Results 39,821-39,840 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Durkan asked about the depth of discussion on the social issues most affecting people. That is very much what the Cabinet committee on social affairs and public services is all about. Health is dealt with separately, as is education and children, but that committee has a major focus on housing issues, in particular, and monitoring the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know. The Deputy will have to ask him. They have certainly been in touch with him, but that was only yesterday. On Deputy O'Callaghan's question on homelessness, I am happy to check up on what I said. I am always willing, unlike some others, to correct the record if I make errors. The point I made was that during the period in which the temporary winter eviction ban was in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 19, inclusive, together. I hosted the 40th British-Irish Council summit in Dublin on 24 November. The theme of the summit was transforming children's lives, tackling child poverty and improving well-being. There was an excellent discussion about approaches across the British-Irish Council members and the scope to share learnings. I outlined the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Brendan Smith raised legacy issues and referred to the Belturbet and Dublin-Monaghan bombings. On legacy issues and a possible interstate case, the legal advice the Government has received from the Attorney General on the UK Act is an essential contribution to our consideration of whether to take a case. Relevant Ministers are studying the advice, considering next steps and looking...

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Co-operation (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: He was not discussed. On water charges, any decision on that is a matter for the Northern Ireland parties. Water services have to be paid for. Water does fall from the sky but drinking water does not, nor is sewage and wastewater removed without considerable infrastructure and treatment plants. There are two options for paying: charges based on use, which is the most environmentally...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Climate Change Negotiations (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take questions No. 20 to 27, inclusive, together. I attended the World Climate Action Summit at the outset of the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP28, in Expo City, Dubai, on 1 and 2 December. The summit marked the commencement of two weeks of negotiations on climate change, including progressing the finance needed to mitigate and manage its...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Climate Change Negotiations (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy O'Sullivan referred to resistance to change from oil and gas companies and oil and gas-producing countries. I agree with Deputies Farrell, Durkan and O'Sullivan regarding our responsibility to scale up the use of renewables. Approximately 40% of the electricity we produce is from renewable sources. We are aiming for in the region of 80% by...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her question. As this is my last time to speak in the Chamber this year, I also want to thank the Ceann Comhairle, all colleagues in the House and particularly the staff of the Oireachtas, the members of the Press Gallery and others for all of the work they have done this year. I look forward to seeing everybody in the new year after a well-earned break. I would...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not dispute for a second that it is a sad reality that over 13,000 people will spend Christmas in emergency accommodation; in fact, I said so in my opening remarks. I cannot understand why the Deputy would try to claim I was saying otherwise because I did not. I also said what I thought was the solution, which is ramping up social housing, ramping up cost-rental housing and standing up...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: They are real stories that are representative of what is happening. I find more and more that when Sinn Féin spokespeople are on the radio and the TV and are talking about housing, they are not challenged at all when it comes to facts such as this. I hope that will change in 2024, namely, that when people go on radio and TV-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----they are properly challenged.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will read it out again. Some 80% of tenants surveyed said they were positive or very positive about renting. For 70% their rent had either gone down or stayed the same.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: On affordability, 30% was the median amount of their monthly income people paid on rents. These are not just individual stories; these are 2,000 representative stories. I do not understand why Sinn Féin representatives when appearing on the media are never challenged with these things.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The current situation in Gaza is intolerable. It is unacceptable that over 18,000 people have been killed so far, many of them children, and that the majority of the population of Gaza, about 2 million people, have been displaced. The death toll is shocking, and the relentless bombings and killing of innocent civilians must end. That is why I will continue to make the case in Brussels and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The answer is "Yes". The legal advice is that trade is an EU competence. Suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and imposing any form of trade sanctions can only be done on a Europe-wide basis. That requires a consensus and unanimity among all 27 member states. That is the position. It is a political fact, and it is also the legal advice. I am happy to clarify that again in this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----causing huge difficulty for the Palestinian population in the West Bank.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I refer again to trade sanctions. The only way it can be done is by means of EU competences, EU treaties, the law and unanimity.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. He is right to remember and recall the 700 people who were killed by the British Army in Northern Ireland and, indeed, those who were killed by loyalist terrorists. However, I want to be very clear; legacy should not be seen as a sectarian issue, because it is not one. It should not be couched in the terms of orange and green, or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We did try the diplomatic approach of persuasion and dissuasion-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----as well as trying to encourage, cajole and convince the UK Government not to proceed with that legislation. I stand over that approach because if we have to take a harder line, we can at least demonstrate that we exhausted all other options before taking that line. That was the right approach for lots of different reasons. We will have to make a decision on whether or not we will take...