Results 2,841-2,860 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I want to extend once again my condolences to the people of Creeslough who, I know, are still mourning and for whom this tragedy is still very raw. What I would ask TG4 to do is perhaps to sit down with the families concerned, maybe consult with them and, having done that, make a decision as to whether or not it is going to postpone the airing of the documentary. I am reluctant, as head of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have the data to hand, but I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, to come back to the Deputy with an answer on that within a week. I strongly believe that it is important that our planning departments are properly staffed. This is so that they can grant planning permission to people who need to build homes and to build businesses and infrastructure. Our planning...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I honestly do not know the answer to the Deputy's question. While I appreciate she may have raised it before, this is the first time it has been raised with me. I will have to check with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and come back to the Deputy with an answer.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I want to acknowledge at the outset that a lot of people and a lot of families are struggling with the cost of living and are struggling to make ends meet. Nobody on the Government side would deny that for a second. I do not know if it is correct to say that one in ten Irish families have gone to a food bank. That would be 200,000 families. I am not sure if that figure is correct but it...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I should say that this is ultimately going to be a matter for An Bord Pleanála to decide on. It has been remitted to An Bord Pleanála for a decision, taking into account the climate action plan. I will be very straight with the Deputy. While there are different views within Government on this matter, which happens sometimes and sometimes is a healthy thing, I am a supporter of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Levels of child poverty in Ireland are too high. They had been falling for several years on the Government's watch. I am sorry the Deputy was not willing to acknowledge that but they had been consistently falling because of the policies we pursued as a Government. Over the past year, the cost-of-living crisis has changed that and I acknowledge that many families are now really struggling...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I might ask the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to answer the Deputy's question more fully than I can later but my understanding is that we are recruiting more staff for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, including IPAS. There are quite a lot of vacancies we are not able to fill, although we are keen to do so. We have been seconding people from other parts...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure what is meant by "money for kids" outside of child benefit but I definitely agree that there should be more playgrounds and sports facilities. That is happening and it is something that Government and local authorities are very much investing in. I am interested in the debate about homework. I am not sure what is the right decision. My sense is that some homework is a good...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will take the questions in reverse order. The Government will make a decision on the cost-of-living supports roughly around the middle of the month, hopefully next week if not the week after. On the windfall tax, I will have to speak to the Minister for Finance. However, we are bringing in a windfall tax and intend to use the money to help businesses and families struggling with the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to say that here. People who come here from Ukraine are beneficiaries of temporary protection. They have legal status and a right to be here.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: People who come here who claim international protection have legal status. They are here legally-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I did not say that, Deputy. I ask the Deputy to withdraw that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I did not, Deputy. People who come to Ireland and apply for international protection have legal status. They have legal status until such time as their application is determined. If it is determined that they have protection, then it is legal for them to stay here. If it is determined that they do not get that protection, it is only at that point that they become illegal.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There are many reasons the country faces a housing crisis and a health crisis. Almost every country in the developed world is facing some form of housing or health crisis. Governments in those countries are doing their best to deal with them, and that is exactly what we are doing here. It is our responsibility to put things right and we will do the best we can to do so. Again, I would ask...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: None of us in this House wants to see the issue of race or migration become centre stage in our politics, most of all somebody like me, given my colour and my family background and the fact I am biracial. I ask the Deputy to consider his approach to this, and to consider it carefully. I know he is well-intentioned and fervently anti-racist and internationalist. I absolutely accept that. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: On the issue of junior bondholders, there was a positive legal obligation in many of those cases and a court case was taken which, unfortunately, went against the State in regard to some of those cases. Leaving that aside, Ministers will look at this in the round. Of course, it will not take them three months to look at the Attorney General's report but they will have to look at many...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I want to be very clear that I do not accept the suggestion of double standards in this regard. I have often had the opportunity to speak to our colleagues in the US, in the US Administration and to Members of Congress. When I say to them that we wish to have something done to help undocumented Irish people in the US or, indeed, undocumented people from other parts of the world, I precisely...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again. I emphasise that this is largely an historical issue. It relates to nursing home charges prior to 2005, which is more than 18 years ago and disability payments prior to 2007 or perhaps even prior to 1996 and largely relates to laws from the 1970s. We do not have all the facts yet - nobody does. As I said last week, we will do whatever is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As I said earlier, these interest rate increases are most unwelcome, particularly for people who have tracker mortgages or are seeing their variable mortgage rates go up and go up dramatically. It would be wrong of me not to acknowledge that the European Central Bank, ECB, is raising interest rates to bring inflation down and to restore price stability. This is why it is being done....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Feb 2023)

Leo Varadkar: At the outset I join Deputy McDonald in expressing my sorrow to the people of Türkiye and Syria who have experienced a terrible earthquake, and to express my solidarity with Ireland's Turkish and Syrian communities, some of whom have been directly affected by that. Some are mourning family members and others are worried about family members and friends. As part of an initial response,...