Results 2,201-2,220 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I fully concur with everything the Deputy said and with her sentiments. We made a decision at Cabinet on Tuesday to publish the report and agreed there would be a statutory inquiry chaired by a judge or former judge. The Tánaiste is committed to getting that up and running as soon as possible. It requires a motion in the Dáil. Ideally we would like to have that done and the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know if the Government has any influence on Corrib Oil. I do not think I have ever had any engagement with the company. Legislation to strengthen people's right to be represented by a trade union is planned. It derives from an EU directive on minimum wages and collective bargaining. We have set out a roadmap to do that, but the legislation will take some time. It is absolutely...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The EU Unified Patent Court is now up and running and we are keen for Ireland to be part of it. It requires a referendum and, as we all know, referendums in Ireland are not straightforward and can often lead to extraneous arguments being thrown into the mix and so on. We are keen to get it right and win it. It is a simple question. Do we want to join this court or not? The treaty is...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: This matter has been raised with me by Senator Ahearn and Deputies Lowry and Cahill. It pertains to two Garda stations, namely, new ones that are needed in Clonmel and Macroom. They are very much needed. They are part of the PPP bundle with the family law complex in Dublin.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: If we stick with that, it will take forever, so we are examining unbundling it, which would allow us to go ahead with the Garda stations in Clonmel and Macroom quite quickly, certainly in the next year or so. We are working out the details and legal issues that relate to doing that. It requires bringing forward some spending, but if we take a long-term view, it would be cheaper to do it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Thanks very much, Deputy. There are a lot of vacant homes around the country. The Deputy sees them on his travels - I see them on my travels as well - around the country. That is particularly the case in more rural areas like south Kerry. Our colleague, Deputy Griffin, has documented this and photographed it. He has done a whole dossier on it, which he has shared with me. Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think that a CPO should ever be the first option, but it should be an option that we have if people refuse to sell or bring a property into use and sit on a derelict property for years. That is why we have the fund to do that. Some local authorities have led the way on that. Others have been far too slow. The whole issue of vacant properties is a very interesting one. The...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. It will absolutely be survivor centred and survivor led, but it will be chaired by a judge or retired judge. Very simply, the timeline is as soon as possible. In fairness to the Tánaiste, though, he wants to engage with the people most affected by this before coming up with terms of reference and committing to a timeline. I think that is only reasonable. There...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important and sensitive issue. In Ireland in the round, we have really good palliative care provided by some really top-class professionals. End-of-life care has improved considerably down the years, including our hospices, hospice home care and paediatric palliative care, particularly with the State funding of the LauraLynn hospice, which I was involved...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Regarding palliative care provision in south Tipperary and the south east, I am told there are two clinical nurse co-ordinators for children with life-limiting conditions in the south east. They support the provision of safe care in the home. They are working to ensure a care plan based on patient need is in place in each case. However, there is something amiss here. We need a sustainable...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I again ask all Sinn Féin Deputies, Senators and councillors to please do so.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this important issue, which is being discussed across the country today. The report of the independent review group is shocking. It will shock anyone who reads its. Issues with bullying and harassment in the Defence Forces, some of a sexual nature, has been reported on before but never so starkly. It is clear that attempts made to change things - and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There are a number of recommendations in the report, 13 in total, and we have accepted them all. There are some we can implement very quickly. For example, we can enact legislation to amend the Defence Act 1954 to provide a legislative basis to enable allegations of any type of sexual assault in the Defence Forces to be referred to An Garda Síochána rather than the internal...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We do not believe that extending the winter eviction moratorium to December, or January, or April, or whatever the Deputy’s policy is this week, is a solution. We think it will just make homelessness worse, but at a later point. The solution is a different one: it is more social housing, it is the tenant in situ scheme, it is more supply, it is tax changes to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I did not say that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I think I have answered that question four or five times now, both this week and last. The only thing the Deputy’s ears are deaf to is the answer because she just does not want to hear it. She has renewed her call to me - fair enough. Let me renew my call to her. There are three ways in which the Sinn Féin Party can help us to alleviate this terrible...

Confidence in Government: Motion (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I know the Labour Party does not have confidence in this Government, but it seems to me that it has long lost confidence in itself. It does not know whether to stand over its decisions in government, and say it would do it all again for the good of the country if given the chance, or whether like a character from The Crucible, it should deny its own truth, recant, confess, and purge itself...

Confidence in Government: Motion (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is a truth never acknowledged, but I am going to say it. Every party in this House seems to believe the housing crisis was terribly mismanaged, except for the periods when they were in government. It is remarkably convenient, but not coherent. No wonder Sinn Féin is so happy. It gets to be consistent and direct its ire at everyone, including the Labour Party. Of course, if one...

Confidence in Government: Motion (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I move: That Dáil Éireann reaffirms its confidence in the Government. This is a good Government of three parties working together. We led Ireland through the pandemic, saving lives and livelihoods. We have secured a new agreement on Northern Ireland and Brexit, preventing a hard border. We have helped families and businesses to weather the cost-of-living crisis through...

Confidence in Government: Motion (29 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is about competition for attention on the Opposition benches and on the left wing of politics and-----