Results 2,941-2,960 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----but also in respect of offshore wind, but taxpayers' money should always be spent well. I do not know the answer to the Deputy's question but I will certainly ask the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to come back to him directly.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will definitely take that up with the Minister, Deputy Ryan. He and I are both in favour of double-tracking to Galway and the development of a commuter rail service around Galway city. I do not see why it should be held up by the all-island rail review. That is not the case for Cork or Limerick, so I do not see why it should be for Galway. We will check that out. I remain a supporter...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am familiar with the case. It is a very sad one, and I hope Mr. Phelan is able to get back to Ireland as soon as possible. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, had a very lengthy call - I think it was nearly an hour long - trying to make the case on his behalf and to secure his release. I do not have any engagements with the Iranian Government...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I honestly do not know what the situation with refunds is, if there are to be any, so I will have to defer to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, on that. My understanding is that this was essentially like a bulk-buy discount. Somebody who buys things in large volumes will often get a lower price for them. That is not unusual. I was not aware that there would be any sort of rebate-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----but I will check it out.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I am familiar with the service. I was involved in setting it up with the then Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, when I was in the Department of Social Protection and she was in the Department of Justice. It is a very good service. It has probably been wound back in recent years because of the falling number of mortgage arrears, but the Deputy makes a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know the reasons for that. I will certainly make inquiries. I agree with the Deputy's point. If we are putting additional elective capacity and theatres into Ennis, Nenagh and Croom, for example, it makes sense to use them rather than building new ones, at least in the first instance. I have heard of similar issues. The surgical hub in Tallaght, for example, has four theatres...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am not entirely sure what the Deputy means by "outstanding liabilities". There are still cases; some are dormant and some have not been settled. I am not sure what he means by liabilities.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Okay. The €5 billion was an estimate related to public nursing homes and not private nursing homes. A scheme was set up - I do not know when but under then Minister for Health, Mary Harney - to compensate people who were charged in public nursing homes. The initial estimate was €5 billion. By the time scheme was developed, it came down by €1 billion. In the end,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No decisions have been made on that yet. We hope to make a decision no later than the middle of February so that people get advance notice. I take the Deputy's point that we are probably heading for a budget surplus again this year. We had a budget surplus of €5 billion last year but we should never forget that we also have a debt of €250 billion. It is not a debt we have to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I was not aware that this matter was an issue. I will contact the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, about it and we will see what we can do.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy McDonald keeps using the term "illegal charges". I will keep saying to her that we do not accept that. The Health Act 1970 does not provide free private nursing home care for people with medical cards. That is the view of the Government. We have bona fide defences in that regard. They were prepared by the Attorney General down the years.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Anything can be contested, but the Deputy keeps making a bogus assertion which is unproven, that these charges were illegal. She can make it all she likes, but it is not the case. It is certainly unproven. All cases were not settled. In some cases, claims were settled without any payment. I do not have the up-to-date numbers, but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to provide them...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know, but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to provide them for the Deputy.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to consult with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Tánaiste on that. I believe one of the difficulties with the legislation was the view that it conflicts with European law that trade is the sole competence of the European Union.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this important matter. As she knows, we are investing in the ambulance service all the time, with more vehicles, more bases and more paramedics. I acknowledge that we have take into account both population and population density. A rural area needs more ambulances than an urban one, or at least we need to take into account both population and geography for...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy English has resigned as Minister of State. Anything to do with planning or enforcement law, as I have said, is a matter for Meath County Council.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The internal procedures we have in our party are confidential and are internal matters, just as the Deputy's are. I know there are disciplinary matters under way in the Labour Party at the moment. I would not ask her questions about those in the Dáil. With regard to Deputy Tóibín's question on excess deaths, I am aware that in Ireland and in a lot of countries there has...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: My understanding is there is to be a debate next week.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (31 Jan 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Business Committee, I think quite sensibly, has agreed that we will have statements next week on the first matter to be raised, which goes back to the 1970s. I think it is important that people should know the facts before they make statements. Nobody wants to come in here and make a statement and then find out that something they have said is incorrect. That can happen-----