Results 29,121-29,140 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: To which page is the Deputy referring?

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It does not state that in the recommendations.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Unless it is stated in black and white, I do not see it.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to point out again that so far this year 23 new medicines have been approved for reimbursement. I do not know how many weeks have passed this year so far, perhaps 15 or 16, but that is more than one new medicine a week being approved by the HSE.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: They have been approved for reimbursement by the HSE. I do not know how there is a suggestion we have hit some sort of brick wall, as 23 new medicines this year so far, and it is only the middle of April, is quite a lot. They have been approved for reimbursement. Spending on medicines in Ireland by our public health service is not low. It is average to high. We already spend a lot of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It certainly has not all been spent, or anything remotely close to it. The target time for approvals is still four weeks. Deputy McDonald mentioned many of the problems and failings that exist in our health service and she was totally within her rights to do so. On the same basis, for balance and accuracy, it is worth pointing out some of the good things happening in our public health...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Yes; not entirely but in part. It is working in a very different model to what was done in the past.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There is more to that story than Deputy Martin's negotiating team told him. I will tell him about it.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Extra beds are being provided in the system, again reversing a Fianna Fáil policy on this occasion of taking hospital beds out of the system. Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in government, as Deputies will remember, even before the financial crisis started to reduce the number of beds in the hospital system. We have been reversing that for the past couple of years. It is making a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have not finished my reply.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It does take longer to answer questions and than to ask them, in fairness.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thought I had answered Deputy McDonald's question but I will give my answer again. In public hospitals, patients will receive the same medicines. Whether they have VHI or any other form of private health insurance will not make any difference in public hospitals. Patients will continue to receive the same medicines. What happens in private hospitals is not under our control. I do not...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My apologies, I meant reimbursed. On Deputy Howlin's question on support staff, the Government will of course honour its agreements. There may be different interpretations as to what the agreement says and how it is to be implemented, but we will of course honour agreements made with staff. Deputy Burton asked about memorandums. To the best of my recollection there was a memo last...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Deputies will always talk over us when we talk about solutions. They are not interested in them-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is my experience anyway. There are a number of solutions to outpatient waiting times. There are issues to be looked at in the following areas: making sure referrals are appropriate; providing additional capacity in clinics; ensuring the ratios are correct in making an adequate number of slots for new patients rather than having patients returning more frequently than is medically...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Issues (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 101 and 108 together. I last saw Prime Minister May on the margins of the Special European Council meeting on 10 April. At that meeting, PM May presented her case for a further extension of the Article 50 deadline. The House will be aware that the European Council agreed to an extension of the deadline to 31 October 2019, provided that the UK participates in...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has not awarded any contracts to the company in question over the past seven years.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Disability Act Employment Targets (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 103 and 104 together. As at 31 December 2017, 4.6% of the staff of my Department and 5.9% of the staff of the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) voluntarily and confidentially disclosed a disability. This exceeds the current minimum requirement of 3% for public sector organisations set down in the Disability Act, 2005. Under the Act...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I travelled to the United States last month for the annual St. Patrick's Day visit to Washington D.C., following which I also visited Chicago. In Washington D.C. I had a series of political discussions and meetings, including with President Trump, Vice President Pence, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Patrick Leahy and Congressmen Richie Neal and Peter...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Preparations (16 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit. A comprehensive set of Government structures has been put in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities. Within my Department, staff across several divisions contribute to the work on...