Results 3,521-3,540 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Murnane O'Connor for raising this important issue relating to Carlow. I am afraid I do not have any information on it to hand. I note that the Deputy has raised it already with the Ministers, Deputy Darragh O'Brien and Deputy Humphreys, and I will make them aware that it was raised again here in the Chamber. I hope we can find a satisfactory solution.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The reduction in public transport fares has been a real success, both the general reduction and also the reduction for young people. I know governments in other countries have done more radical things, for example in Germany, but in fact they have had to reverse them. What we have done makes more sense, which is a sustainable reduction in public transport costs. We are facing some...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am very much aware of the problems people are facing. We need to get on top of it as it is impeding people from getting to college if they need to drive to college and getting to work if they need to drive to work and the situation is not at all acceptable. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is working on the matter with the Road Safety Authority, RSA, which is trying to hire...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I agree that it must be a principle of this Government that every child gets a fair start in life and the best start in life that is possible. I am familiar with the work of the Fine Gael policy lab and also the care of the child document, which sets out a roadmap as to how we can improve services and supports for children. The reduction in childcare fees of approximately 25% next year is...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We are up to the point now where we are producing about 40% of all of our electricity from renewables. Not that long ago it was only a few percent. We are now up to 40% and we intend to get to 80% by 2030. That is hugely ambitious and something that we can achieve. We will do it through the ESB and other State companies and also through the private sector. Having both the State and the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Thankfully, evictions in this country are relatively uncommon. They need to be done through courts and judges look very favourably on very difficult situations in that regard. Notices to quit are a bit different but if somebody is given a notice to quit, they have rights and they are given a period of time before they have to leave the property they are in. The difficulty with a blanket...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is right that part of the solution is buying some of these properties. He raised this issue with me in the Chamber not too long ago. I raised it with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and a circular now has issued to local authorities stating that if somebody is served with a notice to quit and there is a risk that they could be evicted into homelessness the local authority...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I extend my sympathies to the family of the victim following the fatal stabbing at Rathass Cemetery near Tralee in Kerry. As the Deputy will appreciate, a Garda investigation is under way and I am confined in what I can say about it. I absolutely encourage anyone who has any information to contact the Garda and bring the people who carried out this terrible crime to justice. On the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There were actually 15 things in the budget last week that helped businesses. The biggest element was up to €10,000 a month to help small businesses with their energy costs. That will be backdated to September and businesses will receive that money by November. It is true that we have seen an increase in business failures around the country over the past few weeks. I have seen it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. My county, Dublin Fingal, went through the revaluation process some years ago. I know how traumatic and frightening it can be from some business people when they receive a letter in the post telling them their rates are to go up by a dramatic amount. There is, as the Deputy noted, an appeals process. I encourage anyone who has had a valuation...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to point out again that this is being done on a revenue-neutral basis. There is no tax increase here and two thirds of businesses in Kerry will see their rates go down. I appreciate that we are hearing from the one third who are not, particularly those who are seeing a big increase, but two thirds are seeing their rates go down. To defer the revaluation would adversely...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think it is appropriate for the Deputy to engage in party political shots when it comes to housing or homelessness. Yes, it is true that the Government is providing 10,000 people with emergency accommodation at the moment. That is not a position we want to be in. Numbers had been falling for quite some time and for many reasons they are now rising again. Let us not forget that in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There are 20,000 people homeless in Northern Ireland based on the way it is measured there. If this were a simple problem to solve but, unfortunately, almost all countries in the world face homelessness to a certain extent. We are doing the best we can to resolve it. We are putting unprecedented resources into it.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: If it was a problem that could be so easily solved by Sinn Féin, surely it would have solved it in the 20 years it has been in government in the North.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: In fairness, in the past two years, nobody can say that there has not been very significant investment in cycling facilities, improvements to footpaths and pedestrian facilities. There has been huge investment, through both the Departments of Transport and Rural and Community Development, in improving facilities for cyclists, footpaths and pedestrian facilities. Every day more people cross...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There is a lot in that question and it is hard to answer comprehensively in the time allowed. I do not think her characterisation of our regulatory structures is entirely fair. They are not perfect but many of them have served us very well in recent years. That is not to say there have not been flaws and failings. It is important to bear in mind that some of these regulators are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that the Regional Group is putting forward solutions in this regard and they need to be considered. One of the reasons keeping Derrybrien going does not necessarily make sense is that when the energy system is short of generating capacity is when the wind is not blowing. That is at the heart of many of the problems we have. We have a lot of renewable energy. The risk of a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: What we plan to do with some of the plants in the midlands is that one will go to biomass and the others will be used for battery storage, so we can use the wind power and renewables, which are not dispatchable but can be stored. That might make more sense in terms of energy security and for the environment.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I will certainly take a look at the motion and respond to it. It is not entirely accurate to describe people as having been outsourced. That does a disservice to them and even the bodies for which they work. It has always been the case in this State and almost every other democratic state that some services are provided directly by the State and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This is not just done in Ireland. The NHS provides services through hospitals with royal charters and has done so since its establishment. In France and Germany, nearly one third of public health services are provided through voluntary bodies that have an agreement with the state payer. It is similar in Australia. One would have go to eastern Europe 30 years ago to find a set of public...