Results 33,881-33,900 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (24 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am acutely aware of the difficulties that these necessary ongoing Covid-19 restrictions are putting on all businesses right across the country.  I know that Charities and charity shops are also struggling during these restrictions.  Individuals and businesses are making sacrifices in order to protect their communities. With that in mind, I recently announced the new...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I read about this morning on the RTÉ news website. What is recounted on the website this morning is worrying and, as the Deputy notes, it relates to very sensitive and private matters affecting individuals with disabilities and their families. I do not know all the facts but I will watch the "RTÉ Investigates" programme tonight. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I accept what the Deputy says; my response is inadequate, because I do not know the facts of this. Like I say, I became aware of the matter by reading about it on the RTÉ website this morning. It appears to be a serious matter and questions will be asked and answered. I am not aware of the facts at this stage and it would be inappropriate for me to offer further comment, having not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I will do my best to answer as many questions as I can and, where I do not know the answer, I will ask the Minister for Health to correspond with the Deputy directly. We are approaching 4,700 deaths in this State of people who died with Covid. We have reached the point where as many people have died from Covid-19 this year as did in all of last year. That is an...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The first question the Deputy asked was what we were doing to bring down Covid and that is the question I am answering. We are speeding up the vaccine roll-out. We have given more than 700,000 vaccines at this stage. We expect to receive more than 1 million vaccines by the end of this month but they will not all be in people's arms. It will probably be around 800,000, and another 1...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I answered the Deputy's question. I said we had increased border security to have the strictest biosecurity in the European Union, introduced walk-in PCR testing for people with no symptoms in five parts of the country and accelerated the vaccine roll-out. Antigen testing will be coming into play and we are increasing our tracing capacity. What the Deputy said about the B.1.1.7. variant...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he will be aware, Project Ireland 2040: National Development Plan 2018-2027 is currently under review. We expect to be in a position to publish the revised and updated national development plan in the summer, most likely in June or July. That will project out to 2030 in terms of the major infrastructure projects we intend to progress during...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We will do that. We will listen to ideas and examine the different proposals people have to better connect our cities and bypass our towns. I absolutely agree with the Deputy. Tipperary town needs to be bypassed. It is really suffering and struggling and bears the weight of a lot of freight traffic. When I was Minister with responsibility for transport, I remember working very hard with...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising this important issue. I know the price of beef and volatility of beef prices is causing enormous concern for farmers and rural communities throughout Ireland. The Government is aware that recent price volatility in the beef sector is causing huge difficulties. We are conscious that the sector is especially exposed due to factors such as Brexit and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The task force commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct a series of market transparency studies. At the most recent meeting of the task force in March, there was an update from Grant Thornton on its work. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, attended the meeting where he expressed his concern with the manner in which factories informed farmers of recent price cuts, along with changes to breed...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That legislation is being worked on by the Minister for Finance. As the Deputy knows, it cannot apply retrospectively but obviously it can apply to future instances. I do not have an exact date for it but I will ask the Minister for Finance to provide it once we have it.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am very sorry to hear about Seán's passing and I extend my condolences to his family as well. I know how difficult the last year or so has been, particularly for people who have been bereaved. Whether it was a consequence of Covid, not being able to grieve in the normal way that we do has been really hard on thousands of families across the country. The message on Tuesday will be...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I know how important the hospitality industry is to the Deputy's constituency. I had the pleasure of spending some of my home holiday last August in Bantry and west Cork and it is a wonderful place for people to visit. As things stand, the employment wage subsidy scheme and the weekly Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, payment will remain in place at least until the end of June and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We will explore any avenue to secure more vaccine supply for Ireland. It is a good thing that we are part of the European framework. I remember what it was like in the first wave of the pandemic when countries fought each other for PPE, testing kits, swabs and reagents. It is better that we have collective action here and that all European countries went together and secured the contracts...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There is not any legislation promised on this matter but I appreciate that it is an important one. It is a matter for the Minister for Justice and the best thing would be for me to ask her to reply to the Deputy directly on it.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to point out that funding was provided to Nenagh in County Tipperary as part of this round for a very good project in that town. The Clonmel project is good. I visited Clonmel not that long ago with Senator Ahearn, before he became a Senator, and had a chance to go to the old Bulmers site and to understand the concept behind the project, which is to bring Limerick Institute...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It would be appropriate for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to give an explanation to the council and I am sure it will do so. Hopefully the project can be funded in the next round because using the Bulmers assets and the barracks, bringing LIT into the town and building the sports hub would be of huge benefit to Clonmel. I will continue to work with the Deputy and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I cannot answer that question as I do not know. This decision will be made on foot of the best scientific and medical advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, NIAC, and that is the best way to make these decisions. The workers who will be prioritised are those who are required by virtue of their work to come into close social contact with other people -...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know for sure. I think I recollect that an issue arose because others who were redeployed into contact tracing from other parts of the public service were not getting an additional allowance. As is so often the case when it comes to public sector pay issues, while a case may be justified on the face of things it triggers a set of knock-on claims which then make it unaffordable....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Mar 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I will certainly raise this issue with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and will ask her to look into it. She is the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, as the Deputy is aware, and this is an issue that has also been raised by Deputy Colm Burke, by the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and by Senator Buttimer. I cannot make a commitment on the...