Results 37,921-37,940 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Peace is probably the most important part of that. It is a fact that we do not have or at least we have very little political violence in Northern Ireland, and that both the British-Irish Council, BIC, and the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference are operating. Sadly, as Deputy Tóibín pointed out, the Assembly, the Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council are not....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has mentioned a lot of hypothetical things.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: If there is a massive increase in homelessness then we must figure out what is the best way to reverse that. Would the reimposition of an eviction ban for a number of months do that? It probably would not and I think what we would have to do then is step up our activities in other areas such as building more social housing; step up the work that we do to prevent homelessness; step up...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate and respect the Deputy's views on this. I have a different analysis, however. I am always open to the possibility that one can be proven wrong. I have been right about many things in the past and wrong about other things. We will always keep an open mind on policy decisions. With regard to Scotland, just because they are extending it does not mean it is the right thing to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I remember the Good Friday Agreement well. I was 18 or 19 years old at the time. It was the first time I was entitled to vote. I remember the enormous optimism of the time. I recall the result coming in. It was over 70%, which indicated that it had a majority of both communities supporting it, and that was crucial. Unfortunately, while the Good Friday Agreement is genius and is the way...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, some would, but would they be representative of their communities? That is one thing we would have to bear in mind. Would it be 50:50 or would it be 7:2 in terms of population? Would any decision made by a simple majority? Would we have to have a double majority of the communities or a double majority North and South? When I ask these questions, I get the impression people have not...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to hear the Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The conversation is happening. Certainly, as Taoiseach and Head of Government, I want to be part of it. It is a particularly sensitive time. Like the former Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, said the other day, I would much rather be talking about these matters in the context of a Westminster Framework that is done with an assembly and Executive that is up and running and functioning. It would...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No, thank you, Chairman.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As was always the case, whether six months ago, before the moratorium was in place, a year ago, three years ago or five years ago, it depends on everyone's individual circumstances. It is not the case that every notice to quit turns into an eviction, and it is not the case that every eviction results in somebody living in emergency accommodation. Deputy McDonald conflates the three things,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As is so often the case, the Deputy seems to think the solution to the housing crisis is just her being Taoiseach and her party being in government.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: She puts no solutions forward in her contributions, and nor does she do so in the Sinn Féin motion. It seems to me that she sees housing not as a crisis to be overcome, or a problem to be solved, but a political issue to be exploited. There are four things the Deputy could do to help, if she is interested in helping. One, she could stop objecting to new housing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy objected to 2,000 homes in her constituency alone. Her party has objected to 12,000. She particularly objects to one-bedroom accommodation because the people who live in them are "transients", to use her language, and build-to-rent accommodation, even though we need more properties to rent. She could drop her opposition to the help-to-buy and first home schemes Many...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The third thing the Deputy can do is to stop threatening landlords with increased restrictions and regulations and more taxes. That will just cause more of them to leave the market.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy McDonald could acknowledge that Sinn Féin's plan to extend the eviction ban until the end of January will only do one thing. It will make the situation worse but perhaps that is what she wants.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We were always clear when this was introduced that it was a temporary measure. If one reads the regulation, it says winter period. It was very clear that this was to be a temporary measure for the winter period and would end on a phased basis from 1 March. It gave tenants facing or receiving notices of termination a few more months to find alternative accommodation and gave the Government...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The truth is that extending the eviction ban until the end of January just means it is going to be much worse then and it will be in the middle of winter. In fairness to the Labour Party, it has put forward a different proposal. It is proposing that the eviction ban can end if we see the number of people in emergency accommodation fall for four months. That needs to be thought through....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is very clear to everyone that once this was introduced, it was going to be very hard to unwind. I do not think it gets any easier by extending it until the middle of winter, which is January, or by waiting until the numbers fall by as few as four over a four-month period.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is not the position I am articulating. I do not agree that it makes sense to extend the eviction ban until the depths of winter at the end of January when the situation-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----could be even worse. I do not think waiting until the figure has fallen by maybe one person a month for four months makes sense either. The solution is a different one.