Results 30,181-30,200 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am of the view that the cap on bankers' pay should remain in place. I have said that previously. We have recovered all the money from Bank of Ireland. We will in time recover all the money from Allied Irish Banks. It will not be possible to recover the money that was put into Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide because those institutions were dead. I do not believe anyone will ever...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I did. I am explaining the decision now. Those banks were bust and the consequence of the guarantee was to protect the savings of Irish people and Irish businesses. In countries where a different course of action was followed, such as Iceland and Cyprus, it was not just the bondholders who lost their money. Savers did also. That is what would have happened here.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I think I answered this question yesterday and today. Perhaps I can elaborate a little on what I said earlier. The purpose of the strategic housing development scheme is to speed up the planning process. If somebody wants to build an apartment block or a housing estate, there is a two-step process. When one submits a planning application to the council, people can make observations on it....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: They are houses and apartments, or whatever the Deputies want to call them.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is making two assumptions that may not be correct. First, he is assuming that if the developers had gone through the old two-step process, somehow these dwellings - homes, houses or whatever you want to call them - would be under construction. He is assuming that, but he does not have evidence to back it up. Second, he is saying that landowners and builders use the fast-track...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his follow-up question. This fast-track planning process has already resulted in 6,000 new homes being built, with another 10,000 to come. They are some of the 45,000 new homes that have been built since I became Taoiseach.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There is already a one-step planning process for social housing. It is called Part 8. It is not necessary to bring in a one-step planning process for social housing because that already exists and has existed for many decades. Only private housing had to go through the two-step process. There is a one-step process for social housing, and it is called Part 8. We are now well into the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Having come from a base of almost nothing, we are now up to over 10,000 every year. The vast majority of them are new-builds by local authorities and housing associations.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The official figures provided by the HSE for Limerick are 38, but as the Deputy knows there is often a dispute between the figures produced by the INMO and those produced by the HSE. Whether the figure is 38 or 82 is beside the point. There should not be that level of overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick. The hospital has had enormous investment under this Government. It has a new...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As I understand it, Apple put €14 billion or so into the escrow account. The account is currently losing money because of negative interest rates. It may well gain money should interest rates become positive again. We do not know what will happen. Nobody can predict the future because we do not know when the court's decision will be made or what will happen to interest rates in the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think Deputy Barry has the correct information. The payment has not been axed. Anyone who was receiving the payment still receives it. However, new entrants to rehabilitation programme are no longer eligible for it. There was an inequality, in that some people were in receipt of the allowance while others who were doing similar courses elsewhere were not. It is not a cutback....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy always shouts a Minister down when he knows that he himself as not quite told the full truth. The €3.7 million being saved due to this change is being put back into disability services, specifically to provide 140 additional full day placements for people with disabilities who need them and 370 enhanced day places. The reallocation is ending an inequality and putting more...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: At the Deputy knows, the number of SNAs has been dramatically increased by this Government. We now invest as much in special needs education as we do in higher education, and there has been a significant increase in resources in that area. I do not have any information on the schools the Deputy mentioned. If the Deputy wants to raise the matter with the Minister for Education and Skills, I...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I too am reluctant to discuss in the Chamber the medical history of any individual or anything of that nature.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have information on the medical history of any individual patient.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I think so.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister, Deputy Madigan, addressed this matter yesterday during Topical Issues. I am advised that the first ever positive test for the rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus 2 in the Irish wild hare population was recorded in late July and, as a consequence of that, on 9 August the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht temporarily suspended the licence until the extent of the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the Adare bypass. The Government is very keen to get the project done not just because of the Ryder Cup, but also in order that the beautiful town of Adare can be freed from congestion and people can travel to and from County Kerry more quickly than is currently the case. The bypass is included in Project Ireland 2040. I do not know the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: An extra €10 million was provided in the budget for this year to provide additional respite care which is so important for families and carers. It allowed an additional respite house to be opened in each community healthcare region. I do not know the circumstances of the particular closure to which the Deputy referred, but I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, to engage...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (2 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to defer to the Minister, Deputy Doherty, to provide the Deputy with an answer regarding the CE schemes. On JobPath, all I would say is that by any objective analysis this Government’s employment policies have been a resounding success. There are 2.3 million people at work in Ireland, more people than ever before, unemployment is below 5% and long-term unemployment is...