Results 3,381-3,400 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We have seen a significant increase in overcrowding in recent weeks, not just in Cork but around the country, which is extremely worrying. There are lots of reasons for this. As the Deputy knows, giving the fact that the pandemic restrictions are now gone - although Covid is not gone - there is pent-up demand stemming from the pandemic period. We also have an increasingly aging population....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy and I join with her in recalling the life and death of Savita Halappanavar. As she has said, much has changed in Ireland since then in terms of our laws in this area. The review is under way. I do not have it in front of me but I understand that it is led by an independent chair and has two main phases. I do not want to misinform the Deputy but I understand that it is...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. My only information on this so far is from news reports. I will have to make further inquiries into exactly what happened. I would point out that there are exemptions to the sanctions. They relate to medicines, food and food production. This would include fertilisers.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I will check it out.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I have not seen the figures. We do have a problem with people entering the country illegally. This is the case and has been for quite some time. Sometimes people are not properly checked when they get on the plane. That happens in a different jurisdiction and there is very little we can do about it. Other times people use false documents. Sometimes, people destroy...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: If it is a pledge of accommodation on a non-commercial basis, it is the Red Cross. If it is on a commercial basis it is the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth or the local authority. I have had the same experience as the Deputy of people who have pledged accommodation in their own homes or perhaps in a property they own on a non-commercial basis and of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I saw the housing numbers today also. They are very encouraging. They are better than we had expected with 7,544 new dwellings completed in the three summer months of July, August and September. This is an increase of 62.5% on last year. The number of apartments has more than doubled. Over the first three quarters of this year, more than 20,000 new homes were built....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: To be honest, I am not sure exactly how pricing works for district heating in Ireland. I know it is commonly used in other European countries but it is not that common in Ireland. As the Deputy has said, tens of thousands of people have district heating systems. I will meet the Minister with responsibility for energy this afternoon. I will make sure he knows Deputy Boyd Barrett has raised...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We will do everything we can, as we did during the pandemic, to protect those businesses and those jobs that are viable but vulnerable. We have shown true cause on that in the years that have gone by. We have cut taxes. We cut VAT to 9% for electricity, gas, hospitality and personal services. We have also reduced excise on petrol and diesel. Now we are bringing in energy subsidies to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is keen to get the mica scheme up and running. I want to see dozens, if not hundreds, of houses being repaired and rebuilt next year. We all want that to be the case. I understand that some regulations now have to be agreed by the Minister. I will come back to the Deputy with the timeline once I have had a chance to speak to him, and on the issue of the senior counsel.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is an important issue but I would have to be across the details. If the Deputy wants to pass them on to me, I will look into it in closer detail if I can.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The problems we have in O'Connell Street are long-standing and, as the Deputy stated, complex. The issues range from dereliction to planning, addiction and policing. They are complex. It is not only O'Connell Street, by the way. It might be the worst manifestation of some of the problems that we have but there are other streets that are not in good condition either. There is already a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Perhaps extending that to cover O'Connell Street might be something worth considering but I do not want to make any commitments on the hoof.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his question. The main way in which we can intervene to help small businesses is through the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS. This legislation is now going through the House. It will give businesses up to €10,000 monthly to help them with their energy bills. We are keen to get this measure legislated for as soon as possible, to get the scheme...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that fuel prices are very high. Seeing the price of diesel going up again is alarming for many people. I absolutely get this. I understand and appreciate it, and this is why the Government has intervened. We have reduced excise duties on petrol and diesel by 20 cent per litre and 15 cent per litre, respectively. It is now down as low as it can go under European rules on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----but it is the price of diesel that is really worrying people now.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is legally possible under European law to reduce the excise duty charged on petrol a bit more, but not on diesel. There is, therefore, no point in calling for this. As the Deputy knows, we have reduced the VAT rate charged on electricity and gas costs to 9%, which is the lowest ever. Businesses can, of course, claim back their VAT expenses. We cannot, however, be divorced from the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----by what is happening in Ukraine. The proportion of our fuel prices constituted by tax is falling.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the Deputy's support for the increase in the national minimum wage and her call for us to go further through the introduction of a living wage. I acknowledge that businesses are facing rising costs from many different angles, whether it is from the costs of labour, materials or energy and fuel. The budget had several measures to help. These included the extension of the 9% rate...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Quite the contrary, what the UK has done and is now reversing is exactly what Sinn Féin proposed.