Results 39,541-39,560 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of Scoil Mhuire. I do not have an up-to-date note on the matter, but I will be speaking to the Minister, Deputy Foley, during the week and will make sure she knows he has raised it again. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. I recently attended the Paris international humanitarian conference on Gaza convened by President Macron. The conference brought together leaders from the EU and leaders from the wider Middle East region, along with high-level representatives of UN agencies and NGOs active on the ground in Gaza, to consider the humanitarian crisis and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I have explained earlier on a number of occasions the Government's position on the ICC and also about the need to keep diplomatic relations open with Israel through its embassador. Deputy Alan Farrell spoke about what we can do at an EU level. It is fair to say that the European Union is not united when it comes to the conflict in Israel and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Trade Missions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I travelled to the Republic of Korea between 1 and 3 November, to participate in the team Ireland trade mission week, with the Ministers, Deputies Coveney, Harris, and McConalogue. This was the first team Ireland trade mission under the Government’s new trade and investment strategy and is a part of the Government’s commitment under the global Ireland strategy to increasing...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Trade Missions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Pacific strategy, which Deputy Haughey mentioned, was launched by the Tánaiste quite recently. Our relationship in the region is flourishing, including at political level. We have already exceeded our target of €100 billion in two-way trade with the region. The world around us has been transformed in recent years, not just by the pandemic but by geopolitical developments....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on Brexit and Northern Ireland was reconstituted as one of ten Cabinet committees established in January 2023. The Cabinet committee is intended to oversee the implementation of the programme for Government commitments regarding Brexit, Northern Ireland and ongoing related developments. Northern Ireland...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputies Haughey, Smith and others who raised the Northern Ireland Troubles legacy Act. Once again I state the Government believes this is the wrong approach to legacy and reconciliation. It is not supported by any of the major parties in Northern Ireland, which is significant. We have received legal advice from the Attorney General. This is an essential contribution to our...

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue once again in the Dáil. The Government's position, and the position of Ireland, is clear. We are calling for a ceasefire that will allow humanitarian aid to get into Gaza, including food, fuel, medicine or whatever is needed. We are calling for the hostages to be released and we believe a ceasefire can facilitate that. We are...

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

Leo Varadkar: The consequences are an investigation that is being carried out by the International Criminal Court, a body we support and to which we have provided additional funding as a meaningful action, precisely so that it can carry out the investigation it wants to carry out into activities in the occupied territories, by Israel, of course, but also by other militant groups, like Hamas, that may also...

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this important question. It was during my first term as Taoiseach that we ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. We are not a country that just ratifies a convention and then moves on. We are a country that makes sure we have done what we need to do before we ratify a convention and that is what we did on this occasion. It...

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

Leo Varadkar: We do not have a date for it at this stage but it remains Government policy and it remains a Government commitment to do exactly that during this term in office of this Government. The Minister is reviewing the steps needed to allow the optional protocol to be ratified. We will not wait for an optional protocol to the UN Convention to be ratified to make improvements in the lives of people...

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

Leo Varadkar: We will propose an amendment to People before Profit's motion tonight in which we will call on the House to deeply deplore the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the death of more than 11,000 people, almost half of whom were children, as a consequence of Israel's military actions in Gaza, condemn the barbaric acts on 7 October by Hamas in Israel and specifically condemn...

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

Leo Varadkar: Deputy, I am not. I appreciate why you have to say things like that, but I can absolutely guarantee that I am not. I am sorry you had to make that up, quite frankly. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was telling me about something else.

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

Leo Varadkar: In relation to Shannon, the US does not fly planes through Shannon to Israel. It does bring some of its troops to service people through to bases in Europe and other parts of the world, and has done that for a very long time. I have set out the rules in relation to the use of Shannon Airport for transit. I think that has happened to the Palestinian people for the past 75 years is...

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

Leo Varadkar: -----and killings, and that has to change. I hope that one of the things that can come out of this, if anything can come out of this, is a renewed effort from all sides - the West, the Arab world and the Islamic world - to demand a two-state solution to give the Palestinians the homeland they need.

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

Leo Varadkar: I am not an expert on terms like "genocide". My understanding of genocide is that it is an attempt to obliterate an entire nation or an entire people. For example, the Holocaust, or Shoah, and the killing of 6 million Jews, which was half the Jewish population, was certainly genocide, or an attempted genocide.

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

Leo Varadkar: We will look at it.

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. At the outset, I recognise that very many communities across the country, including in County Kerry, have accepted and even welcoming large numbers of Ukrainians and international protection applicants in the past few years. With respect to the Harmony Inn in Kingscourt, Killarney, the Minister has met the Kerry TDs, the mayors of Kerry and of Killarney, and the chief...

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

Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned in my earlier reply, a community engagement team has been established. It is engaging directly with elected representatives, relevant local than local authorities, the local development companies and other entities and individuals. The purpose of the community engagement team is to improve the flow of information regarding arrivals into areas and to help equip local...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I am not familiar with the issue Deputy McGrath has raised. Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, will be able to come back to him directly on it. There have been calls for statements on climate action, on the situation in Northern Ireland regarding the Assembly Executive not functioning and on violence against women and domestic and gender-based violence, in particular. I...