Results 35,081-35,100 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is hard to hear anyone in Sinn Féin accusing anyone in the Government of misrepresentation. Misrepresentation, misquotes, telling us what we think and believe, and then criticising us for what it says we think and believe, is a classic Sinn Féin tactic. There is misrepresentation all the time. It is what Sinn Féin thrives on. I think it is beneath Deputy Ó Broin...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: -----he is an intelligent person. He is one of the brighter people in his party and to engage in a personalised attack on me is beneath him.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is wrong. It is classic of the left-wing populism which Sinn Féin stands for. It is about creating ideas of masses against the elites, simple solutions to complex problems, and demonising opponents. It is not just about disagreeing with people but saying that the people that Sinn Féin disagrees with are lesser people and do not care as much. That is pure left-wing populism....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: -----which is about people renting for life. It might be the case that rents would be lower. It might be the case that people would have more secure tenancies and that they are renting from a public landlord rather than a private landlord, but ultimately, the model that Sinn Féin proposes is about keeping people renting for life, whereas we propose to help people buy their own home....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Where is the Deputy's empathy for private renters who want to buy?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: People are struggling to pay their rent and to raise deposits. Where is the Deputy's empathy for them? He would offer them €1,000 with one hand and take €20,000-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Leas-Cheann Comhairle might allow me a little bit of extra time because my time was taken by Sinn Féin.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Where is Sinn Féin's empathy for private renters who want to buy? It would give them €1,000 tax credit per year-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: -----and take €20,000 off them-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the protection of the Chair. Where is Sinn Féin's empathy for private renters who want to buy? It would give them €1,000 tax credit per year-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Where is Sinn Féin's empathy for private renters who want to buy? It would give them a €1,000 tax credit per year and take €20,000 off them by abolishing the help-to-buy scheme. That scheme has helped more than 30,000 individuals and couples to buy their own home since it was established.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It will help tens of thousands more to buy a home and Sinn Féin would take that away. What have we done for renters in this budget?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The help-to-buy scheme has been continued. We are investing more in social housing, affordable housing-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: -----and cost rental housing, which will help private renters. As well as that, we have brought in a rent freeze in real terms, making sure rents cannot go up by more than the rate of inflation. We may modify that again to bring that figure down.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: On a point of order, the Deputy, who has demonstrated no empathy for people who want to buy their own home, has accused me of a lack of empathy. I can put up with that. He has also accused me of dishonesty. That is not okay. It is out of order and he should withdraw it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am done. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am sorry to hear about what Rosie is experiencing and what her family must be going through. I thank the Deputy for writing to me about it as well. I have the details I need and will follow it up with Children's Health Ireland during the week and get back to the Deputy about it as soon as I get a reply. My understanding from the Deputy's...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The four-month target was set by the director general of the HSE at the time, but it does remain the target: four months to outpatients and then four months to surgery. I do not know exactly what the situation is with regard to theatre time or theatre staff, but I will find out and I will get a reply for the Deputy as soon as I can. Regarding the waiting lists, Children's Health Ireland...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Harkin raises a valid question on the ring-fencing of some of the carbon tax for green schemes and farmers, but I do not think it is the full picture in terms of the budget. What we agreed to when the Government was formed was that a proportion of the carbon tax would be ring-fenced for social welfare to increase the fuel allowance. We did that and we stand over it, but also that a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: A large portion of the carbon tax proceeds will go towards increasing the fuel allowance and a lot of people in rural Ireland will get that increase. In fact, they are getting it this week, and if not this week then next week. A lot of the retrofitting that is happening is in rural areas too. The same goes for the rewetting of bogs and so on. A very large amount of the money that is...