Results 39,601-39,620 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. He may recall that in the 2020 election, the parties that form the Government, namely, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, won 51% of the vote. That is why we are the Government and Sinn Féin is not. Let us not forget that. Getting a plurality of the vote is not a majority; quite far from it. When it comes to the issue the Deputy raises, the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As is so often the case, the Deputy's passion is phoney. Sinn Féin voted for the pension age to be 66 in Northern Ireland. Why should people in Northern Ireland have a different retirement age from people in the Republic of Ireland? Is it because there are two Sinn Féins? It just does not make sense. If the Deputy cannot explain why his party voted for a pension age of 66 in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ----while advocating for 65 in the Republic of Ireland, then he does not have a coherent case. I will be interested to see if Sinn Féin proposes in its next manifesto what it proposed in its last, which was a massive 40% increase in employers' PRSI-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----which would have been an anti-jobs measure. That is absolutely true.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It would have been an anti-jobs measure and would have cost jobs.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: When it comes to the pension age and the retirement age, the Deputy and I were both born in the 1970s. At that time, the pension age in Ireland was 70 and the average life expectancy for a man was 68. All the calculations, going back through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, were based on the idea that people would pay into the Social Insurance Fund for 30 or 40 years and only be retired for a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy very much. I join the House in welcoming the news that there will be a four-day ceasefire in Gaza, to be observed by all sides: Israel, Hamas and the other armed groups in the territory. I recognise the role of the US Government and the Qatari Government in mediating this welcome ceasefire. The ceasefire will facilitate the release of 50 hostages being held by...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Sadly, the Israeli Government does not listen to us. I am not sure the Israeli Government listens to anyone anymore. They used to listen to the Americans but I am not even sure that is even the case anymore. As President Biden said, they are at risk of being "blinded by rage". It is a sad reality that I am not sure that any action or statement by us, the European Union or the US will...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That does not necessarily mean we do not do the right thing, and we have increased our humanitarian aid to Gaza and Palestine. We have provided additional funding to the International Criminal Court so it can fund the investigation into war crimes that may have been committed in the Palestinian territories. We will continue to press the matter at UN and EU levels. As the Deputy knows, when...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have had occasion a number of times in recent years, including in the Deputy's company once or twice, to visit areas that have been flooded and to witness first-hand the devastation experienced by homeowners, farmers and business people when the flood waters come in. I also know that flood relief schemes work. Approximately 50 schemes have been done in the past ten or 11 years in Bandon,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: On the Deputy's question, which was initially a straight one on emergency powers, the OPW and local authorities do not have emergency powers to expedite schemes arising from damage caused by flooding events and all schemes must meet regulatory and planning requirements. Works for flood relief schemes on an emergency basis were attempted and the Deputy mentioned Lough Funshinagh in County...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We did reduce taxes in the budget, both the USC and income tax, and people will see that reflected in their pay slips in January. I am glad we were able to do exactly that. I am also glad to report that inflation is now easing. It is now at approximately half the rate it was at this time last year and needs to fall further. Those are the facts. I stand over what the Government is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I really think the Deputy is all over the place, quite frankly. A minute ago he was criticising us for increasing the minimum wage and then two minutes later he was saying he thinks it is right that there should be an increase in the minimum wage and that people should be paid more. He talks about an employee in the HSE being paid €974,000. There is no employee in the HSE paid...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The recruitment freeze the Deputy referred to does not apply to nurses, midwives, GPs-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It does not apply to consultants-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: First, I want to clarify, from the HSE CEO's memo of 10 November, that the recruitment freeze does not apply to consultants, graduate nurses and doctors or anyone who has been given a formal offer already. That runs until the end of the year and next year, the HSE can hire an additional 2,000 staff, and that will include nurses and midwives. In relation to vacancy, the approach we are...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have never argued, and nor has anyone on this side of the House, that the vacant home tax was some sort of silver bullet. A set of measures is needed - incentives and disincentives, carrot and stick - and that is exactly what we are doing. If anything is shown by the work done by the Revenue Commissioners on the vacant home tax, it is that those who argued in this House that 150,000 homes...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Our preference is to build social housing and that is exactly what we are doing - building thousands of new social homes every year, whether it is through councils or approved housing bodies. In some cases, we will purchase them. That makes sense too, particularly in areas where it is less expensive to purchase a home than to build one. There is a role for leasing, too, but it is not the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know he has a particular interest in the issue of rare diseases and has raised it many times in the Chamber. I am not sure what the date is for publication of the new plan but I will check with the Minister for Health and revert to the Deputy directly by correspondence.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (22 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I agree it is not acceptable that people should wait that length of time. As the Deputy is aware, our target is that nobody should wait more than ten to 12 weeks to see a specialist or to have an operation or investigation they need. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of people still have to wait longer than that time. In terms of the particular waiting list referred to by the Deputy, I...