Results 2,521-2,540 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens' Assembly (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As provided for in the Terms of Reference for the Citizens' Assembly on Drug Use, agreed by Dáil Éireann on 21st February 2023 and Seanad Éireann on 23rd February 2023, the Chair of the Assembly will be paid an honorarium. This will be the standard per diem rate which is applied for similar such positions, and will be sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure, National...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Policies (7 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of the Taoiseach is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where all colleagues feel respected, valued and included and to serve the public in line with Civil Service Quality Customer Service guiding principles. The Department currently has no legislation in drafting nor any legislation in planning. The final text of any legislation as enacted is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Mattie McGrath raised the issue of energy security. As a country, we are doing okay with energy security. I remember only a few months ago there was a real concern that we would be facing black-outs and brown-outs, but that has not happened. We have managed to get the necessary emergency generation in place and we are working to ensure it is in place for next winter and the one...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----on the right thing to do. The Deputy was cheeky enough to tell me what he thinks I think. He should let me tell him what I think he thinks, which is just to find any excuse to oppose anything and there is always a reason.

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Security Committee (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. The Government has invested considerably over the past number of years in the National Cyber Security Centre, which is currently operated at a high state of preparedness and response due to recent cyber incidents and the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related cyber and hybrid threats arising from that conflict. The NCSC monitors potential threats and is in ongoing...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna 18 agus 19 le chéile. The Cabinet committee on the environment and climate change oversees the implementation of the ambitious programme for Government commitments on the environment and climate change. The Cabinet committee considers matters relating to climate change, biodiversity loss and the quality of our water and air. It is a forum for...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Defence Forces (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces, the high-level action plan sets out the initial implementation and oversight structures. The high-level steering board is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, and that oversees delivery. The implementation oversight group has...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Security Committee (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 13 go 17, go huile, le chéile. The national security committee is chaired by the Secretary General of the Government and comprises representatives at the highest level from the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Defence, Environment, Climate and Communications, including the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, An Garda Síochána...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies once again for the questions. Deputy Ó Ríordáin raised the issue of senior cycle or leaving certificate reform. I assure the House that we are committed to ensuring that the leaving certificate is reformed and that it meets the needs of Irish students and the broader society and economy. Any system that does not evolve, no matter how highly regarded it...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: On the serious point, both Ministers of State, Deputies Richmond and Calleary, are working on changes to company law and employment law with regard to insolvencies, workers' rights, redundancy and the interplay therein. I am familiar with some issues around the energy credit, particularly for people living in mobile homes and caravans. I am not particularly familiar with the one around...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I can. Could the Deputy send me a note on it? There are a few anomalies that I am not 100% sure on; I am not fully across that one.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Defence Forces (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions and I propose to take Question Nos. 8 to 12, inclusive, together. The high-level action plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, agreed by the Government in July 2022, sets out that the initial implementation and oversight structure would comprise a high-level steering board chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Functions (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna Uimh. 1 go 7, go huile, le chéile. The role of the social policy and public service reform division is to assist me, as Taoiseach, and the Government, in fulfilling programme for Government objectives to help create a socially inclusive and fair society. Specifically, the division assists the work of the newly-established Cabinet committees, as...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to ask the Minister for Transport to engage with the Deputy on that matter. Local authorities do not need to entirely rely on central Government for funding for local and regional roads. Local authorities have other income, including income from commercial rates, the local property tax and other sources, and there are councils in Ireland that do not rely entirely on central...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The NORA levy is there for a reason; it is there to fund the operations of NORA, which ensures we have energy security and we have supplies of petrol and diesel on hand if we need them. It is paid by everyone, including people in urban and rural Ireland and people who live beyond the M50 and commute long distances. That includes most of my constituents, who are beyond the M50. The levy is...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am not across the detail of this so I will have to ask the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to engage directly with the Deputy. As a general point, I do not think people should be afraid of competition or going out to tender. I have seen this happen with other services and in the vast majority of cases the existing provider got the contract because it was doing a good job. In some cases it...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is duly acknowledged.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, and the Government, remain committed to a reimagined senior cycle of education where the student is at the centre and where students are prepared for the modern world of work and the modern world in which they live. The decision to defer the move of paper 1 to fifth year was done following reflection on the views provided by stakeholders in answering...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There is a planning process.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (1 Mar 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Before any offshore wind farm gets permission, there is a planning process and the planning authorities have to listen to what the developers have to say. They also have to listen to what the fishers have to say. I am sure that they will do so and that they will take account of what the best thing to do is. I would not dismiss their concerns whatsoever. The fishing industry is important...