Results 4,901-4,920 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know if the criteria can be published, but if they can, I am sure we will publish them.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That is certainly not acceptable. If, with the permission of the family, the Deputy wants to pass on the details of the case to my office, I will follow up on it and see if there is anything that we can do. It may be that there is a shortage of consultant paediatric urologists. It is a lesser known fact in Ireland, but there are 40% more consultants in Ireland and 40% more doctors in our...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for sharing Pete's story in the Chamber. I am glad he has survived Covid but, obviously, very sorry to hear he is still experiencing the long-term effects of it. We are still learning about this new virus and this new post-viral syndrome and we have a lot still to learn about diagnosing and treating it. I do not have the details of the clinic in Tallaght hospital the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot give the Deputy a date, unfortunately, but I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, to contact him about that. I was in Bantry the summer before last, just after the floods, and saw some of the businesses that had been damaged at that time. My Department has a scheme that can help businesses that are not insurable or that cannot get insurance with the cost of rebuilding....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I wish to express my regrets and to apologise on behalf of the Government and the HSE for the inconvenience faced this morning by people who queued for a third dose and were not able to get it. In the round, the third dose programme is going very well. More than 1 million people in Ireland have received their third dose. I think we are very close to the top of the league table in the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will double-check that because it is very important that all the pharmacies in Dublin 12 and Dublin 8 - and those in Dublin 15 and Dublin 7 - are given the possibility to participate.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: This is not being delayed - not deliberately, anyway - but it has been going on far too long. I think that when I was Minister for Health, in 2014 or 2015, we published the broad outline as to what the Bill would look like, and that is five or six years ago. I know that a lot of work has been done in the Department of Health since then with the assistance of the Department of Justice. We...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure why that funding application was refused but I will inform the line Minister that the Deputy raised the matter in the Chamber and ask that he be provided with a comprehensive response.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I commend the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, and his team on getting the pilot done. We have been too slow to adopt antigen testing in Ireland but, in fairness to the third level sector, it was one of the sectors that led on this. The Minister made sure that happened, and €9 million has been provided for free antigen tests...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My understanding is that the new mica scheme, which will require legislation in this House, will operate on a national basis. Therefore, if there are homes in Clare, Limerick and other counties that are affected by mica, they would be included. It will not be just for Mayo and Donegal. Again, this is really a matter for the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, so I will let him know that the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. There have been very significant increases in the costs of fuel and energy in the past year. By and large, these have not been driven by increases in taxation. The latter are part of the reason but only a small part. The increases are largely being driven by the very big increases in gas and oil prices internationally, which are not under our control. When it comes to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The carbon tax does not apply to natural gas, and it will not apply to solid fuel and home heating oil until May. The tax has driven up the costs of petrol and diesel but it is not the major reason for the increases. The major reason is factors that are not under our control, namely, big increases in the prices of gas and oil internationally.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We are certainly going to communicate to our UK counterparts our concerns and objections regarding this measure. Unfortunately, it does not come as a huge surprise. The Deputy may recall that part of the argument in favour of Brexit was about controlling UK borders and reducing and stopping immigration from the EU. This is part of the outworking of that. It may be the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. This is an important issue. Unfortunately, I do not have information on it to hand, but I will ask the Minister for Defence to get back to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important question. The Government is committed to better community-based services, shifting care to the home and offering greater choice for people. Progress has been made on the number of home care hours delivered through increased investment in recent years. Last year, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, allocated additional funding of €150...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I take the Deputy's point. Her arguments are very well made. If home care is not available, what is the result? More people end up stuck in hospital with delayed discharges. More people end up in nursing homes long before they need to go into a nursing home. That is not right. People should have the autonomy to stay in their home for as long as they can. As the Deputy acknowledged, it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge on behalf of the Government that we understand the enormous impact the rising cost of fuel and energy is having on people, whether it is people in business, particularly in the transport sector, those in agriculture, householders or individual citizens. I outlined in my response to Deputy Doherty the kind of things we are doing at the moment to help...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I trust the women of Ireland and this Government trusts the women of Ireland. I led the Government that allowed people to have their say on the eighth amendment. Indeed, on my first day as Taoiseach, I said that one thing I would do would be to allow the people of Ireland to have a vote and to make a decision on that matter. It was not politically expedient; it was something that I thought...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am not the slightest bit uncomfortable with the question; I was just not expecting it. It is an important question and the Deputy has every right to have an answer to it. On occasion, though, some Deputies give me prior notice that they are going to raise something and that allows me to check things out.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 Dec 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy knows, I was not at the Joint Committee on Health yesterday. I was attending various other meetings and had other obligations. However, I will check up on the terms of reference. I hear what the Deputy is saying. When the legislation was enacted by these Houses, and the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, brought the legislation through, it was certainly in my mind at...