Results 6,761-6,780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Road Safety Education (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I very much welcome the Deputy's comments. This is certainly something we will consider in the context of the next road safety strategy which is in the process of being formulated. There are already many road safety programmes in schools, such as the Simon and Friends preschool programme, the Be Safe programme or the annual back to school campaigns. They offer a great deal of education in...

Sports Strategy (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: The question concerns the remit of the Irish Sports Council. In November 2011, the Government announced its programme of public service reform. A key deliverable of the reform programme will be the radical streamlining of State bodies. This measure will deliver enhanced service efficiencies and will offer significant long-term savings in the operation of State bodies through the sharing...

Sports Strategy (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I should say that the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, sends his apologies. He is on his way to Brussels for a meeting of European sports Ministers. In fairness to the Government, we do not merely talk about reducing the number of State agencies, we have actually done it. Coaching Ireland has been merged into the Sports Council, Dublin Tourism into Fáilte Ireland, and, as the Deputy knows,...

Sports Strategy (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I do not believe so. It is merely that funds are scarce, much more so than in the past and increasingly it makes sense for clubs to team up with schools or to come together and agree to share facilities where they can. One of the most interesting models I have seen is in France, where almost every municipality has a very high quality municipal sports centre which is shared by different...

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Allocations were made in 2011 under a special local authority sports capital initiative and also under an initiative for local authority swimming pools to improve access for people with disabilities and to make the pools more energy efficient. The sports capital initiative, which was developed following discussions with the County and City Managers Association, allocated funding to projects...

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Dooley should not believe everything he reads in the newspapers. Having been a Government party Member, I am sure he was amused by some of what he read in the newspaper, as I am now. Some 111 applications were eligible and all eligible applications were granted funding. Twice as many were ineligible. Of the applications from County Clare, funding was granted to Lees Road Sports and...

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: The second highest was Leitrim at €17.49 per capita.

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Leitrim is divided between two constituencies and there is no Government Deputy resident in Leitrim even though it is represented by Deputies from Roscommon and Sligo.

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Mayo came third, well behind at €10.76 per capita and Cavan, which has no Minister or Minister of State, came fourth at €9.60 per capita. Or a raw cash basis, Dublin got most as the most populous, at €1.74 million, followed by Cork, the second most populous, at €1.41 million. Everything that is in the newspapers may be the truth but not the whole truth. The past two Ministers with...

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know the answer to Deputy Wallace's question. It depends on the road in question. I do not know the answer to Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan's question but I undertake to ensure the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, responds to him in correspondence.

Swimming Pool Projects (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: There will be some initial allocation to swimming pools that were not funded last year. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, will announce it this week.

Tourism Industry (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 239 together. The Government recognises that tourism is important to all regions, employing an estimated 180,000 people, many in rural areas. The jobs initiative introduced last year and the Government's action plan for jobs 2012 recognise the vital contribution of tourism to employment, economic activity and foreign revenue earnings. The VAT...

Tourism Industry (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently no proposals to reconfigure the regions as this has been a recent reorganisation. I am not sure to what extent tourists even recognise the existence of regions in any case. People tend to visit destinations rather than a region created by a tourism body. People have been travelling to traditional tourism hot spots to which visitors have travelled for centuries and these...

Tourism Industry (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure I can spearhead such an initiative but if the Deputy has specific proposals I would be happy to have a meeting with him to see what can be done in this regard and involving those agencies. The most visited OPW site is the Rock of Cashel which is not situated in a traditional tourism hot spot, in the core of Ireland. It is crucial to develop a cluster of attractions because...

Tourism Industry (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: The website for the Gathering initiative is now active and it contains the information. The initiative will be launched on this Friday and more information will be available then. The events and festivals programme is not yet fully developed but we are getting there. There has been engagement with the City and County Managers' Association and also with the cultural institutions. The...

Sale of State Assets (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 22 together. The Deputies' questions relate to the State's shareholding in Aer Lingus. Two working groups were established by the Government in 2011 on State asset disposals, one to consider the best approach in progressing the proposed part-sale of ESB, and the other to undertake a similar analysis of a number of other State assets identified by...

Sale of State Assets (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Of course there is interest in the stake. The Deputy will be aware that Etihad has acquired 3% of Aer Lingus on the open market.

Sale of State Assets (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Those kind of discussions are commercially sensitive and do not necessarily involve me directly. It would not be appropriate for me to meet with individual potential buyers. It is being done through a group made up of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and my Department, and is led by NewERA.

Sale of State Assets (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's question would be better asked of Aer Lingus. It is a plc which the Government does not own or control. I cannot answer questions on behalf of Aer Lingus, or on behalf of Transaero for that matter. When I read reports about this in the media, which is where I heard about it, I contacted the chairman of Aer Lingus and the Government representatives on the Aer Lingus board to...

Sale of State Assets (9 May 2012)

Leo Varadkar: Have we done this already?