In Limerick in recent years there has been considerable investment – massive investment - by the Government in the particular hospital referenced. A new state-of-the-art emergency department and a new Leben building which includes cystic fibrosis, stroke and many other facilities are in place. In fact, 17 beds were added in the past year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The new 60-bed ward block has not been axed. Planning permission was secured only in October or November.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There is a tendering process which I understand may be complete, but it may not be. That project will proceed to construction this year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I think-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think the Deputy heard my answer last Tuesday or my answer five or six minutes ago. I have already answered a question on Limerick. I understand this is now part of Sinn Fein's spin all over the country. I am advised that Deputy McDonald was on local radio in Wexford last week, claiming that the Enniscorthy flood relief scheme was also delayed because of the children's hospital....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: What is happening here, and I am going to call it out again, is pure cynical spin from members of the Opposition. They are going around the country and whatever the project is and whatever the reason for the delay is, they are pinning it on the children's hospital's, even when they know it is not true. When one tries to call them out on it, they shout one down because they do not want their...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Last May the people of Ireland voted in overwhelming numbers to make abortion legal in Ireland in certain circumstances. I believe abortion is very much a private and personal matter. I do not believe any woman decides or chooses to end her pregnancy lightly. No woman seeking this service and no doctor, midwife, nurse or anyone else involved in providing it should be subject to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, as the Deputy laid them out on the floor of the House. That should be borne in mind.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As I recollect, there is an inbuilt mechanism within the legislation already for a review.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is something that was discussed in this Oireachtas and we decided as an Oireachtas, collectively, that this is when the review would take place. This service is new. It was never going to be a case of being able to start it in one day. Any new medical service, any new public service, has to develop and evolve, and it will develop and evolve. Unfortunately, it may not be up to scratch...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We made a decision in this Oireachtas that disability and severe disability should not be grounds for terminating a pregnancy. We decided that a woman was free to choose to end her pregnancy for any reason, or none, up to 12 weeks but after that it would have to be because of a risk to her health, a risk to her life or a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality. We decided that as a House. If...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The first time that the idea of building a new national children's hospital was mooted in this House was in 1962. In 1993, the Royal College of Physicians, which represents paediatricians, advocated the merger of the three hospitals onto a single site. I was in school at the time and I remember as a medical student-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and as a politician there being endless debates-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----about where the new hospital should be located. Everyone had a different view, including planning experts, doctors, paediatricians, developers, you name it, on St. James's, the Mater, Tallaght, Beaumont, Blanchardstown, a site not co-located with an adult hospital at Newlands Road and another site by Belcamp near the M1. There was never consensus among doctors, planners or anyone as to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have listened to all of those people. I respect all of them and hold them in the highest regard, whether it is Jimmy Sheehan, Chris Fitzpatrick, Fin Breathnach or Roisin Healy. I was her senior house officer when I worked in the emergency department in Crumlin. I respect them and have listened to and met them.