Results 3,981-4,000 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Corporate Governance (5 Jul 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Commencement Order, commencing the Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Act 2021 will be signed shortly, with the Establishment Order which is required to set up the CEA being signed soon thereafter.  As an Agency, the CEA will have more autonomy, particularly the ability to recruit required skills and expertise. My Department has worked with the ODCE to ensure the CEA will...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Bodies (5 Jul 2022)

Leo Varadkar: While no official is due to receive a pay rise, Section 20 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 set out that restoration for public servants with annualised basic salaries above €150,000 would be completed by Ministerial order by 1 July 2022. In accordance with the legislation, an Order under Section 20 of the Act was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 30 June. My...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (5 Jul 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is progressing a range of actions to promote the inclusion of people with a disability in the workforce.  These actions cover issues such as Workplace Relations Commission referrals referencing disability grounds, the National Standards Authority of Ireland’s Excellence Though People certification scheme, and Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) collaboration with the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This issue was discussed at a meeting of my own parliamentary party a few weeks ago at which we adopted a policy of extending the short hop zone to anywhere within 50 km or so of Dublin. It is quite anomalous at the moment. Kilcoole in County Wicklow is in the short hop zone but Drogheda and areas in mid Kildare that are the same distance away from Dublin are not. We think that should be...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I have a long note on this and, out of respect to other Deputies, I will give the Deputy the note rather than reading it out. The information I have is that Carrickmines is not owned or controlled by NAMA but there are units under the control of a NAMA-appointed receiver, John McStay of McStay Luby. The receiver has advised NAMA of his understanding of the current position regarding block...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not have a date for the review of the strategy but I will get it for the Deputy and make sure it is passed on to his office. Among the things the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is focusing on at the moment is extending eligibility for the carer's allowance, so more people qualify for it, which is welcome. She is working on proposals to ensure people who act as family carers...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am really looking forward to that visit. I have not been to the campus yet so look forward to seeing what they are doing. It is an area the Government is very excited about and interested in. It might be ten or 20 years away but the era of autonomous vehicles which drive themselves is on our doorstep and will change things and the way we live in so many ways, mostly for the better. It...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am not directly involved in that but will speak about it to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and ask him to come back to the Deputy in more detail. I hear what she is saying about wanting to avoid a cliff-edge. We are trying to move away from the idea that Covid is a special illness that is treated differently to other illnesses. It will be with us forever and needs to be seen in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I was not aware of that being an issue. It has not come through my constituency service yet anyway. I thank the Deputy for bringing it to my attention. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and we will see what we can do to make sure people get the payments they are entitled to as soon as possible. They will get them in arrears but I am sure they would prefer them on time.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I see the south east as a region that is very much in catch-up mode. If the Deputy wants to look at statistics, he should look at the labour force survey statistics from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, which show that jobs growth in Ireland last year was at its highest in the south east and south west, not in Dublin or the west, which is a good sign of the south-east region catching up....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I broadly agree with the Deputy. The probability is that energy prices will fall back and ease, and I hope they do, but there will be an upward trend in the cost of energy over the next five or ten years. As a result, the solution cannot always be subsidies and tax cuts. We have to help businesses and householders reduce the costs of energy, make their homes and businesses more efficient...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The EUROSTAT report is entirely accurate. What I am saying is that it is half the story. Incomes, salaries and wages in Ireland are 30% to 40% higher than the European average. Of course, there is a correlation between that and higher prices. Countries with a very low cost of living in that report are Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and other countries where there is very low pay. Of course,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to give that assurance. That is very much what is happening at present. For the information of the House, if we go back to 2009, 55% of child admissions were to adult units. Last year, that figure was 6.3%. The job is not done yet but there has been a massive improvement, with those admissions going down from 55% to approximately 6% last year. Of course, we want to get to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not have a specific note on orthopaedic waiting lists in Galway but I will make sure we get one and that we give the Deputy a fuller reply later. I acknowledge there are far too many people waiting far too long for the operations they need in Galway and in all parts of the country. Notwithstanding the fact we probably have 1,000 more beds than we had two years ago, more...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware that Galway is the specialist tertiary centre for a significant swathe of the country. Waiting lists in Galway are comparatively worse than in other parts of the country, but there has been a lot of investment in recent years. There is now more than 4,000 staff between University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital; that is a 12% increase since this Government was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I had a chance to read the EUROSTAT report in detail the other day; it is worth reading in detail. It tells us the cost of living in Ireland is high and much higher than the European average. That will not come as a surprise to anybody as it was well known already, but when we drill into the detail, the report tells a slightly more complex story. There are countries where the cost of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue again. I emphasise that the Government is committed to ensuring that every child with special educational needs has access to an education. One child who does not have a school place is one child too many. We fundamentally believe that our most vulnerable children in society should be prioritised. That is why the Government is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We can certainly give that some consideration, but different jurisdictions do things differently. It would not be the norm in Ireland, and it would not have been the norm when we were in government together, for a strategy to be underpinned by legislation. Different jurisdictions do things differently, but I certainly will not rule it out. I absolutely agree with the Deputy on one...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: At the outset, I acknowledge the fact that the cost of living in Ireland is rising very fast. Indeed, this is the case all around the world. Governments are doing their best to deal with that but there is only so much any government can do. Obviously, people have seen big increases in the cost of petrol and diesel, utility bills, grocery bills and other bills as well. Everyone is feeling...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The cost-of living crisis is happening right here, right now. It will happen all the way through to the budget and continue after the budget. That is the truth of it. We are facing a global inflation crisis and it will not end because of any budget, whether that is an emergency budget before the autumn or one in autumn. This is something with which we will be grappling for months if not...