Results 28,621-28,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. There are a lot of Cabinet meetings. I very much believe in Cabinet Government, collective responsibility and including all Ministers in decision-making.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is the best way, particularly when there is only a small number of Independents at the table. The best way to include them in decision-making is to make all the big decisions at Cabinet meetings when they are present.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: They would not all be present at every Cabinet meeting. The best way to ensure a cohesive Government - with everyone present when the big decisions are made - is to make them at Cabinet meetings when every Minister is present. I really did not like the Economic Management Council, EMC, system which operated under the previous Government. I appreciate that two former members of the EMC are...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I very much disliked it because it created an inner Cabinet made up of members who made decisions. They bounced them at the last minute on the whole Cabinet, without an opportunity for due consideration. Documents of 20 or 30 pages would often arrive in front of Ministers at 1.10 p.m. on a Tuesday. That is no longer the practice in this Government.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is a vast improvement on what we had in the previous Government where collective decision-making is concerned. Everyone is actually involved in making the decision. People get papers before the meeting happens rather than big decisions being made at the last minute, often following a diktat from the EMC and its members. Cabinet meets once a week, sometimes more frequently. We will have...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----on a hip, an eye or a cataract or for a knee replacement was at a four-year or five-year low. It went up in January as a consequence of the time lost around the nurses' strike and it will go up in February too for the same reason. In March, it will once again be on a downward trajectory. That means that most public patients waiting for an operation or procedure in Ireland now wait...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----but, to summarise, this is a Revenue determination. The policy is that for oral medicines and for fresh food the VAT rate is 0% but for processed food VAT does apply.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Details of the conferences attended by staff of my Department in the years 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019, as recorded by my Department's Training Unit, are set out in the table. The associated cost was €6,791 in 2017, €10,341 in 2018 and €1,193 to date in 2019. 2017 Details Staff numbers attended Institute of International and European Affairs Conference - Brexit:...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No expenditure was incurred by my Department on advertising or sponsorship in respect of conferences in the years in question. While the Department did not directly fund advertising services for the Data Summit held in 2017, the company that provided conference organisation services for the Summit did incur costs relating to marketing and advertising. The overall costs of the Data Summit...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Data (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No staff from my Department attended the specific summit in Dublin in 2017 and 2018 referenced by the Deputy. No expenditure was incurred in relation to advertising or sponsorship by the Department in respect of this summit.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: EU Funding (26 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department did not administer any EU funding programmes in 2017.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We have made significant progress in the past three years in providing high-speed broadband across the country. When this Government took office, only approximately half the premises in Ireland - homes, businesses and farms - had access to high-speed broadband. That figure now stands at approximately 80%, so significant of progress has been made. The Government has worked with the private...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My objective is to be in a position to make a decision on this matter before Easter. I am not in control of all the factors but the plan is to be make a decision before Easter. Due diligence is still under way by the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and Communications, Climate Action and Environment. As I mentioned, because the cost will be many multiples of what was originally...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The short answer to her question is "Yes". Needless to say, I never had the opportunity to meet Pat Finucane. He was killed over 30 years ago but I have read about him and know he was an honourable man. He was a lawyer and a human rights activist long before people even used that term. I had the opportunity in recent weeks to meet...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware that, over the coming days, the Finucane family and British Government will want to consider this judgment in full and in detail, as will the Government here. Our position is that an independent public inquiry under the terms of the Inquiries Act, allowing for the subpoena of witnesses and the discoverability of documents, should now be held. That political commitment was given...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I made an error in my earlier reply. The commitment made at Weston Park in 2001 was, of course, made by former the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and not David Cameron, one of those who succeeded him. The position of the Government is the same. The United Kingdom Government made a commitment in 2001 at Weston Park to carry out a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act into the death of Pat...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to contact the Garda Commissioner about that matter. We should allow the Garda Commissioner, the OPW and the Department to work together to establish where the best, most practical location is for that new headquarters. I imagine other people will have different views as to where it should be located and everything will have to be taken into...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That certainly would not be the case, for example, when it comes to sexual assaults, domestic violence and crimes of that nature. It probably is the case in the context of murders and burglaries. A huge number of burglaries are now, and always have been, drug-related. The work of the group chaired by Mr. Justice Garrett Sheehan is ongoing. We expect the group to report in the next...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: When it comes to planning, our approach is driven by Project Ireland 2040, which was launched in Sligo over a year ago. This is a 20-year spatial plan which is linked to a ten-year €116 billion investment in our public infrastructure. The plan’s vision is to achieve, for the first time in Ireland, balanced regional development. That means the population of our cities, like...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It was of enormous regret to me and the Government that the data centre in Athenry did not go ahead. I still hope it will go ahead sometime in the future, maybe not by Apple but by some other company.