Results 5,281-5,300 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly ask the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health to get back to the Deputy with a full reply.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot begin to understand the frustration patients must feel if they are not able to get access to modern treatment such as this, and the anger they must feel when they see people receiving this treatment in other regions and it is not available in their own. I do understand this. What I can say from the Government's point of view is that funding has been allocated to University Hospital...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am pretty sure that is not what I said but it may be a representation or an interpretation of something I did say. I spoke to the Minister for Finance this morning. He will be in a position to present to Cabinet this afternoon. One of the things we have sought is the ability to continue to charge the 12.5% rate to small and medium-sized companies with a turnover of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My preference is that the site would be used for jobs-rich investment. That would be an advanced building solution or if somebody wants to establish a factory or a business centre there. That would be the preference given that the previous IDA Ireland site, with which the Deputy is familiar, already accommodates data centres. That would be my preference but I will very much be guided by...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That is a budgetary decision and I am not in a position today to comment on what is or is not in the budget. Certainly the Minister for Finance will consider any proposal made in the context of the budget and the Finance Bill that will follow thereafter.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge the fact that many students are struggling financially, whether due to the cost of rent, utilities, food, fees or other items for which they have to pay. The main way we assist students is through the student grant system. More than 75,000 students receive a grant. The grant levels are under review in the budget. In recognition that some students are facing real and serious...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is working on proposals for the Government on an enhanced scheme to assist people whose homes have been blighted by mica. As part of this he is considering whether a national scheme might be preferable to a county-based scheme for exactly the reasons the Deputy has enunciated. In these circumstances it would be a national scheme operated by the Housing Agency...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The reality of these negotiations, and I have been following them closely for a long time now, is not how the Deputy has presented them or sees them. Large and wealthy countries are looking for more revenue and they want to take it from smaller countries like ours. In the negotiations, the UK made sure that the City of London was protected and would not see some of these applications...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The US ensured that the EU dropped its digital tax proposals. That is the reality of what has been happening. As a small country that relies a lot on multinational investment, we had to protect our interests and seek guarantees and protections. We did exactly that. It is what any right-thinking Government should do. I agree with the Deputy on one point. The offering from...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The estimate not from me, but from the Department of Finance, is that increasing corporation profit tax in Ireland will result in a reduction in revenues. That is because investment, capital and wealth are mobile in the international world that we live in.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Lowry for raising the issue the lack of insulin pumps and the recruitment of three additional dieticians, which was sanctioned nine months ago in UHL. I am advised that the University Limerick Hospitals Group recognises the need for additional resources within its adult diabetic service. This issue is a focus for the University Limerick Hospitals Group and it is committed to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, both as finance minister and as head of the Eurogroup, handled these negotiations very well and has made sure that we got the concessions and protections we wanted. Had we folded earlier, as Deputy Nash perhaps would have done were he in government-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: -----I do not think the Minister would have been able to secure the reassurances he has secured in the past couple of weeks because significant efforts were made by other countries to get us into the tent and we had our price for that. As regards the Cabinet meeting today, the most recent projections I have seen - they may have changed - estimate, and it is only an estimate, that we would...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I believe taxes should be low, simple and fair. That goes for workers and companies. I am not sure if the Deputy believes taxes should be low, simple and fair. Perhaps simple and fair but not low. I believe that should apply to companies and workers alike. I hope that when it comes to budget day the Deputy will vote in favour of tax indexation, for example, where we...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The budget for the health service this year is €22 billion. It is the biggest health budget we have ever seen in the history of the State. When I was Minister for Health, it was €14 billion. It is 50% higher now than it was then, and more than double what it was when I was practising as a doctor in the public health service. Money is certainly not the issue any more when it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is a former trade union negotiator and he understands negotiations, as do I. It is deeply unhelpful when someone on one's side - we were team Ireland on an issue like this - makes concessions on one's behalf. It is exactly the same thing for a shop steward or trade union official going in to negotiate with an employer and somebody from his or her team starts making concessions...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There were a lot of questions there, all very valid, and I will do my best to answer them as best I can in the time allowed. First, however, I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in paying my respects to Tom Burke, who was a truly fine man. He was one of the first people I met and got to know when I became a Member of this House. He was a feature of Irish politics and photojournalism, and I...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: State Properties (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: IDA Ireland is committed to building a new (second) Advanced Technology Building in Tralee. The site selection process is currently underway. Securing planning permission and the construction of the building will take time, but it is intended that the building facility will be delivered during the life of the current IDA Strategy 2021-2024. The advanced technology building may support...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Job Creation (7 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Central Pharma announced in December 2018 plans to establish an EMEA accredited contract packaging and supply centre at the IDA’s Advanced Technology Building in Tralee. I understand that the company has subsequently experienced some delays in progressing their plans, including in relation to the Covid-19 restrictions which delayed work on the site. However, I understand that once...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Meetings (6 Oct 2021)

Leo Varadkar: On March 23rd 2018 the Director of Corporate Enforcement applied to the High Court for the appointment of inspectors to Independent News and Media (INM) on the 23 March 2018, pursuant to section 748 of the Companies Act 2014. The Director’s application for the appointment of inspectors followed a lengthy and wide-ranging investigation that identified several issues of serious...