Results 3,781-3,800 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate there are many shortcomings in our health and mental health services, in particular, but it is important to acknowledge that what the Deputy said is not true. There have never been more people working in the health service. The HSE has recruited more staff in recent years than ever was the case before, a significant proportion of whom are clinical staff.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: No. The Deputy gave the impression that there was no willingness to recruit staff into our health service. I am saying that is factually incorrect. There have been significant increases in the number of people working in our health service. On the issue raised by the Deputy, I do not have a detailed answer to that, but I will ask the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to provide that.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Yesterday, the Government accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendation to increase the minimum wage by 80 cent per hour, to €11.30 per hour. It will not take six months for people to experience it. It will kick-in in January. Most people who are paid the minimum wage are not paid monthly but are paid weekly or biweekly. Therefore, people will see the increase much...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----but I accept that it is occurring at a time of very high inflation. It is an increase of 7.6% at a time when inflation is close to 9%.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Therefore, it is not the final answer with regard to the work we will do to help people on low pay. People will see further action taken in the budget on tax, welfare and helping with their bills. This will bring them to a point where we are fully protecting them from inflation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: A sum of €194 million was provided for homeless services in 2022. As the Deputy will know, the budget for 2023 is under negotiation. I am sure there will be funding for homeless services next year. There will have to be, given we have seen the fall in homelessness that had occurred now eliminated, essentially, and we are seeing very high homeless numbers again. All of that will...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I understand that the meeting with the Minister was arranged but that it then clashed with the confidence motion in the Dáil. That is why the Minister was unable to attend. I am sure the meeting can be rearranged and can proceed. The Minister does chair the national homeless action committee, and some of the people involved sit on that. As I said, budget negotiations are under...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As I pointed out in my initial response, there was planning and additional capacity was provided. Twenty-one thousand extra tickets this year means 21,000 more children across rural Ireland on school buses this year versus last year. That is a big increase in additional capacity and would be welcomed by many families, who did not have school transport before, now availing of it. In line...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I want to acknowledge that everyone in government is very much seized and very much aware of the cost-of-living crisis, how it is impacting on people's household bills and many people having to make difficult decisions about what they spend their money on over the course of the next few weeks. We see it at the pumps, we see it in our utility bills and, increasingly, we are seeing it feeding...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the €180/MWh, I honestly cannot answer that question. That is a question only the EU Energy Commissioner can answer. As I say, it is not agreed. It may be the case that when this action is agreed, that figure will come down. I agree with the Deputy that it seems higher than it should be but, as I say, it is an EU proposal, not a Government one and not one that has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her question. I am keen to answer it. This is my first time taking Leaders' Questions since the summer break, however, and I am conscious that I do so on the day that Thelma and her little brother Mikey, who died tragically in Westmeath, are being buried today in St. Mel's Cathedral in Longford. This brings to mind the other children in Ireland who died violently...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We both know how statistics work and it depends on how they are measured. I appreciate the figure the Deputy has used on the proportion of Irish people on low pay but it is skewed by the fact we have such a high number of people on very high pay. This brings up the median. It is equally true that average pay in Ireland is 30% to 40% higher than in the average European...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. The directive is still under negotiation at European level as far as I am aware. It has to be agreed at European level before it can be transposed. I cannot give the Deputy a timeline on it unfortunately but we will transpose it once it is agreed. We are supportive of its general principles. With regard to the increase in the national minimum wage, it is an 80...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: "Viable-vulnerable" is a commonly used term when it comes to the various schemes we have. It is designed to ensure we do not provide taxpayers' money to businesses that we know will fail, regardless of what support they receive. We take a liberal approach, which sometimes involves supporting businesses that cannot succeed, but we err on the side of supporting a business or protecting jobs...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Those are exactly the kinds of things we have to take into account when it comes to any scheme, for example, a clawback mechanism to recover money from businesses that received it but did not need it in the end. Many companies paid back money they received through the employment wage subsidy scheme. I am glad we gave it to them because at the time it looked as though they might not succeed....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The way we do that is by assisting businesses to get professional expertise in this area. Long before the current energy crisis, we provided about 20 different schemes through my Department and its agencies, and through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, not just to help businesses reduce their carbon footprint and invest in modern energy systems but also to enable them to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The latest numbers, as the Deputy is aware, indicate that wages are rising in Ireland but not rising as fast as inflation. The Government does not centrally control wages but there are different mechanisms by which we can influence how much people are paid. In the public sector, for example, we have negotiated a new pay agreement, which will go out to a ballot. That agreement has been made...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies again for their questions. I must confess, I do not have the Amazon app on my phone. I use Amazon from time to time and have nothing against it but I like to support local too and, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, will try to buy as much as I can in retailers in west and central Dublin. I know that Deputy Carey is a big supporter of local businesses in Clare as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Crowe for the question. Shannon Airport is a really important infrastructure asset for foreign direct investment, FDI, and indigenous enterprise in Ireland. As part of IDA Ireland's current strategy, it is proposed to target 76 new investments for the mid-west region in the period between now and 2024. The FDI performance in the region has been consistent over the past...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I very much share the Deputy's vision and aspiration for what we can do in Shannon into the future. The zone around the airport has been an enormous success in the past couple of years. There has been a huge increase in employment, and the quality of employment, there as well. For the airport itself, it is always a bit more of a struggle but we all want to see passengers numbers increase....