Results 2,801-2,820 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to follow that up with the Minister for Transport. I appreciate that there are delays around the country in people getting their driving tests in a timely manner. I know that is particularly important in rural areas where people need their cars to get to work and college. I will check that with the Minister for Transport and come back to the Deputy in writing.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have been to Virginia many times. It is a lovely town but it needs a bypass. I can give assurance to the Deputy that funding will be provided this year to advance that project. It is not possible to do every road project every year. There has to be a pipeline but the priority will be bypassing towns that need a bypass. Virginia is certainly one of those towns.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the cost of living. We have seen inflation slow in the past few weeks. It is easing but there is a big difference between inflation slowing down and the cost of living going down. The cost of living is not going down but is still rising, which is hurting many families and people. We have not made any decisions yet. We will do so over...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think that is a fair characterisation. There has been a very strong and meaningful response from the Government to help people with the rising cost of living. There was the auto-double payment of social welfare and pensions; a double payment of child benefit; a €400 fuel allowance; a €500 working family payment; €500 for people with disabilities, blind people...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----since the mid-2000s; the largest ever expansion of the fuel allowance scheme; increased thresholds for the working family payment; a major expansion of the hot meals schools programme; an increase in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance; two fuel allowance lump sums; universal energy credits of €600 for every household; a reduction in student fees; a 25% reduction in...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have never been a particular fan of compulsory retirement ages. If somebody is fit and healthy and able to continue in their work, by and large we should allow them to do so, in particular at a time when we are struggling to recruit and retain staff across the board. I know there are some particular complications in this matter linked to contracts and so on, and there is engagement...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that gardaí all over the country are under a lot of pressure. As our population increases, we need to increase the number of gardaí as well. The number of gardaí is now over 14,000, up from 12,800 back in 2015 when it was at its lowest in recent years. Funding is available to recruit 1,000 new gardaí this year. There will also be additional Garda staff....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: An Garda Síochána is made up of sworn gardaí and Garda staff. We anticipate that both will increase in number this year. We have provided funding for more than 1,000 gardaí to be recruited this year. This will be enough to cover retirements and resignations, and will result in an increase in the total number of gardaí. While training was disrupted as a consequence...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Unfortunately we do not have data that are as good as we would like on real rents paid in Ireland. We should have data from the census and also the Residential Tenancies Board data when they come through. There is no doubt that a lot of people are paying very high rents and are struggling to pay them. This is why we brought in the rent credit, for which some 170,000...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I would have to check with the Tánaiste on that. The Tánaiste drew up the schedule for the visits for St. Patrick's Day. I do not believe it is correct to say that the Attorney General always travels to Washington D.C. with the Taoiseach. It has happened in the past. In the past the Attorney General has not travelled at all, and in the past the Attorney General has travelled to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by the Minister for Health that he is still engaging on the issue of the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents) Bill 2019. He is engaging with the 221+ group and the Attorney General around its legal implications. The Minister still hopes to get the Bill done this week but there is a possibility that we will put it off for a week if that makes sense. He is still...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is a research document produced by the EPA and it should not be dismissed. It is a useful scientific contribution to an important debate on land use but it is not Government policy.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will ask the Minister to answer.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know exactly why surgery was cancelled in Ennis during that period. The Minister for Health is beside me and has said he will check that out. It could be that the hospital was simply full of medical patients. That happens, particularly during winter when the surgical wards have to be given over to medical patients because so many people come in with pneumonia, respiratory...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is absolutely right that people should stand up against racism. We are working on a new national anti-racism strategy and will have that quite soon. We will implement it and fund it. However, I do not think that anyone should use an anti-racism campaign to promote a particular political party or particular ideology and I do not think that should be done. I will keep on saying that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: What we want to achieve in healthcare, guided by the Sláintecare plan is essentially three things. We want healthcare to be affordable, that is, free at the point of use for a lot of people and affordable for everyone; access where people are getting healthcare in a timely manner; and we also want good patient outcomes. I am not satisfied with where we are with that as a country and I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Let me say at the outset that I do not believe there is any excuse for racism of any form, whether it is directed towards people who are new arrivals to this country, people who have been here for a long time or people who were born here. People should be judged by the content of their character and not the colour of their skin, full stop, and I do not think any of us, coming from any...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: A windfall tax on energy companies is weeks away. I do not think we are late in the day because companies pay tax now on profits they made last year and last year only ended six or eight weeks ago. We will have that tax in place in the near future. It will be retrospective in the sense that the companies will pay it on the profits they made last year and will pay it again on the profits...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I want to acknowledge the enormous pressure a lot of people, families and businesses are under because of the rise in energy costs. We have seen a dramatic rise in energy costs over the past two years, almost entirely driven by international factors, and exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and other factors related to it. In fairness, a lot has been done by the Government...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We are acting on this. Just in the past few weeks, we have introduced rent tax credits at €500 per renter, €1,000 for a couple, three people sharing getting €1,500 and four people sharing getting €2,000. That is going to help people in a meaningful way with their rent costs. That is something I believe we can build on in future budgets if the public finances...