Results 31,161-31,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I did hear the Deputy accuse me of lying. I think that is unparliamentary language.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: No, the Deputy accused me of lying as well.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It does not matter as we can check the blacks later.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I am sure the Deputy will withdraw the remark if that is what he inadvertently said.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I have never been soft on the insurance industry or on the legal industry when it comes to the issue of insurance; not in the slightest. Our efforts have always been to bring down the cost of insurance, including motor insurance for drivers, as well as employer liability and public liability for businesses. That is our objective and why we brought around these reforms which led to this...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: We understand the concerns of providers as they do need to have insurance cover to provide services. Childcare services are mostly private businesses and are expected to cover their costs from the income they receive. Insurance costs have not been raised as a significant issue with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs until the recent withdrawal of one of the underwriters on 6...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is very vocal on this issue. He is very good and well-informed on the issue, which is why I am so disappointed that his solution is a Cabinet sub-committee. A Cabinet sub-committee - I know all about them - will not bring down the cost of insurance for any driver or business person in Ireland.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: What is required to bring down the cost of insurance is action from Government-----
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----and that action is taking place.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Only today, for example, the Judicial Council came into existence-----
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----with a committee of judges that can now look at the cost of claims, potentially bring them down-----
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Forget it.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I do not have those figures in front of me now, but I remember reading them in the past. I accept we have a high gap between high pay and low pay. The reason we have that is that we have a very large number of very high-paid people, particularly in the multinational sector. We have high pay in Ireland. It is not that we have low pay relative to other countries. It is that we have many...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: In practical terms that gap is closed by our tax and welfare system-----
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----and that is how we use-----
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It is certainly narrowed. That gap is narrowed by our tax and welfare system. Before social transfers, tax and social welfare, there is a big gap between the best paid and the lowest paid in Ireland. After tax and welfare, it actually goes the other way and we are one of the more equal countries when it comes to-----
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----the gap between the lowest and best paid. As I said earlier, the reason we have that gap in Ireland is not because Irish workers are worse paid than people doing the same job in England, America, France or Germany.
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Relatively, Ireland's pay levels are higher, and our minimum wage is the sixth highest in the world, even when one takes into account purchasing power capacity. The gap exists because there is a large number of people on very high pay, especially in the multinational sector, which distorts the figures and drives the number upwards. One could take the view that we should set a pay cap or a...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: The other way is through the minimum wage mechanism and the existing legislation that established the Low Pay Commission, which was brought in by Deputy Howlin's party when it shared Government with us, and which does it properly. It takes into account the views of employees through their unions, it takes into account the views of employers who must find the money to pay it in the first...
- Leaders' Questions (17 Dec 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I do not want to cast aspersions on any particular audit firm, nor on the many thousands of very good people who work in that particular firm, but I do think the Deputy has asked a good question and makes a very good point. It is a principle of good corporate governance that organisations should not be audited by the same people forever and ever and ever again. It is...