Results 37,761-37,780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is a matter of great concern to me and the Government that approximately 6,000 people in the south east have been waiting several months for laboratory test results. I know that causes great anxiety for patients and runs the risk of delayed diagnoses and poorer outcomes, even though the samples are based on routine tests and are not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly speak to the hospital manager myself about the matter this week to get a better fix on the situation. There are many ways in which we can get on top of the backlog, one being the transfer of samples to other laboratories. I will inquire as to why that is not happening at an adequate pace. The other way is to transfer staff to the laboratory from other laboratories....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: At the outset, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Deputy Cairns on her election as leader of the Social Democrats. As one leader to another, it is an enormous honour to be chosen by one's party to lead them. It is a tough job and much of the work goes unrecognised whether it is fundraising, dealing with party accounts, disputes between public representatives, internal rows or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and a very big job.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I honestly wish her a fair wind in that regard. I also want to take the opportunity to recognise the former leaders, Deputies Shortall and Catherine Murphy. We have not always seen eye to eye. I have seen many attempts to establish new parties in my time in politics, however, and very few survive eight years. Very few have six Teachtaí Dála after eight years. It is a success...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We have a derelict sites levy. That applies to derelict houses and has been in place for a very long time.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No, this a different one that has been in place even when I was on the county council. That is been around for 20 or 30 years. It is a levy on derelict properties and sites and increases every year. Councils are a bit slow putting properties on it, quite frankly-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----but it does exist. We are bringing in a vacant property tax as well, initially at that rate. However, I have an open mind on whether we increase that rate into the future. As the Deputy will know from the same report she quoted earlier, levels of dereliction and vacancy in Ireland are actually falling. The levels of vacancy in areas where housing need is greatest, such as Dublin and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: When we look at the exact same report, we will see that when houses are vacant, they are often vacant for a reason. They are for sale, to let, under renovation or the person who lived there has just died. That is all in the same report the Deputy quoted. It is worth pointing that out. Another thing we are doing, which is really important, is providing grants now to young people and older...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----to make them into homes. That is going really well. I am really encouraged with what can be achieved around that. As well as that, we are going to provide a fund to local authorities so they can apply a compulsory purchase order, CPO, to vacant and derelict properties and bring them into use. That can help too.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I remember the pandemic very well. I remember it almost on a day-to-day basis and I remember the very difficult decisions and the different judgment calls that had to be made at different points in time, often without much information. At the very start we knew very little about the virus, as the Deputy will recall. It was not even clear at the start whether...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will have a full public inquiry into how the pandemic was handled in Ireland. This will include what happened in nursing homes, in hospitals and in the community, along with the wider economic and social response. We have not yet decided on the exact format of that. I do want it to be done properly, whether that is using the commission of investigation mechanism, which has pros and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I do not have the exact numbers she asked for but I will ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide them for her if they are available.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As regards the supply of housing, we are doing absolutely everything we can to increase the supply of housing for people who need it. We are seeing some good results - not enough, but some good results. There were 30,000 new homes built last year, more than in any other year in more than a decade. That does not include student accommodation or vacant or derelict homes being brought back...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We need to have regard for other factors. First, there is the exit of landlords from the market, which is a big problem. There are fewer rental properties available now than there were a few years ago. We need more of them, not fewer. People need to rent for different reasons at different points in their lives and, therefore, we need more landlords. The exit of landlords, particularly...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We have sourced more emergency accommodation. I do not have the exact figures or locations but I will ask the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide that information for the Deputy. It is important to state that although the number of people in State-provided emergency accommodation is at an all-time high, the number of people we are taking out of homelessness into...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will certainly examine that issue. I am not sure if it is possible for us to cap rate increases. Interest rates are set by the European Central Bank and not by the Government. Of course, banks and lenders are commercial entities and will set a rate that is above the ECB rate because they have to cover both their own costs and the fact some people are not able to repay, which means the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will certainly take those suggestions under consideration. The Children's Rights Alliance gave us a B- last year for our plans to end the direct provision system and replace it with a not-for-profit accommodation model, which is Government policy. The report downgraded us to a D this year. That has happened because of a massive increase, a near trebling, in the number of people coming...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I could be wrong but my understanding is the Minister for Health has the report. It has not yet been shared with me or the Government. If the Minister has it, he is obviously giving it consideration but we will not delay it much further. I agree it is important the report is published as soon as possible.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The recruitment and retention of healthcare workers is a real problem. We now have a huge budget for our health service. It was €14 billion when I was the Minister for Health and is €22 billion now. There is no lack of money or political will when it comes to improving our health services but there are other restraints, one of which is the ability to train, recruit and retain...