Results 2,421-2,440 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: It is very interesting debating-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----members of People Before Profit in the Chamber. You are interesting people, you are passionate and I enjoy listening to your questions and you often raise pertinent issues I sometimes have not considered, but are you sure you are not a bit bonkers? Do you really think there is going to be a conspiracy-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----involving all those people to overthrow a left-wing Government?

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

Leo Varadkar: In regard to Garda numbers, we want to build safer and stronger communities, and that means supporting gardaí and making sure they are supported, feel supported, and that it is a good career choice. The budget provides for 1,000 additional Garda recruits this year and we believe that will be adequate to cover retirements and resignations. The resignation rate from An Garda...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Policy (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: In response to the Chair's call earlier and Deputy McDonald's comment, I will finish on time. I thank Deputies for their questions on Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022 report, which is the matter for discussion. As Deputies know, I meet all the time people who are investors, business people or employers. Of course housing and infrastructure are issues they raise. They also say...

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

Leo Varadkar: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 14 go 16, go huile, le chéile. A Policing Service for our Future is the Government’s plan to implement the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Implementation of the plan is being overseen by a dedicated programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach and has entered the final consolidation phase, with many...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Policy (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to comply. I will stop when the clock stops. I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 13, inclusive, together. The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council published its annual competitiveness challenge report in September 2022. The report makes recommendations to the Government across a range of policy areas. On 29 November 2022, the Government published a formal...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: My office has asked me to make a correction regarding an answer I gave earlier on. I think I said that, north of the Border, about 2,000 social homes had been built. That was incorrect – I was overgenerous. In 2021, it was 763. In 2022, it was 1,356 against 8,000 here. I remember Deputy McDonald was asked in an interview – I think it was on "The Late Late Show" –...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Regarding the all-island women's forum report, the forum has received funding for a second year of work through the reconciliation fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which is welcome. The Government looks forward to continuing to interact with the forum as the latter continues its deliberations. Government Departments are considering the recommendations made by the forum in its...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not have a date for the start of the Epilim inquiry. I understand that a number of cases have been settled in the courts but that is a separate matter from the inquiry. I will check in with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and ask him to give the Deputy an update on that. On the Irish Water issue, I note this was on a Topical Issue matter last night. The Minister...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 7, go huile, le chéile. As provided for in the programme for Government, we are taking forward our shared island investment objectives and working with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. In my discussions to date with political party leaders in Northern...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which Deputy O'Dowd has also raised on a number of occasions. I once again commit to the establishment of an inquiry this year to examine how the pandemic was handled in Ireland. This will not only examine the health aspect and what happened in hospitals, nursing homes and testing centres and with vaccines, but also the wider economic and...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Last week, the HSE published a summary report on the investigation into the protected disclosure made into the handling of Covid-19 in St. Mary's Hospital community nursing unit. During the period in question, 83 of the 146 residents were confirmed to have tested positive for Covid and, sadly, 22 died as a result. I do not know why the report has not been published in full. There may be a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is committed to building safer and stronger communities across Ireland. For that reason, we allocated funding in the budget to recruit 1,000 gardaí this year. We believe this will be more than enough to cover retirements and resignations. The deployment of gardaí and the location of senior gardaí is a matter for the Garda Commissioner rather than the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I absolutely agree that we are experiencing a housing emergency in Ireland. That is why we have taken so many emergency actions down the years and in the last few months to try to deal with it. However, describing something as an emergency does not, in itself, change anything. You have to take actions. That is why we built more social housing last year than in any year in my lifetime or...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge on behalf of the Government that the waiting times for driving tests are too long. They are averaging at 20 or 21 weeks across the country. The service level agreement says ten weeks, so nobody should have to wait more than ten weeks for a driving test appointment. The reason the delays are happening is because there has been a 30% increase in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to check with the Tánaiste before informing the Deputy of the exact up-to-date position. This is something that is in development and under discussion at the moment. We are already a part of the European Peace Facility. We already contribute to it and that money is used to help Ukraine in the war effort but we have said specifically that we will not allow our contribution...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate this is a real problem. It is coming up in my constituency office. There is a delay in NCT tests. We are working with the contractor to get on top of it. I do not want to say anything about renewing or terminating contracts here that would not be right, but I will ask the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Chambers, or the Minister for Transport, Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this really important question. I want to see solar panels on the roof of every school and I believe the Government should fund it, in the same way we have funded broadband for every school. The future is digital and green. It may be more about hearts and minds than watts and megawatts, but hearts and minds count, as I think we will all agree. We are very...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The short answer is that the Government does remain committed to carrying out that audit. I appreciate it is overdue. It is an important piece of information that we need because when it comes to processing and deciding on sports capital grants, it would be good to have a better picture of where there are already facilities and where there are deficits. That is why it...