Results 37,821-37,840 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The matter raised by Deputy Fitzpatrick about retirement age is under consideration by the Tánaiste and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. It does not just relate to the Defence Forces. There are other professions, such as the Garda, where the issue of a mandatory retirement age is in question. The matter is currently being considered...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The important matter raised by Deputy Bacik is also of concern to me and to anybody who saw the "Prime Time" programme last night. The profession of psychology is not regulated. There was a time when very few professions in Ireland were regulated. It was just doctors, dentists and a few others. Over time, we have added to the number of professions that are regulated. We want to add...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We did consider an extension and a partial extension. On the recommendation of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and with the unanimous agreement of Cabinet, we decided that, on balance, an extension was not the right approach for the reasons I explained earlier. I will not accept the narrative, or the nonsense, that we somehow sat on our hands and did nothing for the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. For obvious reasons, I am not going to comment on evidence given in court, but regarding the issue the Deputy raises on regulating the psychology profession, we agree that it is desirable that it should be regulated. Since CORU was established, we have added a new profession pretty much every year. In the past, very few professions were regulated or titles protected....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am glad to confirm the Electoral Commission is now up and running. It is an organisation that will need many resources and many teeth because we need to clean up politics. What Sinn Féin has been claiming about its finances is simply not credible. To say in 2019 it only spent €4,775 on all its local election candidates beggars belief. It cannot be true. I do not believe it....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It also affects schools in my constituency, as the Deputy can imagine. The Department of Education has been doing a stellar job when it comes to its capital budget. New schools and extensions are being built all over the country. What has happened is that in many ways it has been doing such a good job that it is now ahead of profile on...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Give us a few weeks to sort it out.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue. Peanut allergies are serious and in some cases are fatal. We have had a number of cases in recent years of people going into anaphylactic shock and, unfortunately, dying as a consequence of peanut allergies. I am not familiar with the new medicine or the particular business case Deputy Griffin has mentioned, but I will get my office to follow...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Kenny. It is important we have appropriate and modern Garda rosters. We need gardaí to be available when people need them. Often this is at night-time and weekends. We also need rosters that respect the need for work-life balance and ensure we continue to be able to recruit and retain gardaí. There is a balance to be struck in this regard. There was a long...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have not seen that response so I cannot comment on it directly. I would not be overly concerned about unnecessary trips, to be honest. I do not think many people are going around on buses and trains just for the craic, but there would be genuine problems with free public transport - cost and capacity. We could see capacity being overloaded, and that would not be an advantage to anyone,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have not read it, I am sorry. The Deputy may not have represented it fairly.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am not up to date with our plans to bring proton therapy to Ireland. I think we will at some point, and we should sooner rather than later. I have seen it operating in a hospital I visited in Singapore, and it is really impressive. It does not work for every tumour but it does work for some. It means the tumour gets pinpointed, rather than the whole skin and the area around it. People...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 13, inclusive, together. The economic policy unit is part of the economic division of the Department. The unit assists me, as Taoiseach, in advancing the Government’s economic priorities. The unit also advises me on a broad range of economic policy areas and provides me with briefing and speech material on economic and related policy matters....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. I was asked about concerns from businesses in relation to the housing crisis. It is certainly something that has been raised with me many times, certainly during my time as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I hear the concern being expressed by businesses regarding the housing crisis impacting on their ability to recruit and retain...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: One of the things I hope is that we will lessen the need for people to go into emergency accommodation by authorising local authorities to purchase the homes they are living in. If a landlord is selling up, if the tenant is a HAP or RAS tenant, the local authorities have the finance and are being encouraged to purchase those properties. The person will move from HAP to being a social...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ----anywhere near emergency accommodation in that period. We also confirmed that we will lease an additional 1,000 social housing units, which will allow us to bring new social housing provision this year to something like 12,000 additional units. Probably more than one third of all new homes being provided in the State this year will be social housing. This has not been something we have...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I agree absolutely that small businesses are in need of support. They are the biggest employers in Ireland. If we add them up, they employ more people than IDA and Enterprise Ireland companies and the Government combined. They employ people all over Ireland. We are doing a lot already, with the VAT reductions staying in place for another period, the improvements in the temporary energy...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is the case, however, that they are not employees of the State. This is a simple fact. We are the funder or part funder of these bodies, and if employers were going into the WRC, they would not bring in their funders or their clients. It is a matter between the employer and the employees and their representatives. There is, of course, a role for the State to play, but this is an...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Yes. It is a court case and I am reluctant to say anything about a matter that is before the courts. I know the Deputy has engaged with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, on it-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Priorities (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and he tells me that there are pertinent facts in relation to this case that the Deputy has not put on the record of the Dáil. I can speak to this afterwards, if the Deputy would like.