Results 2,021-2,040 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will speak to Deputy Burke about this issue later today.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to come back to him on this issue. There is a medical cannabis programme, as the Deputy knows, but there are still differing views in the medical profession in particular as to the clinical efficacy and appropriateness of prescribing cannabis. That is part of the issue. Supply is another issue.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There are now university towns all over Ireland and that will make a big difference into the future. There is also the Department of Rural and Community Development, which I established in 2017, which was initially under Deputy Ring and now under the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. Everyone acknowledges the amount of investment we are seeing in our towns, villages and rural counties, whether it...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Alongside the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, I will meet with Macra later. I would like to be able to meet their members at the gates but, as the Deputy knows, I will be in the Chamber until 3 p.m. or so. However, I will meet them to discuss their ideas and suggestions this afternoon and will be happy to greet them in Government Buildings and not for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is important and it goes against the false narrative that Sinn Féin tries to put across regularly. We know from the CSO figures that unemployment in every county in Ireland is close to an all-time low.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Ceann Comhairle knows why they interrupt me. It is not because I am saying things that are not true. The population in every county is now increasing. There are no exceptions.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I just do not agree with the Deputy’s approach to this. I would not pit sport against the equestrian industry in Ireland. We have increased funding dramatically for sport over the past couple of years and we will continue to do so. There was a time when the budget for sport in Ireland was something like €7 million. It is now around €150 million and we will continue to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is worth about €1 billion a year. I think it is wrong. If the Deputy wants to do it down, he can do them down but he should not try to pit it against sport. That is not fair.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned earlier, I look forward to meeting Macra representatives later this afternoon. We need more young farmers. We have lots of farmers in Ireland who are in their 60s and 70s often because they do not have a successor. I would be interested to hear from Macra representatives the ideas they have to improve succession because we need more young farmers. We are about to enter a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I hear what the Deputy is saying about housing. It bothers me deeply that so many young and even not so young people find it so difficult to buy their first home. What gives me great encouragement is that we are now seeing about 400 first-time buyers per week, a really encouraging figure that is the highest since the Celtic tiger period. Because couples are counted as one person and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I again thank Deputy Harkin for raising this important issue. I do not dispute the numbers quoted by the Deputy and I agree with her that strong regions benefit the entire country. However, as I often say and as is often said to me, GDP is not everything. GDP must come with a very big health warning. The presence of Apple alone throws the numbers for GDP in the south-west region while the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: If the assembly requests a meeting in the normal way, I will certainly give it favourable consideration but it is not my practice to agree to meetings in the Chamber. It is not fair on other people or bodies that do not have a TD to make the request for them in the Chamber. The point I was making as is often made to me is that GDP is not everything, whether it is comparisons within...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We have a retail forum through which the Government engages with retailers. It is very much on the agenda of the forum to ensure that prices will not increase too much or by more than is justified, given the input costs. The Deputy is not entirely correct in what he said about the national minimum wage. Since the national minimum wage was established, it has gone up by more than the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for raising this important issue. I acknowledge, on behalf of the Government, that we have a very genuine teacher recruitment and retention challenge. I also acknowledge that this is not unique. We are in a period of full employment. There is no sector of the economy in which we do not have labour shortages. Whether it is well-paid jobs or poorly paid jobs, the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: My answer is twofold. In the last budget, which only kicked in in January, there was a tax package that I fought hard for. That tax package resulted in income tax being reduced for 2 million people, including the vast majority of mortgage holders in the State and Deputy McDonald's party voted against that. It is a simple fact that workers in Ireland would pay more income tax under Sinn...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Sinn Féin voted against that. People today would pay more income tax under Sinn Féin than they do under the current coalition. When it comes to the next budget, there will be a tax package.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It will be as generous as we can afford, but we will have to take into account all of the other suggestions that are put forward for tax concessions. It does not make sense, and it would not be prudent or responsible, for us to come into this House every month or every other month and make income tax changes. That is not the way to run a country. I hope if Deputy McDonald ever has the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: First, I acknowledge the fact that prices are rising and rising rapidly in Ireland. For the first time in a long time we are seeing prices rise faster than incomes, but we think that will not be the case this year. Inflation will show down this year and we do expect to see not just nominal wage growth but real wage growth this year. To give one small example, the minimum wage increased by...

Rent Reduction Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is on the world wide web if anybody wants to see it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her question. I start by acknowledging the presence of a large number of third year students from CBS Portlaoise who are in the Visitors Gallery. They are most welcome. The Deputy mentioned evidence relating to the housing crisis in her introductory remarks. There is real evidence today of the kind of progress we are now making when it comes to housing, released...