Results 39,221-39,240 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy asked me about support for the Irish language and the Irish language strategy.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to come back. I am sorry, I did miss that part of the Deputy's question. We do not have a proposal at the moment to have any additional Cabinet sub-committees. The Cabinet sub-committees that we have tend to take groups of Departments rather than a sub-division of a Department. It is something we will give some thought to.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6 together. Through the Government's shared island initiative, we are engaging with all communities to build consensus around a shared future and delivering benefits for the whole island. The Government has so far allocated almost €250 million from the shared island fund, moving forward with our commitments and objectives in this area in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Programmes (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputies for their questions. I will start with Deputy Brendan Smith, who asked the first question. He made the case in particular for making sure that the voices of disadvantaged young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, both North and South, from the Border area should be part of the dialogue. I think that is the case but I will double-check that it is with the unit, which...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Risk Assessment (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 11, inclusive, together. The national risk assessment has been prepared since 2014 and provides an opportunity to identify and discuss significant risks which may arise for Ireland. The experience of the past number of years has brought home the importance of work in the area of risk management and preparedness. By promoting an open and inclusive...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Risk Assessment (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I again thank Deputies for their questions. Deputy Smith touched on the risk of terrorism, which remains a live risk and, I am afraid, not one we can be complacent about. Essentially, we have documented three categories of risk. The first is an attack from a loyalist or republican paramilitary organisation; the second is a domestic attack, perhaps from our own far right, far left or some...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Risk Assessment (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There is international engagement. Deputy Ó Murchú will have seen from the operation that took place off the coast of Wexford only last week that the authorities are in touch with each other. I may have picked him up wrong, but I think the point the Deputy is making is that any change in our laws will impact elsewhere. That is evident in Portugal and the Netherlands. Germany is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 to 15, inclusive, together. On 9 August, I visited Belfast for political, business and civic engagements, which included meetings with the five main parties in Northern Ireland. In those meetings, we discussed the window of opportunity this autumn for forming the Executive and getting the Assembly back in place and I listened carefully to each of their...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. PEACEPLUS is a really good programme. If you calculate how much money is being made available, which is over €1 billion, you can see that it is more than the previous INTERREG and PEACE programmes combined, so that is very positive. It benefits 12 counties, not just the six counties of Northern Ireland, but also the six Border counties,...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Proposed Legislation (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No legislation has been brought forward by the Department of the Taoiseach in the period specified.

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her question. I reiterate Ireland's total condemnation of the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life it has caused. Civilians were targeted. Young people, older people, children, peace activists were killed or taken hostage. In these circumstances, Israel has the right to defend itself. It is surrounded by enemies, many...

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

Leo Varadkar: The baseline position of the Irish Government is that we can only bring peace to the region through a two-state solution. That becomes increasingly difficult with every day that passes and every settlement that is built, but we still believe the best and only solution that will bring peace to the region is a two-state solution, and that is the outcome we strongly support. There has to be a...

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

Leo Varadkar: I agree with Deputy Bacik's broad comments, that those two statements should not be contradictory. It is very sad that in so many parts of the world, including in the US and in large parts of Europe, it is not possible to say what Deputy Bacik just said. Thankfully, in Ireland it is possible to say it. The Palestinian people do have the right to self-determination and to seek the...

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

Leo Varadkar: We often talk about the term "culture wars" and I am not even sure what the term means sometimes, but some of the discourse I have seen online makes it feel like some sort of culture war, that you have to choose sides and you have to be either entirely on one side or on the other. However, we all know the world is more complicated than that. Wrongs have been committed on both sides. This...

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

Leo Varadkar: I believe Israel has the right to exist. Israel was established by the United Nations in accordance with international law. It has the right to exist. I hope the Deputy will agree and will say that in his follow-up response. As any sovereign state, it has the right to defend itself when it is under attack. I can understand why Israel needs to take action to root out terrorists and people...

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

Leo Varadkar: I am disappointed in the Deputy's remarks.

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

Leo Varadkar: He mentioned UN resolutions. Israel was established by a UN resolution. He did not say that. Israel is a sovereign state. It is the closest thing to a democracy in that region. It has a right to exist and defend itself.

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

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy may describe it as-----

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

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy may well describe it as an apartheid state-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----but let me ask him this. The Deputy and I could live our lives freely in Israel, me as a gay man and the Deputy as a revolutionary socialist. Neither of us would be able to live our lives freely in Gaza. We would not, because of the oppression that would be imposed on people like the Deputy and me.