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Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: What happened in the House yesterday was wrong. Aside from the intemperate and bad behaviour, it was factually incorrect. What Deputy McAuliffe said was true: it was a democratic decision of the council in 2019; and it was negotiated between the council and the developer, Bartra, that the council would be given first refusal for 30% of the 50% of units that were earmarked for private sale...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid that I do not have any information to hand on that matter but it appears to be very serious so I will raise it with the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and ask them to revert to the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This is an issue that some of my constituents are suffering from as well. In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in the budget for home care. Money used to be the issue but it is not anymore. We have increased the budget by, I think, 40% in the past couple of years but we are struggling to find people who are willing to work in the sector. That requires action in two areas....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That matter is currently being reviewed by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who is examining whether it will be possible within Transport Infrastructure Ireland's budget to reallocate some funds to allow the project to continue to progress through planning. As the Deputy pointed out, it is an important road project because it accesses a significant IDA site - the former Amgen site - and can...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I understand that the issue involving school secretaries and caretakers is before the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, today. I hope that it will be possible to come to an agreement to regularise their employment, which we would all support. I am aware of the issue regarding PhD candidates. I cannot make any commitment on it today but I will ensure that the Minister, Deputy Harris,...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We are doing that. There are more members of An Garda Síochána than was ever the case before. A very significant recruitment campaign is under way, having been launched by the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, only a few days ago. That will help us to continue to increase the visibility of policing in urban and rural areas, especially when it comes to...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----but then not to want any of the responsibility around being a data controller, because this is video footage and it can be misused.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. A new non-domestic water tariff framework was introduced by Irish Water on 1 October. The CRU determines the charges and charging arrangements that apply to non-domestic customers. There will be three-year transition arrangement. What is happening essentially is 57 different charging regimes and more than 900 different charges are being...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The matter is currently under consideration by Government. I agree with his basic argument that it is important we maintain a strong post office network throughout the country. It may be the case some post offices just are not viable because of a lack of customers but we want to maintain as many as possible, especially when the redundancy or retirement arrangement comes...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this issue. We all appreciate the extent to which prices are rising and the cost of living is going up. We see it at the pumps. We see it in our electricity bills and gas bills. We see it in the cost of buying groceries, and of course we see it in the correspondence we all receive from constituents. There are essentially two ways to deal with inflation....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. If we look back over the past 11 years, we see there has been unprecedented investment in education for children with special or additional needs. We now have more special needs assistants, SNAs, in the country than even gardaí - more than 14,000 or 15,000.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate there are issues and I am certainly engaging with the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, on them. I would be happy to take any details from the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Certainly, Ireland will accept refugees from Ukraine. Whatever we do will have to be done on a European basis as part of a European agreement. It is fair to say that we were one of the leading countries in the EU when it came to accepting refugees from Afghanistan. This is a European country. It is much nearer. There is a significant Ukrainian community in Ireland already. We will be...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to check that out and come back to the Deputy. I think the regulations are done. I am not sure if they have been officially signed off or published. South Dublin County Council is advertising affordable homes for people to purchase. It will happen in Waterford quite soon. I had thought they were done but I will find out and come back to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I want to acknowledge that we have a problem with the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, the medical card scheme for dental services. We have about 1,150 dentists who are part of the scheme. About 300 have left in recent times. That means that in large parts of the country people cannot get a dentist or the dental care that they need. However, it is not fair to say that nothing is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We have given that issue some consideration. It has been discussed with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. Her view, which I agree with, is that the existing community welfare service is the service that we should continue to use to issue exceptional needs payments. It does not require a separate fund because there is already a fund for exceptional needs payments which...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Devlin for raising this. We have a small but active and very welcome Ukrainian community here in Ireland, many of whom are established here for some time. There is a moral obligation on us to assist them to have their relatives, especially those who are dependent on them, to come to Ireland. It is complicated because we have a very small embassy in Kyiv. It only opened in...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This is genuinely one of those moments where I am glad that we are part of the EU and we do not stand alone. The EU does not just ensure and underpin our economic prosperity but it also helps to underpin our security and allows us to act with solidarity when it comes to issues such as this. There will be a meeting of the European Council this evening in Brussels. The Taoiseach will...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy makes a very reasonable point around the cost of food. Like him, I do not believe food security or food shortages are going to be a problem, in Ireland anyway. However, if what is happening with energy prices continues and if what is happening in Russia and Ukraine unfolds, then there is a real probability that the price of food will go up here in Ireland and in western Europe....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT on the purchase and use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is very aware of the importance of the scheme to those who benefit from it. He is also aware of the disquiet expressed by many in respect of...