Results 31,201-31,220 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is a legislator and as a legislator, she is paid to know what the legislation is. The Health Act 2004 states that the Minister cannot make a direction to the HSE to favour any individual or approve any medical card or home care package. It is important that as a legislator, the Deputy is aware of the legislation.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I hope that Hannah's package can be approved in the coming days so that she can return to her home before Christmas and not in the new year.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: They do not want the answers.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, about it this week. If there is no good reason not to publish it, then I am sure it will be published. I should point out that unemployment today in Ireland is at its lowest level in 13 years, and there are more people at work than ever before, so we must have been getting some of our...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not have an update but I will let the Minister for Health know the matter was raised again today in the Chamber and ask him to provide Deputy Curran with an update.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Neville for his question. I know he has a real interest in cystic fibrosis and improving services for CF patients. I do not know the timeframe but I will check it out and make sure the Deputy gets a reply.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. I spoke by telephone to Prime Minister Johnson on Friday, 13 December, the day following the election in the UK. I congratulated the Prime Minister on his election victory and we agreed that there is now a significant opportunity to restore the Good Friday Agreement institutions. We pledged to work with the parties in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies again for their contributions. There is a real window of opportunity now to re-establish the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council between now and the deadline of 13 January. There have, however, been windows of opportunity in the past and unfortunately it was not possible to come to an agreement, so it is far from granted at...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 8, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on security is the most appropriate Cabinet committee to discuss policy related to drug gangs, as it deals with issues related to justice, community safety and policing reform. The Cabinet committee on security last met on 30 October. Separate from that, however, I met Commissioner Harris on 3 December...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I agree with them. This is an urgent issue that relates to social policy and health policy, as well as to security and criminal justice. It is intended to review the implementation of the national drugs strategy at the next Cabinet sub-committee meeting on social policy. Reference was made to the Building Community Resilience report by Dr....

Ceisteanna - Questions: European Council Meetings (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 to 22, inclusive, together. I attended the European Council and euro summit in Brussels on Thursday, 12 December, and Friday, 13 December. On Thursday, we discussed the idea of a conference on the future of Europe. We asked the incoming Croatian EU Presidency to work towards defining a Council position on the content, scope, composition and functioning of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: European Council Meetings (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am very supportive of the European green deal. I am encouraged that President von der Leyen and the new Commission have decided to take a lead on this. When Ms von der Leyen was nominated by the European Council for Commission president she said she would do so and the President has already shown her sincerity in that regard. The objective is to transform Europe into the first climate...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No credit cards are issued to Ministers in my Department. There are currently five credit cards in use for official purposes assigned to three Heads of Division (Finance, HR and IT) and two Private Secretaries. Departmental credit cards are used for official purposes only. They are allocated to officials where the facility will be of practical use in meeting the requirements of official...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Budgets (17 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has no capital allocation for the years 2020 to 2025.

Gnó na Dála - Business of Dáil (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As this is the last day of this year's session of Dáil Éireann, I am really pleased on behalf of the Government and on behalf of my party to extend my thanks to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Ceann Comhairle and their staff, the Bills Office and all the general staff in Leinster House for the phenomenal work they have done for us in the past year. I would particularly like to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue at the moment. Many parents are worried their crèche or childcare provider might not be open in the new year and that they may see a steep increase in fees in the new year. The Government is working very hard to make sure neither of those scenarios arise. I met the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for those questions. I do not agree with his assessment. We have all been aware for a very long time that there is a general issue regarding the cost of employers' liability and public liability insurance. We set up an interdepartmental working group to deal with those issues a very long time ago and we have been implementing its recommendations as recently as yesterday,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We have also bought in the national childcare scheme, which means increased subsidies for hundreds of thousands of children and also that people on middle incomes will qualify for the first time. We brought in increased and longer maternity benefit, parental benefit and paternity benefit for the first time. This is very much a Government that is building a society with the family at its...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am not entirely sure what she means by stepping in, but perhaps in her further reply she can outline exactly what she would do if she was in my position. Whether it is a public provider or private provider, insurance is still needed, and whether it is a public or private, a provider can still be sued. That applies to schools, hospitals and community centres. Anybody...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Ironshore had been offering very low-cost insurance to some providers. That firm is now out of the market. Allianz is still there, offering insurance to childcare providers at an average cost of €60 per child per year. It has already offered insurance to 869 of the 1,300 providers formerly covered by Ironshore, and is willing to make offers to others within 24 hours. I am confident...