Results 3,201-3,220 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We appreciate that the retained fire service is stretched. The Minister is examining the matter at the moment. I will let him know the Deputy raised it in the House and ask him to revert to him directly.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of the medicine. It is a treatment for hyperemesis gravidarum, which is a serious and debilitating illness in pregnancy if someone has the misfortune to experience it. I do not know the rationale for not allowing GPs to prescribe it. GPs routinely deal with pregnancies of all kinds, especially in early pregnancy. I am not sure whether there is a good reason for it and being...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government expresses its absolute solidarity with the people of Iran who are seeking democracy and human rights and fighting for equality for women, LGBT people and people of all religions. I express our solidarity with them. We raise these issues with the Iranian Government and with the Iranian ambassador to Ireland. Regarding our plans to reopen an embassy in Tehran, a chargé...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I know he has raised before. Deputy Carey has also been briefing me on it in the past couple of weeks. It is a good thing Clare County Council is agreeing to take on these heritage sites. They will need money because work needs to be done on those sites and we want to bring them up to standard. There is a process ongoing to resolve this. I...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My grandmother always told me not to tempt fate so I prefer not to assume that I will be elected Taoiseach again on Saturday week, but I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I agree that this is an issue that we need to turn around, next year hopefully. I have served as Minister for Health, I am a Deputy and I am Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and I find it very hard to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is a very good question and like a lot of the best questions, it is hard to answer. It is fair to say that we have some of the tools but not all of them. That is what we will have to focus on now that we have the new enterprise White Paper. We set out the ambition very clearly in that regard. We need to move towards implementation, and we will do that as soon as possible.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid that I do not have up-to-date information on that issue at present, but I will let the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, know that the Deputy has raised this issue in the Dáil, and I will ask her to come back to him directly.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the Dáil agreed last night that the Report Stage debate of the patient safety Bill would be adjourned until January. That will allow preparation of a new amendment which will place on a statutory basis the requirement for all patients to be informed of their right to a patient requested review of cancer screening. The Minister for Health will want to engage with the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I join the Deputy in extending my deepest condolences to the families, friends and school communities of the children who died from strep A. It must be any parent or family's nightmare to have a healthy child one day who gets an illness and is gone a few days later. I cannot imagine what that must be like. The Government is committed to extending free GP care for children. I never felt...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There was no such incorporeal meeting that I was party to and no decision has been made that I am aware of to suspend teachers' career breaks.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Let me say this. I think the provision for career breaks is a very important one. There are lots of good reasons people may need to take a career break, often personal and family reasons, as the Deputy appreciates. The fact that the provision for career breaks exists in the public service helps encourage people into the public service and is more likely to make them stay than leave. While...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The plan has not yet been brought to Government but I am informed by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that we will publish the national action plan against racism early next year, hopefully in January or February. I note the Deputy's comments. Migrants are welcome in Ireland. If it were not for migrants, we would not be able to staff our public services. Many of the big companies that...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I can give a commitment that the Government will examine that. A lot of progress, as the Deputy said, has been made in Waterford in recent years, particularly with the major improvement in trolley waits. It is now one of the best performing hospitals, in part because of the good clinical leadership and management there, but also the additional resources in the Dunmore wing. With a rising...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: When a complaint is made, it is appropriate that in the first instance there should be an internal investigation, and that is often what is done. There are, however, independent bodies. HIQA, for example, is an independent body that can carry out investigations in certain circumstances.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We are also, at the request of the Ombudsman, examining his proposal to allow his office to examine clinical matters, which is not currently allowed.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. As he knows, I chaired the ministerial committee on insurance reform. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, who has responsibility for the sector. For far too long, the cost and availability of insurance has been a big problem for businesses, consumers and community and voluntary groups. We have made good progress...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am informed that the duty of care legislation, that is, the occupiers' liability legislation, was passed by the Dáil last week as part of an amendment to another justice Bill. That has yet to go through the Seanad and I expect it will then be enacted in the first quarter of next year. We expect the President to sign the legislation to reform the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: If the Deputy examines the legislation on the HAP, she will see that it says that once people are in receipt of the payment, their housing needs are deemed to be met, they are taken off the housing list and can only be on the transfer list. That is legislation that we did together in government. I absolutely agree that HAP is not a long-term solution, and I am absolutely in favour of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I wan to put on the record of the House that the Government has been advised by EirGrid and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, that the system outlook for energy supply for this winter is similar to last winter. There will be periods when the margin between supply and demand will be very tight. We think that is particularly going to be the case over the course of the next...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that the figures the Deputy quoted come from an independent source, but I am not sure if they stack up, because 0.9% of GDP is roughly €3 billion. Everyone knows that the budget package was €11 billion and we did other things last year long before the budget, so I think those figures require further examination. The Deputy is right that Dáil is going into...