Results 39,181-39,200 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 and 41 together. The Cabinet Committee on Health oversees Programme for Government commitments relating to health and receives detailed reports on identified policy areas. It considers the progress of health reforms including Sláintecare, the reform of disability services and the development of mental health services. The Cabinet...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Cabinet Committee on the Economy and Investment was re-established in January 2023 and last met on 25 May. The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled for 16 November.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I travelled to New York to attend the UN General Assembly’s high-level week from 17 until 22 September. I delivered Ireland’s statement at the UN’s SDG Summit, which highlighted the need to get back on track with reaching the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Leaders also adopted the Summit’s Political Declaration which Ireland co-facilitated with Qatar. I...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63, 64, 65 and 66 together. The Cabinet Committee on Children and Education oversees the implementation of commitments in the Programme for Government commitments in the area of children and education. Including further and higher education, with a specific focus on child poverty and well-being. The Cabinet committee enables a greater focus on improving the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: An Garda Síochána (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 127, 128, 129, 130, 131 and 132 together. A Policing Service for our Futureis the Government’s Plan to implement the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The Plan has four distinct phases as follows: ·Building Blocks ·Launching ·Scaling ·Consolidation Further information on these phases and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Data Protection (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Please see the accompanying table setting out two instances of a data breach identified within the Department during the past decade. In both cases the Department provided an explanation and apology to the two individuals affected with one occurring in 2016 (pre GDPR) and one in 2022. YEAR Department of the Taoiseach No. of Personal Data Breaches 2013 ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: European Union (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I wrote to the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkievicius, in September regarding the Irish derogation under the Nitrates Directive. In my letter, I joined the invitation extended to him by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to visit Ireland in the near future and to meet with us and representatives of the farming sector. I...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I had the opportunity for a short conversation with President Biden at the reception he hosted, together with First Lady, Dr Jill Biden, for Leaders attending United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week in New York. I updated him on developments in relation to Northern Ireland, including recent British legislation on legacy cases, setting out our deep concerns on its implications;...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I had a bilateral meeting with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on 18 September while in New York for UN General Assembly high-level week. The Secretary General thanked Ireland for its strong and sustained support for the United Nations as the core of rules-based international order. We discussed the Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals which we had both addressed...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Child Poverty (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Child Poverty and Well-being Programme Office published its initial work programme for the next two and a half years From Poverty to Potential: A Programme Plan for Child Poverty and Well-being 2023-2025on 1stAugust 2023. The initial Programme focuses on six areas that will have the greatest effect on the lives of children who experience poverty. These six areas are: 1)Income supports and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Policies (3 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The National Cyber Security Centre have in recent months provided all Government Departments with high-level guidance focussing on the data, privacy and security risks related to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). The Department of the Taoiseach does not currently use artificial intelligence services.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her question. I am very much aware of the student protest that is taking place today. In Ireland in 2023, there are more people attending third-level and higher education than ever was the case in the past. People attending higher education and further education come from more diverse and more non-traditional backgrounds than ever was the case in the past. Students...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledged there is a problem. In fact, I said so in my earlier contribution. I said that student accommodation can be hard to find and can be expensive, and I set out exactly the actions that we have taken already to deal with that. Of course, we will take more in the budget and beyond. Why did Deputy McDonald seek to misrepresent what I said? Why did she seek to put words in my...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----that there is a mass one-way exodus of Irish citizens, Irish nationals and young people from our country. The truth is different. For centuries, Irish people had to leave in huge numbers and did not come home. It is different now. Yes, 80,000 Irish citizens and Irish nationals, many of them young people, left in the past three years, but 90,000 came back. Why will Deputy McDonald...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is absolutely correct about one thing, which is that employers are struggling to recruit and retain staff. It is the case in the public sector and in the private sector, in big companies and small companies and in well-paid jobs and poorly-paid jobs. The main reason for this is full employment. The unemployment rate in Ireland stands at or around 4%, and most of the people...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will have an opportunity to ask a question and I promise not to interrupt him when he is asking it. Turning to the HSE specifically, my Department chairs the State lands and property subgroup, which monitors the progress being made on this issue and the actions being taken by the HSE and other agencies and Departments to transfer State lands to the Land Development Authority,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The approach we are taking to vacancy is one of carrot and stick. On one hand, we have, for example, grants that people can avail up to bring old buildings back into use. There are already 4,000 applications in for that scheme already. We also set up a fund of €150 million in order that local authorities can purchase vacant properties and bring those back into use. This is now...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is this Government that brought in statutory sick pay.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is this Government that brought in parental leave. We have a much better record when it comes to employment and workers' rights than the Labour Party ever does on any objective analysis.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Do the analysis.