Results 4,261-4,280 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy very much. I know this is a very important issue in Clondalkin. Deputy Higgins also raised it with me and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, has been to visit the project in the past. I am sure we will find a mechanism to fund the project so that it keeps going. I am not sure whether that will be done through the local authority. I know that in my part of Dublin, Fingal...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----because nobody wants to see the project close.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: In case Deputy Murphy had not noticed, a large number of banks are leaving the country. At the moment, tens of thousands of individual customers and business customers of Ulster Bank and KBC are trying to find a new bank. Among the reasons those banks are leaving the country is that while they can make profits here, they actually would make more profits for their capital in other countries....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate this is an important issue in Waterford and the south east. The Deputy will be aware of the work being done to construct and fit out the second cath lab in University Hospital Waterford. Obviously, when the laboratory is ready staffing it will be a challenge. Finding staff to staff two cath labs 24-7 will be a real difficulty. It is in large cities and it will certainly be a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is increasingly understood that with heart attacks, or myocardial infarctions, the time period that is most relevant is the point from which the person starts to experience symptoms, rather than the 90 minutes from the time the call is made. There is a better understanding of that in recent years. I appreciate the comments the Deputy made but perhaps the best place to raise this matter...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I understand it is intended to publish the new strategy on 21 June. I take Deputy Connolly's point entirely that a strategy on its own is not enough, the strategy must be implemented and implementation in the past was fragmented. The Minister is very keen to establish a new dedicated agency to deal with the matter of the epidemic of gender-based and sexual violence. She believes the best...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Hepatitis C is a very serious illness that has affected a lot of people in Ireland, including women and, in particular, people who suffer from haemophilia. Thankfully, hepatitis C can now be cured. There is a tablet for it that eliminates it from your system. It is an extraordinary miracle of modern science that this is now possible and available. It appears, however, that there is a new...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Medical scientists are an essential and crucial part of our health service. The Government appreciates the work they do in our laboratories and other facilities around the country. They may not be seen by patients very often but without them, there would be no patient care. It is essential that we support them in their work and recognise their role. The issue raised by the Deputy is an...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is an enormous challenge to recruit and retain healthcare staff, including doctors and that is not unique to Ireland. That is very much a global phenomenon. There is not a health service that I am aware of, certainly not in Europe, that does not have a difficulty recruiting and retaining staff. There is much more demand for healthcare than there are qualified doctors, nurses and...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This is an important issue and I appreciate that Deputy Doherty and his colleagues have raised it previously. I do not have an up-to-date report on that but I will make sure that I get one from the Department of Health and that the Deputy gets an update either today or tomorrow.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: While the Coombe Women and Infant's University Hospital is not currently processing cervical screening samples for the CervicalCheck programme, current services are not affected as an alternative laboratory is able to provide testing for 100% of samples. CervicalCheck is currently up to date with invitations for screening and by the end of 2021, it had screened the same amount of people as...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the fact that he gave us some notice that this question would be raised because it allowed me to get some further information. Generally speaking, what the Government does is to provide funding to local authorities, charities or housing bodies either to build or purchase a house, and adapt it for people with disabilities. It makes much more sense, on many...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot commit to an audit but I have heard the Deputy's call for one and if he can pass on more information about the particular property he mentioned, we would be interested to know what happened and why. In total, €96 million is available under the capital assistance scheme for housing and that can be accessed by approved housing bodies for housing for people with a disability....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate that the issue he is raising is that of waiting lists at Letterkenny hospital and the waiting times for people who live in Donegal. He is also raising the wider issue of hospital overcrowding. I do not have updated information on Letterkenny with me so I do not want to give the Deputy information that may be incorrect. However, I can speak about the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This Government has been in office for just over two years.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is a fact and I can give the Deputy some more facts in a moment. This Government has been in office for just over two years. The party I lead has been in office for about 11 years. No party has been in government on this island longer than Deputy Doherty's party in the past 20 years. Sinn Féin has been in government in Northern Ireland for most of the past 20 years. I am very...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: His was the party to increase the pension age in Northern Ireland.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Any time I tell him a few home truths about his party's record in government-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----in Northern Ireland, he loses the rag-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: ----because he does not want people to know the truth.