Results 2,401-2,420 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank members for this opportunity to appear before the select committee as they consider the 2023 Estimates for Votes 1 to 6, inclusive. A detailed briefing document for each of these Votes has been supplied to the committee in advance of the meeting. While I have certain responsibilities to the Oireachtas for administrative matters in some of these offices, they operate independently...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Go raibh maith agat a Theachta as do chuid ceisteanna. First, the Housing Commission has not yet reported or given us any advice on new targets. I think there may have been a leak from the commission, but we have yet to receive a report from it on new targets. I look forward to that report and I have met the commission so I have a rough idea of what it will propose but it has not done it...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have had the same experience as Deputy Mairéad Farrell of going to weddings and meeting friends and colleagues who still live in the parental home. The average age for somebody leaving the parental home in Ireland is now 28 years of age. It used to be 23 or 24 years of age. I was 23 years of age when I left home and I want us to get back to the point where the average age for people...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The number of free emergency accommodation units varies from week to week. It is not a set figure. People come in and out of emergency accommodation.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, obviously we are fully briefed on that by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, but there are different figures for the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, area and the various local authorities and the figure in Dublin varies a lot from the figures in other areas. We did take action during the period of the eviction ban. More than 5,000 new social homes were constructed. Some 450...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I echo Deputy English's comments. I express my thanks, both personally and on behalf of the Government, to everyone who has helped to accommodate people coming from Ukraine. It is easy to forget, but we have never seen anything like this in Ireland before. We were used to somewhere between 3,000 and 12,000 so 80,000 in one year is an extraordinarily big number. They are going to continue...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I believe migration is a good thing. If it was not for migration, I would not exist. My parents met in England when they were both migrants. My mother was an Irish nurse while my father was an Indian doctor. Migration has been broadly a good thing for Ireland. When I got into the big tech and pharma companies that are employing so many people and paying so much tax in Ireland, I see a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: First, I do not believe that the Good Friday Agreement is toast. We will mark 25 years of that agreement this year, 25 years of peace in Northern Ireland. Notwithstanding the fact that the-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Peace is probably the most important part of that. It is a fact that we do not have or at least we have very little political violence in Northern Ireland, and that both the British-Irish Council, BIC, and the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference are operating. Sadly, as Deputy Tóibín pointed out, the Assembly, the Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council are not....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has mentioned a lot of hypothetical things.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: If there is a massive increase in homelessness then we must figure out what is the best way to reverse that. Would the reimposition of an eviction ban for a number of months do that? It probably would not and I think what we would have to do then is step up our activities in other areas such as building more social housing; step up the work that we do to prevent homelessness; step up...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate and respect the Deputy's views on this. I have a different analysis, however. I am always open to the possibility that one can be proven wrong. I have been right about many things in the past and wrong about other things. We will always keep an open mind on policy decisions. With regard to Scotland, just because they are extending it does not mean it is the right thing to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I remember the Good Friday Agreement well. I was 18 or 19 years old at the time. It was the first time I was entitled to vote. I remember the enormous optimism of the time. I recall the result coming in. It was over 70%, which indicated that it had a majority of both communities supporting it, and that was crucial. Unfortunately, while the Good Friday Agreement is genius and is the way...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, some would, but would they be representative of their communities? That is one thing we would have to bear in mind. Would it be 50:50 or would it be 7:2 in terms of population? Would any decision made by a simple majority? Would we have to have a double majority of the communities or a double majority North and South? When I ask these questions, I get the impression people have not...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to hear the Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The conversation is happening. Certainly, as Taoiseach and Head of Government, I want to be part of it. It is a particularly sensitive time. Like the former Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, said the other day, I would much rather be talking about these matters in the context of a Westminster Framework that is done with an assembly and Executive that is up and running and functioning. It would...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No, thank you, Chairman.

Ceisteanna - Questions: An Garda Síochána (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and assisted by People Before Profit.