Results 39,881-39,900 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 10, inclusive, together. A comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed Covid-19 will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with the pandemic. It will include a review of the whole-of-government response to the pandemic and how we might do better and be in a stronger position if another pandemic or other...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: On Deputy Tóibín's questions, look, I was there in government both as Taoiseach and Tánaiste for that very dark period which was the pandemic. These were very difficult decisions to make. Everyone can be an expert in hindsight. We can only make decisions based on the information available and the advice that was put to us by experts. I have no doubt that the lockdowns saved...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Even for something like Garda numbers, if we had not closed Templemore there would be 1,000 more gardaí today. These things have real consequences but they were difficult decisions. It was never a case of choosing between the right option and the wrong option. It was choosing between options A, B and C, all of which had pros and cons.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Often those decisions were finely balanced. The public health advice more often than not was for deeper, longer, stricter lockdowns. That was often the view of the Opposition, too, indeed some even flirted with the bizarre zero Covid policy which has proven to be among the worst options when we see the effects that occurred, or certainly not a sustainable option as it was abandoned by all...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: That is definitely not a model that we will be following. In the election we will be encouraging people not to vote for Sinn Féin or for left wing parties precisely because that is what they want to do in Ireland. It is not a good thing. On long Covid, early in the pandemic the HSE identified a need for a national service for long Covid and to set up a multidisciplinary team to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I will be consulting with the Opposition parties on Thursday and am happy to go through it all then.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Church-State Relations (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Like public representatives generally, I meet church leaders informally from time to time in the course of attending official or public events. The most recent formal meeting between the Office of the Taoiseach and the church leaders took place on 15 April 2021, when the now Tánaiste met the leaders of all the Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Church-State Relations (23 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. On Deputy Tóibín's question, I put on the record that the Government is very grateful for and recognises the work done by the religious in Ireland and all over the world. Given the scandals that have affected churches and religious bodies and given the existence of religious extremism in the world, sometimes that can be forgotten, but it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. As I said yesterday, the Government does not want to see investment funds buying up family homes that could be bought by individual families for their own use. That is why we changed the law in 2021 in respect of new planning permissions. This particular development got planning permission in 2019 and therefore does not fall under the law we changed in 2021. That is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: No, there is tax on the dividends.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I would genuinely like to see those figures and to have a few hours to interrogate them. The law was changed in 2021. If I remember correctly, it was changed in the course of the year, so what would be particularly interesting to see are the numbers for 2022 and 2023 because that is when the change would have had an effect.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: As I say, I would like to see them and interrogate them. To come back to what the Deputy said in respect of tax, companies and people are taxed differently. If you are an individual, such as a landlord, you pay income tax. Companies do not pay income tax. They never have. Companies pay corporation profit tax and when they issue a dividend to their shareholders, those shareholders pay...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. At the outset, I want to acknowledge that there are far too many people in Ireland waiting far too long to see a specialist or get the operation they need, and that our emergency departments are very busy at the moment and that is putting staff under a lot of pressure. I am really sorry that Mr. Sheehan's grandfather had the experience...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Again, for the information of the House, we hired an extra - and I mean extra - 1,019 medical and dental staff last year. We hired an extra 2,100 nurses and midwives last year and an extra 929 health and social care professionals. Yes, there are lots of people coming and going - we have an international labour market when it comes to healthcare - but we are doing pretty well in terms of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his interest and knowledge on this matter. It goes without saying that the greatest drug of use and misuse in this State is alcohol and it is legal. It is associated with public order offences, child abuse and violence against women. It is associated with acute disease and chronic disease. It makes mental health worse. It is associated with suicide, public order...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I used to be a sceptic of citizens' assemblies, but over the past five or ten years I have become a fan of them. They can be really effective. We do not always accept the recommendations, nor do we have to, but we always consider them. When you put in front of 100 citizens all of the evidence, all the experts and all the advice, sometimes they come up with very good recommendations. As I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I have to be honest - I am quite disappointed in the question the Deputy asked. I can see the faces of many people around this House, who I think agree with me. I think the killing and the death of Ashling Murphy was one of those events that really touched the nation. I remember it so well. I remember the outpouring of grief for that young woman who was killed in the way she was. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: It is really wrong. The evil person who killed poor Ashling Murphy was an EU citizen who had been in the country for the best part of ten years, working and paying taxes. That is how he acquired his rights to social welfare and other things. Sadly, he turned on that girl, for whatever reason he did, and killed her. To connect that to international protection and refugees coming to this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Sadly, people from all sorts of backgrounds and of all sorts of genders, races, religions and colours commit crimes. To conflate crime and violence against women, in particular, with migration is profoundly wrong and profoundly dangerous.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, you did.