Results 31,301-31,320 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Grealish referred to people over 66 years who have lost their jobs. They can be included in the wage subsidy scheme. We encourage their employers to keep them on under the wage subsidy scheme. However, they cannot receive the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, which is an individualised payment. If one examines some of the individual cases - I have examined some, although...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Mattie McGrath speaks quicker than I can write. I think I managed to jot down most of his questions. On Lebanon, given the unprecedented nature of the Covid-19 crisis and to mitigate its transmission, the UN Secretary General in recent days advised all troop contributors and mission commanders of his plans to suspend all rotations and leave for military personnel serving in UN...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: On a point of order, we were supposed to keep this debate under two hours because of the public health advice and I think we are well over that now.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I just think we should take our own public health advice.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: As of last night, we had 16,671 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in our country. Sadly, 769 people have so far lost their lives: people with lives and stories; people who made a contribution; people who mattered; and people who will be remembered. The Government is eternally grateful to all those working to combat Covid-19, and everyone is playing their part in this emergency, whether through...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Absolutely. On being pressed for time, I must represent the country at the European Council which starts at 2 p.m. I would not like the country to be unrepresented at it. In addition, as Members are aware, there is a two-hour public health rule which states that we will become close contacts if we are in the same space for more than two hours. I will first answer the questions asked by...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Which question did I not answer?

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: On the open source issue, I do not know but I will check that out and come back to the Deputy. It is not an area I have particular expertise in. We do not have exact numbers for the criteria yet. If there are to be magic numbers, they have not been set yet and we do not have any advice on that from NPHET yet. The criteria are the instance of transmission, including in relation to...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (23 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I ask that the Business Committee consider how we can do this better in future. I have written down nearly six pages of questions.

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Not just yet, a Cheann Comhairle.

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Mar a tharlaíonn ar laethanta eile, smaoinímid inniu ar dóibh siúd a fuair bás, daoine a raibh saol agus scéalta acu agus ar bhain tábhacht agus brí lena saolta. Cuimhneofar orthu. Tá an Rialtas buíoch de chuile dhuine atá ag obair go dian chun dul i ngleic leis an gcoróinvíreas. Tá siad ag glacadh a bpáirt sa...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I counted more than that, a Cheann Comhairle, but I will get straight into answering them. On the question about the roadmap for reopening Ireland and the roadmap to a new normal, I confirm it is our intention to share that with the public tomorrow, but that is subject to the outcome of a National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, meeting in the morning and subject to a Cabinet meeting in...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. There is no big reveal here. This has been on the record for days if not weeks. The target is to have the capacity to carry out 100,000 tests per week and to do so within a good turnaround time. We are not going to carry out random testing just to hit a figure of 100,000. The target is not to carry out 100,000 tests. It is to carry out as many tests as are necessary....

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: -----HIQA which goes through that in detail. However, we may have-----

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Roche Diagnostics may have done so as well. However, they have not done so yet. I want to answer Deputy McDonald's question. The Deputy did not leave any time to ask any.

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We may get to the point in the next couple of weeks or months where a company produces a serological test which works, in which case we will raise the 100,000 figure to a much higher one. However, that test does not exist yet. The number of tests is based, as always, on the clinical criteria.

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I do support the proposal to have corona bonds. That is not a secret. I think I said that a week or two ago. Everyone should know that. It is essentially a mechanism by which we would collectivise European debt solely for the purpose of paying for the cost of the crisis. It could be just health spending or go beyond that to include the money necessary to re-stimulate the economy. As...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy but I am afraid I do not have the details of that. That is new information to me so I will have to check up on it but as far as I understand it, anyone is entitled to access the provisions of the Unfair Dismissals Act. That is a law that applies to all workers and obviously there are sick pay and sick leave arrangements in place for everyone at the moment who needs to...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Just to go back to what the Deputy mentioned earlier, NPHET has agreed to publish the minutes of its meetings and its advice to Government is already published. In terms of the expert advisory group, that is not advice that I ever see and it is not in my possession. There may or may not be reasons it can or cannot publish it. The CMO is the best person to answer that question. There...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (30 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Murphy. If he is fair to us and looks at all the major actions that have been taken by the Government to date, he will find they have been taken in order to bail out people and workers. There has been a massive expansion of the welfare budget in the past couple of weeks in order to provide the pandemic unemployment payment of €350 per week. If one compares that to the...