Results 37,781-37,800 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: I am not familiar with the exact announcement to which the Deputy refers. My information is that this matter is still under consideration by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. The future is offshore wind - west, south and east coast. That is what will secure our energy independence and energy security and energy price stability.

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

Leo Varadkar: Yes. This needs to be plan-led, however. It should not be a free-for-all led by investors and developers; it should be plan-led. That is why it is important we have a plan, but it has to be the right plan.

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue. Attacks on the Garda or any of our uniformed services are unacceptable. They are not just attacks on an individual; they are also attacks on the wider community and on our State. The Minister, Deputy Harris, had a meeting with the Garda representative bodies very recently and assured them that we are taking this extremely seriously. Among the...

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

Leo Varadkar: Last week The Ditchpublished an article on the business interests of Sinn Féin's finance director. He is more than a mere employee; he is one of the eight grey eminences who manage the Sinn Féin Party, North and South. He was the executor of the estate of William Hampton, the Englishman who left millions of pounds to Sinn Féin in the Republic of Ireland, only for the money to...

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

Leo Varadkar: I agree that people should be able to get their driving tests in a timely manner. People in rural areas in particular need their cars to get to work, get to college and go about their business. This is a really big problem. I would be reluctant to make any commitment on waiving the requirement to have an accompanying driver. That is a road safety issue, and I would be reluctant to make...

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

Leo Varadkar: I have had the same experience the Deputy has had and have met many people in my constituency who have been really shocked by some of the utility bills that have landed in their letter boxes in recent weeks. These are the winter bills. They are extremely high. Unfortunately, there is another one on the way. The Government is acting. We have extended the 9% VAT rate on electricity and gas...

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

Leo Varadkar: I will have to ask the Minister for Transport to engage with the Deputy on that matter. Local authorities do not need to entirely rely on central Government for funding for local and regional roads. Local authorities have other income, including income from commercial rates, the local property tax and other sources, and there are councils in Ireland that do not rely entirely on central...

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

Leo Varadkar: The NORA levy is there for a reason; it is there to fund the operations of NORA, which ensures we have energy security and we have supplies of petrol and diesel on hand if we need them. It is paid by everyone, including people in urban and rural Ireland and people who live beyond the M50 and commute long distances. That includes most of my constituents, who are beyond the M50. The levy is...

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

Leo Varadkar: I am not across the detail of this so I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to engage directly with the Deputy. As a general point, I do not think people should be afraid of competition or going out to tender. I have seen this happen with other services and in the vast majority of cases the existing provider got the contract because it was doing a good job. In some cases it...

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

Leo Varadkar: That is duly acknowledged.

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

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Government, remain committed to a reimagined senior cycle of education where the student is at the centre and where students are prepared for the modern world of work and the modern world in which they live. The decision to defer the move of paper 1 to fifth year was done following reflection on the views provided by stakeholders in answering...

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

Leo Varadkar: There is a planning process.

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

Leo Varadkar: Before any offshore wind farm gets permission, there is a planning process and the planning authorities have to listen to what the developers have to say. They also have to listen to what the fishers have to say. I am sure that they will do so and that they will take account of what the best thing to do is. I would not dismiss their concerns whatsoever. The fishing industry is important...

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

Leo Varadkar: It does not make sense.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 7, go huile, le chéile. The role of the social policy and public service reform division is to assist me, as Taoiseach, and the Government, in fulfilling programme for Government objectives to help create a socially inclusive and fair society. Specifically, the division assists the work of the newly-established Cabinet committees, as...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies once again for the questions. Deputy Ó Ríordáin raised the issue of senior cycle or leaving certificate reform. I assure the House that we are committed to ensuring that the leaving certificate is reformed and that it meets the needs of Irish students and the broader society and economy. Any system that does not evolve, no matter how highly regarded it...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: On the serious point, both Ministers of State, Deputies Richmond and Calleary, are working on changes to company law and employment law with regard to insolvencies, workers' rights, redundancy and the interplay therein. I am familiar with some issues around the energy credit, particularly for people living in mobile homes and caravans. I am not particularly familiar with the one around...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I can. Could the Deputy send me a note on it? There are a few anomalies that I am not 100% sure on; I am not fully across that one.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Defence Forces (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions and I propose to take Question Nos. 8 to 12, inclusive, together. The high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, agreed by the Government in July 2022, sets out that the initial implementation and oversight structure would comprise a high-level steering board chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Defence Forces (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces, the high-level action plan sets out the initial implementation and oversight structures. The high-level steering board is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, and that oversees delivery. The implementation oversight group has...