Results 2,141-2,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I hope that the Labour Party will join with us, and will be the Labour Party of Deputy Brendan Howlin and former Deputy Eamon Gilmore in opposing Sinn Féin's attempt to take away these schemes from first-time buyers.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ----and that is why I will oppose its motion in this week.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No, I do not accept that. We are making real progress and we need to build on the progress that has been made to date. These are ambitious targets. Let us not forget that we met our key target to build more new homes of different types last year. We built roughly 30,000 new homes in Ireland last year, exceeding our target. It should be borne in mind that this does not include student...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Housing is my priority and is a priority for the whole of the Government. I can absolutely guarantee that. We appreciate that the country is in the middle of a very deep housing crisis, a housing emergency that affects people in lots of different ways, including younger people and not-so-young people struggling to buy their first home, people paying high rents and people who are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will tell the Deputy what is happening in the real world. Last year, about 30,000 new homes were built in Ireland. In those homes are real people, with 30,000 families living in a home that did not exist last year. It is the kind of house-building we have not seen in this country in a very long time and we are going to build on that. Last year, more new social housing was provided than...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: National Security (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Our national security is always a primary concern for the Government, and we are carrying out substantial work in building and sustaining our security and capabilities across several sectors, including justice, defence, the economy, energy and cyber. The threat from republican paramilitaries is an ongoing priority and our authorities continue to work closely with their counterparts in...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committees (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Cabinet Committee on the Economy and Investment is due to meet on 25 May.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Referendum Campaigns (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As I announced on 8 March, the Government intends to hold a Referendum in November this year on gender equality as recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality and the Special Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality. The decision to hold one or more referendums on this issue is in line with commitments in the Programme for Government to respond to the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of the Taoiseach does not have any roles based in the European Union in Brussels. However, staff of the Department regularly avail of the opportunity to work in the European Commission under the National Experts in Professional Training (NEPT) and the Seconded National Experts (SNE) programmes. At present two officers of the Department are working in Brussels, both on the SNE...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Funding (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No funding or grant aid has been awarded by the Department to the organisations in question nor is it anticipated any funding will be made to them in 2023.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The details requested by the Deputy in respect of the period 2018 to date are set out in the table below. Year Number of staff who took sick leave 2018 90 2019 108 2020 64 2021 38 2022 80 2023 (to date) 33

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No bullying allegations have been made by staff of the Department in the past five years.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No employees of the Department were dismissed in the past ten years. However, during the period in question, four employees were not retained following completion of their probationary contracts.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Projects (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: An ongoing joint project between the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform is ‘Strengthening Policy Development and Strategic Foresight’which was initiated to enhance overall policy development and strategic foresight capabilities across the Civil and Public Service. A range of meetings between different groups have taken...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Functions (18 Apr 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The main responsibility for the public service modernisation, development and reform functions is vested in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. The Public Service Reform Plan aims to make the work of the public service more transparent, decision-making more accountable and service delivery more effective. From its inception in 2011 two reform plans have been...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is a fair question. He will not agree with the answer but I will give him one: there are differences. Ukraine, for a start, is a European country. It is a EU candidate country. It is an established recognised independent state, recognised by Ireland. It is a democratic state. It is one that upholds the human rights of its citizens. Also, Russia's expansion and imperialism does not...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The difference is that they were looked after. They were not forced to remain refugees for generations which sadly is what has happened to Palestinians in many other parts of the region. So there are parallels but there are also huge differences and I have just touched on a few. Deputy Haughey raised Melilla and Ceuta and migration. The recent tragic events in the Mediterranean...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It was discussed. The view from President Sánchez was that we should reform the entire EU energy market and the way it works. There are different views on that. We would regard the Iberian exception as exactly that. One of the issues that has arisen as a consequence of the price cap, and this was accepted and discussed at the meeting, is a big increase in the use of gas by Spain and...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 to 27, inclusive, together. I hosted the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, for a working lunch in Government Buildings on Thursday, 2 March. Ireland is currently marking 50 years of EU membership and Spain is advancing preparations for its Presidency of the EU Council in the second half of the year. Both our countries have...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Cabinet Committees (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: To help the Deputy, I do not know the answer to that question but will check and return to him.