Results 30,681-30,700 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: -----is that we are seeing enormous progress now when it comes to the supply of new housing.

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

Leo Varadkar: Never mind what I say - listen to the figures of the Central Statistics Office, CSO, which I assume the Deputy does not accuse of being involved in spin. The CSO released its data last week, which showed that over 20,000 new homes had been built in Ireland in the past year, a 22% increase on the year prior to that. They also show an 81% increase in the number of new apartments being built....

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

Leo Varadkar: It is the case that the Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is the Accounting Officer, is responsible to the Committee of Public Accounts and is responsible to the Comptroller and Auditor General. There has to be accountability for taxpayers' money. That is what it boils down to.

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

Leo Varadkar: Is there any Minister quoted in it?

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

Leo Varadkar: I did not write it. I can hardly own or disown it.

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

Leo Varadkar: That is the problem.

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

Leo Varadkar: I was in Cork at the weekend and now the Deputy is irritated.

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

Leo Varadkar: This is just more of the same from Deputy Micheál Martin. I was in Cork at the weekend, turning the sod on a development of 120 homes, a mixture of affordable and social housing.

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

Leo Varadkar: I met lots of people. I was in Blackpool shopping centre and in Blarney too, where I got a very good reception. The Deputy is clearly irritated about that and------

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

Leo Varadkar: -----has returned to his usual display of outrage and faux anger. If he wants a classic example of local authorities not fulfilling their responsibilities, Fianna Fáil councillors in Galway city only the other day voted against 20 social houses in Ballybane. That is a classic example of local authorities turning down money from central government and voting against social housing.

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

Leo Varadkar: That is an example of it. I am really curious to hear-----

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

Leo Varadkar: There is something I would like to say because I think it is important, so perhaps it may be possible to do so without interruption. I am really curious to hear Fianna Fáil Deputies raising the housing issue this week. I did not think they would do so, particularly in view of the absolutely paper-thin, nonsensical housing policies put forward by Deputy Micheál Martin at the...

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

Leo Varadkar: -----even though anybody who has served in government and anyone in this Chamber should know that this is contrary to the EU VAT directive. What do we get at the Fianna Fáil Ógra conference? A promise to instruct the Central Bank to change the macro-prudential rules.

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

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Micheál Martin knows that is not possible because the Central Bank is independent. He also called for an affordable housing scheme that already exists and under which houses are already being built at Boherboy in Cork. What we have from Fianna Fáil, 600 days after promising a comprehensive housing policy, is a proposal on VAT that is against EU law, a proposal to undermine...

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

Leo Varadkar: Anyone who thinks that Deputy Micheál Martin or the Fianna Fáil Party have any alternatives when it comes to housing must really see through them at this stage.

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

Leo Varadkar: I am sorry to hear about the experience of the family the Deputy mentioned. I am not familiar with the case and I do not want to comment on it for those reasons, but I extend my condolences and sympathies to the family she mentioned. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, RCOG, audit report has not been shared with Government as of yet. I have not seen it and it is not with...

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

Leo Varadkar: This will be put into the public domain but not until every woman who agreed to participate in the audit has had the chance to get her results, the offer of a meeting has been made, and the meeting has happened. I think the Deputy will agree that is the way it should happen. That is why the Government has not received the report-----

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

Leo Varadkar: We have not received it and it has not gone to the Government. We will not receive it until each of the women has had an opportunity to hear the results for herself. After that, it will be published, but only at that point. Of course, a briefing will be made available for Deputies. I sincerely hope that, given that this is the second audit and is different from the previous audit, we...

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am glad she was able to gain access to the reception centre in Clonea to meet people and talk to them about their lived experiences. If she had rung ahead, she may have found it even easier to get in. I imagine in the case of Ms Murphy a call was made in advance to ask whether a visit was possible-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----and people were told they could visit. I read the article in the Wexford Peopleand I do not think the Deputy characterised Ms Murphy's comments on homelessness exactly as they were described. In fact, in the article she described her experience of being homeless. I do not know how many people in the House have had that experience, but she has. She described how she left home very...