Results 38,941-38,960 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----but in my time in office, we have quadrupled the number of new homes being built and the figure has doubled since I became Taoiseach the first time. We will do a lot more. To take social housing as an example, the Government has often been unfairly criticised for overreliance on the private market. In the past couple of years, we have seen the biggest expansion in social housing since...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No, it does not. That is the whole point and it is why the Deputy's arguments in the past couple of years around the approach taken to social housing by this Government and the party I lead have been so false. Tens of thousands more people are living in social housing than ten years ago and in percentage terms, there has been an increase as well. That is significant and it ought to be...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I spoke about the mica issue earlier in the Chamber. To add to that, the Act was commenced back in late June and regulations have been signed. The enhanced scheme is now open to new applicants. It provides an evidence-based system for additional counties and parts of counties to be designated as required following a technical assessment by the Housing Agency. The enhanced and current...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Mulvey report, entitled Dublin North East Inner City: Creating a Brighter Future, which was published in February 2017, contains recommendations for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin's north-east inner city. This report has been further supplemented by the north-east inner city strategic plan 2020-23. Implementation of the Mulvey report and the strategic plan is overseen...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. Deputy Cronin asked about the inner city drugs and alcohol task force. This ceased to function at the end of 2021 due to an impasse concerning the appointment of an independent chairperson and some other issues. The Government remains committed to tackling the drug and alcohol issues affecting the north inner city, in conjunction with community-based service...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 20, inclusive, together. The National Economic and Social Council advises me on strategic policy issues relating to sustainable, social and environmental development. The NESC is currently working in five main areas. The first is good jobs. The council is examining how good jobs could provide a mechanism to improve worker well-being, drive...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Economic and Social Council (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. As the House knows, Ireland is required to transpose the EU directive on adequate minimum wages and collective bargaining. I began the work of doing that during my previous role as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. On the adequate minimum wage side, there is not much that we have to do. Our laws are already up to the European...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Staff employed in the Department of the Taoiseach are aligned to existing Civil Service grades and paid on the appropriate pay scales which are published on Gov.ie. The table provides the salaries of the top ten highest paid civil servants in the Department of the Taoiseach. Grade: Gross Annual Salary: Secretary General € 242,250 ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: State Bodies (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The salary of the Chief Officer of the National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO), the only body under the aegis of my Department, is provided below in tabular format from 2020 to date. No other benefits, including loyalty payments/bonuses or other benefits-in-kind, were paid during this period. Payment is aligned to Civil Service pay scale of Assistant Secretary and increases...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Equipment (5 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The situation described has not arisen in the Department of the Taoiseach.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The new children’s hospital will be an incredible state of the art hospital, one of the best in the world, and nobody will be sorry that it was built. When people see it and parents experience the treatments their children receive there, nobody will say it was not worth it. I guarantee the Deputy that. It will be Ireland’s first digital public hospital,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is clear the cost of the hospital was substantially underestimated back in 2015 or 2016 at around €600 million. That was seven years ago. It is not a revelation to anyone that the hospital will take a lot more than the original €600 million estimate which was an underestimate at the time. We know what it costs now to build a massive hospital of this scale and it is a lot...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the Deputy's questions again, the hospital will be complete and handed over to the Government next year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We would anticipate patients using the hospital in the latter part of next year or early 2025. I am confident that those time lines will be correct. The budget allocated to the hospital is €1.433 billion. That is the budget allocated to it in 2018. It is going to cost more than €1.433 billion. Why do we not know how much more it will cost at this stage? First, the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I strongly condemn any cruelty towards animals. The incidents in the clips shown by RTÉ were repugnant and have been widely condemned across the farming and dairy sectors. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has sought the footage used in the programme to commence an investigation into these events. As Deputy Cairns rightly said, the reputation of the dairy and beef...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do appreciate where the Deputy is coming from, but I really think she has got this wrong. She is making excuses for people who engage in animal cruelty and break the law. She is making excuses for hauliers and truckers who break our road safety laws and laws in other countries by driving their trucks without breaks.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is making excuses for them, and I think that is the wrong approach.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It does not matter if someone engages in animal cruelty - it is the Government's fault. It does not matter if a trucker does not take rest breaks - it is the Government's fault.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy should not make excuses for people who perpetrate cruelty against animals-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and she should not make excuses for truckers who breach our road safety rules. It is totally the wrong approach, Deputy.