Results 2,161-2,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: I would need another ten minutes to answer that one. The Deputy asked about several criteria-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----concerning two different schemes.

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Departmental Properties (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 to 22, inclusive, together. The Department's 2022 resource-efficiency action plan sets out a range of actions to improve the management of energy, water, material and waste resources within the Department and to increase sustainability awareness among staff. It also includes measures on levels of energy and water usage and waste produced by the...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Departmental Properties (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. On the question on protecting multinationals, the Government works with multinationals. We encourage them to invest here. There are 300,000 people in the State who work for multinationals, including in my constituency and that of the Deputy. Owing to the number employed and the contracts the multinationals issue, there are probably another 200,000 or 300,000 people...

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion: Departmental Properties (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I believe my Department has green procurement policies. I am not 100% sure, but I am not 100% sure for a very good reason, that is, the fact that I have no role in procurement. That is a matter for the Secretary General. I have no role whatsoever in awarding any contracts to any companies on behalf of my Department. I was asked about vehicles. The Department does not have any vehicles,...

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

Leo Varadkar: The first question came from my colleague, Deputy Durkan. I agree with his basic contention that we need to accelerate the implementation of Housing for All. We have made progress but we need to do a lot more and a lot quicker. I agree with what he said in that regard. There are lots of reasons for hope by the way. We have more house building than at any time since 2008, more first-time...

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

Leo Varadkar: We need to increase our efforts, ambition and delivery. Deputy Durkan is absolutely right in that regard - not just to say it or demonstrate it, but to do it. In regard to Deputy Boyd Barrett's question on protests, I have no difficulty at all with protests. They are an important part of democracy. They are not allowed in some countries which he champions, but they are allowed-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----in this country, provided the protests are peaceful.

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

Leo Varadkar: Are protests allowed to take place peacefully in Cuba and Venezuela?

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

Leo Varadkar: I am glad that it is on the record of the House that the Deputy is not supportive of Cuba. I thank him.

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. That is a revelation. I do apologise and withdraw-----

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

Leo Varadkar: I do apologise and withdraw it if I was mistaken in ever thinking that Deputy Smith and Deputy Boyd Barrett were ever supporters of Cuba.

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

Leo Varadkar: They have confirmed that they have never been supporters of Cuba. It is on the record of the House today. I have no problem or objection and I welcome peaceful protest. A number of Deputies referred to the motion of confidence. I note that we won by a margin of almost 20. We did not need the votes of Independent Deputies, but we had quite a lot of them, which is very welcome, and I...

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

Leo Varadkar: I think there are pros and cons. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that when the Government or the public sector builds something that it takes longer and costs more. That may be for very good reasons. It might be because the workers have better pensions or pay and because we have to go through certain public procedures, but it probably is the case that if the Government does...

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

Leo Varadkar: It might also displace workers and displace development from the private sector at a higher cost and take longer. We need to bear those things in mind too when we make decisions.

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

Leo Varadkar: I answered twice already in previous sessions.

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

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to respond to the Deputy's questions. I am at a slight disadvantage here in that it takes much longer to answer a question than to ask it. I may need the entire remainder of this session to do so.

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

Leo Varadkar: I was asked about emergency accommodation. There is more emergency accommodation coming on stream. As I have always said, emergency accommodation is not a solution. It is only a backstop and it is only a temporary solution that some people need sometimes. In many cases, it is for a few weeks or a few months. It is certainly our objective that if anyone needs emergency accommodation it...

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

Leo Varadkar: Sometimes it can be, but it is not usually for years. It is mostly for less than a year.

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

Leo Varadkar: As Deputy Boyd Barrett knows, it is often the case that when we drill into those individual cases it can be quite a complicated story. In some cases people have been offered social housing and they have not accepted it, perhaps for good reasons, and in other cases they may not be entitled to social housing at all. An increasing feature of people in emergency accommodation is that they do...