Results 38,821-38,840 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will certainly give that consideration. As I said, the terms of reference have yet to be agreed by the Government. The more that is included in the terms of reference of any review, the longer the review will take. As I have also said, it is better to do it properly and thoroughly than to do it quickly and not well. Regarding self-employment, which is an area I know well from my roles...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Naughten for raising this important issue, and I know it is one that we will all be familiar with in our constituencies, where parents come to us and tell us about the challenges they have in securing necessary assessments and treatment for their children. We are committed to finding and implementing real and tangible solutions to enhance services to meet properly the needs of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his suggestion and I will certainly ask the CEO of the HSE and the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to examine that. Certainly, the Government has no principled objection to part-time contracts. We issue them all the time across the public service. It does not always result in a net increase in the number of people working in these roles, because once...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge the basic point the Deputy started off with, which was how important social connections are. In this very online and digital age, it is still all the more important that we meet each other, see other people, meet, embrace, shake hands and have shared experiences whether that is attending matches, concerts, agricultural shows and other events over the summer. Those things are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that it is an important issue but the Deputy did not put forward a proposal or action the Government should take. In fairness, Deputy Naughten did with regard to his question on disability services as did Deputy Bacik regarding her question on RTÉ. Deputy Pringle has not put forward a solution. The Deputy has been very critical of the Government, hoteliers and everyone...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy knows, both today and tomorrow, RTÉ executives and board members will be before committees. I see no reason why they should not put any information in respect of that payment in the public domain as soon as possible. I do not understand why it should take four weeks for the Grant Thornton report to be completed. However, there may be good reasons that I just do not know...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy very much for her question. We already have legislation protecting workers from victimisation in the context of trade union activity. We are developing new legislation to put into our Irish law the EU directive on collective bargaining and national minimum wages. I will not be writing to any Russian oligarchs, quite frankly,. I certainly will not be writing to one...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: My apologies, but I do not have a response to that question. I will come back to the Deputy by way of correspondence.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We still have not finalised the regional health areas. It is intended that they will be established next year. There will always be different opinions as to where the boundaries are drawn. We had that with the hospital groups, and we will certainly have it with the regional health areas. The intention is never to suck resources into the biggest hospital in the area; it is to make sure...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The Minister for Health is keen to engage with community pharmacists about fees and about what additional services they might be willing to provide in return for improved fees. That is a conversation they are up for. They did a very good job on the vaccine programme and have risen to many challenges that we have asked them to rise to. I cannot give the Deputy a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. This matter falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I will ask him to prepare a detailed reply for Deputy Crowe.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The Iceland workers should get the money they are owed. We both agree on that. There are mechanisms to make sure that this happens. Sometimes, these are very slow. I appreciate that if someone is on a low income and does not have savings to dip into, that can be very difficult. I have not had an update from the Minister on how the meeting went, but I will seek one...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly make inquiries with the HSE about the matter. We have approved a budget for the HSE to recruit an additional 6,000 staff this year. That is on top of the 20,000 additional staff who had been hired since the Government came into office. I do not know exactly why the radiology department in Mullingar has not been allocated staff from 6,000. I will make inquiries and come...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of endometriosis, which has received much more public attention in recent years. That is a very good thing because it is a disease that is often unrecognised and under-diagnosed for many different reasons. We are making significant efforts to improve gynaecological services in general. I might prepare a note for the Deputy on that. I do not want to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Which fund is it?

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is unfortunate that the Kerry-Tyrone match will not be televised either on RTÉ or on TG4 this weekend. I appreciate that not all matches can be televised but I would have anticipated that the biggest matches and those that command the most interest should be. I understand that Ms Forbes has resigned as a director of GAAGO, but I do not know if there was any conflict of interest.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Government has not made any decision on pay increases for senior civil servants or the CEOs of State companies. That is not to say that requests are not made. People at all levels will look for pay increases, particularly when general pay is rising across the economy and the cost of living is also rising. Any decision we make will be subject to recommendations from an independent...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I absolutely support that. I had a chance to meet Dr. Ní Shúilleabháin a few weeks ago when she presented the report to me in my office. 1 o’clock I would be very keen that the Oireachtas committee would take a look at the report and do as other Oireachtas committees did, that is, break it down into recommendations that we can act on, and then the Government will...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: If it is okay, I will come back to the Deputy with a further reply. I am not exactly sure where that legislation is and whether there is still time to consider amendments or not.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will come back to the Deputy with a further reply, if that is okay.