Results 321-340 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Parts of it are copied and pasted from the Future of Media Commission report. Sinn Féin's proposal to introduce an amnesty for people who did not pay is deeply insulting to people who comply with the law and do pay.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Just think about all those people who collect the stamps or who pay their bills and have done so for years. It is an insult and a kick in the teeth for them. The oddest thing in the policy is the proposal that we continue to pay €12.5 million a year to An Post for not collecting the charge when it is abolished. I am all for supporting An Post but giving people €12 million a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: -----really is comical.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE hired 8,000 extra staff last year, which was probably the biggest increase in a very long time. The HSE service plan next year provides for it to hire an additional 2,000 to 3,000 staff. I do not know what the Deputy's definition of a recruitment freeze is but 8,000 extra staff last year and another 2,000 or 3,000 this year, to me, is not a recruitment freeze. However, it will not...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: We will continue to do what we have done to date, namely, use our voice and vote at the UN and EU in support of the Palestinian people and increase funding for agencies, such as UNRWA, when other countries have suspended their funding. We are working with other countries on the possibility of statehood recognition. We have clearly called for the EU-Israel Association Agreement to be on the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputies for their contributions. It is not the practice of the Government to expel ambassadors. We still need to be able to speak to the Israeli ambassador about two things: first, the Irish citizens who are still caught up in Gaza-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: -----and, second, the safety of our troops on the border with Lebanon and on the Golan Heights. As Taoiseach, I have a responsibility to think about the safety of our citizens and our troops on the borders of Israel. Arson is a serious crime that is punishable by up to ten years in prison. Garda investigations are under way and we expect there will be prosecutions. I agree that we need...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy was in full flow and speaking very quickly so I may have misunderstood him but I think I heard him say that the numbers were 4,000 in 2022 and 3,000 in 2023. That is a drop. Moving from 4,000 to 3,000 is a drop.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I have explained to the Deputy exactly why that drop has occurred.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: It is because of actions taken by the Government. If somebody enters the country through Dublin Airport without documents, one of two things happens. Either they get sent back, and that happens all the time, or alternatively, if they apply for international protection, they are entitled to have that application assessed properly and as quickly as we can. That is what we do. It is not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: Many of these people, perhaps even most of them, are trafficked. That is the truth.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: We do not find bins full of destroyed passports or documents and we do not find them flushed down toilets. Most of these people, Deputy, are trafficked. They have been subject to a crime themselves and the Deputy should admit that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: As I said before and will continue to say, migration is a very sensitive issue and is abused by politicians all over the world to gain votes. Often, that is based on misinformation and hate-mongering. I will say it again - migration, in the round, has been a very good thing for Ireland. If it was not for migrants coming here to work in our health service, build our houses and look after...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: There are now gardaí in airports in other parts of Europe working with authorities there. We increasingly check people coming off planes, not just at border control. We are liaising with airlines to make sure their staff are properly trained. There are fines which we impose on airlines if they allow people onto aircraft undocumented. We are seeing a reduction in the number of people...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: There are countries in the world that invade other countries, that engage in international terrorism - countries like Russia and Iran for example - and they do not need the sanction or tacit support of the west or western countries to do that. That is a position Deputy Boyd Barrett is entitled to hold, but it is not the case that there are not countries that are anti-west, that do not invade...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the single-state solution, I think that is naive. It is a really nice idea. It might be the kind of thing that Deputy Boyd Barrett and I would sign up to, being secular people, but it is very evident to me that the people of Israel do not want a single-state solution, they want a Jewish state, and most Palestinians, many of whom voted for Hamas in the last election, want an...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: As I said earlier, there is a ceasefire proposal on the table negotiated by the Egyptians, Qataris and Americans. It is our strong view that Israel and Hamas should both accept that ceasefire proposal. It will allow the killing to stop. It will allow refugees, or at least some of them, to return to their homes and it will allow aid, which is desperately needed by Palestinian civilians, to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: We have taken considerable actions to date and we will take more. As I stated, the Attorney General will represent Ireland at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on 22 February to make the case against the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. We are in discussions with other EU member states about recognising statehood and doing it in a meaningful way. Spain is the main country...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I share the Deputy’s distress and horror at the events that we are seeing unfold in Gaza. The ground assault on Rafah should not happen; 1.5 million people are taking refuge there, most of them already displaced from other parts of Gaza and some displaced on more than one occasion. There is a serious risk of a massacre occurring in Rafah if a ground assault were to occur, and that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: The hospital will be open later this year. October is the target month. It will be open to patients in 2025. The sum of €2.2 billion is the maximum allocation made by the Government for this project; we will not be allocating any more. Some €1.4 billion has been drawn down already and an additional €0.8 billion is available to complete the project, commission it and...