Results 5,521-5,540 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I want to add to the words of others in expressing my regret at the fact Professor Tom Keane has stepped down as chair of the Sláintecare committee, albeit six weeks before his term was due to end. I met him in Ireland and in Toronto. He is a fine man and I am sorry he is no longer part of this project. Obviously, I regret the fact Laura Magahy has resigned as the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I understand the Taoiseach is going to meet them and the Minister for Health has or is about to meet with the advisory council. I am not pointing any fingers here. The Deputy is the one who has been pointing fingers. I do agree with her that Covid care is a very good example of how we can run a health service well in the future. What she may not know, or may not wish...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: If what we have done in terms of our response to Covid in the past year or so is a success, and the Deputy has acknowledged it is, I think she needs to perhaps consider why it worked so well, why it was done so quickly and why it was able to stay on budget.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure that relates to promised legislation but what I can say is that what happened in the Dáil yesterday was wrong. What Deputy Carthy did yesterday was an abuse of privilege, to make an allegation against a member of the Cabinet based on rumour and no evidence whatsoever. I have no evidence that particular leak which Deputy Doherty referred to was done by a Cabinet member....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Of course, it is not a surprise Sinn Féin should abuse privilege on the first day back in this House. If that is the way they behave in opposition, imagine how they would trample people's rights if they were allowed into government. Why do they do it? It is because it was the form of their party leader. In 2015, Deputy McDonald came to this House and made false allegations about six...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Do not believe everything you read in the newspapers, Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I know this is an important issue locally in Kenmare, Glengarriff, Bantry and in other parts of south Kerry and west Cork. My colleague, Deputy Griffin, is on the case as well. As the Deputy will appreciate, I do not have any control over the timing of the works on the tunnel, as it does not fall under my remit, but I understand the case being made to defer the works for a few weeks. I am...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I hear what the Deputy is saying and I understand the case he is making on behalf of his constituents. Just before this, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was here for transport questions. Unfortunately, he is not here now so I cannot refer this to him, but Deputy Griffin and I will speak to him later in the day and make contact with TII and see if it is possible. There may be very good...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. My understanding is that the Minister has already clarified his position and his remarks in regard to this issue. I am sure he will be in the Chamber in the near future. If not today, I am sure he will be in the Chamber next week for some reason or another. All of us from time to time say things that are inaccurate or incorrect, including the Deputy. There is not a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am informed that the Minister has written to the Ceann Comhairle to correct the record. I am confident he will do whatever is necessary in that regard. What this is fundamentally about, and I think we will all agree on this, is helping people to buy their own home. I believe in home ownership and this Government believes in home ownership. Ireland is still a country where 65% to 70%...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of mica in the Chamber today. It is an issue of real importance not just in Donegal, but in Mayo and other counties around Ireland. As the Deputy said, I have been in those homes and met with some of the people involved. Not only have I seen it with my own eyes, but I have felt it in my fingers when I touched those walls. One can see how easily...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The current scheme was agreed in collaboration with local action groups, local authorities and homeowner representatives. The decision to go with a grant scheme as opposed to the type of scheme provided under the Pyrite Resolution Board was done with the intention to give homeowners the flexibility to manage their own projects and to allow them to deal directly with their appointed...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (16 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The wearing of medical grade facemasks is predominately for “front line” workers such as those in the medical/healthcare sector and other key sectors whose work, by necessity, means that they will come into close proximity with others. The vast bulk of staff across my Department and its Offices are office-based workers based across eleven buildings across the country. Each...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As is always the case in these scenarios, you have to look at it from the point of view of the parent and of the employer. Particularly where the parent is a lone parent, their having to take time off work could be very injurious. There would be lost income and they do not have somebody else co-parenting with them to help out. Therefore, all the income in the household is lost, not just...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It probably has. We have to give some consideration to that.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Redundancy Payments (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Reckonable service is service that is taken into account when calculating a redundancy lump sum payment. The current situation is that the law provides that a period of lay-off within the final three years of service before redundancy is not allowable as reckonable service and is not included as service for the purposes of the calculation of the redundancy lump sum...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Redundancy Payments (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I hope to be in a position to bring a proposal to Government either next Tuesday or the Tuesday after. Obviously, I will have to do so before 30 September, so that people who are triggering their redundancy claims will know where they stand on that. We have had some consultations with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, Irish Business and Employers Confederation, IBEC, and others, as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The legislation is still in development, so we do not even have the heads at this stage. There are many aspects that might end up in it and I am certainly open to suggestions. As for the right to switch off or disconnect, we dealt with that through a code of practice, which was published a few months ago. It is not a statutory code of practice but it is admissible in evidence where...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy raises an important issue and it is something to which I will have to give some thought with my officials. There are different scenarios. Somebody who applies for a job in an office and gets it might then request the option of working from home one or two days a week. In that case, the employee is making the request and there is more of an obligation on him or her to provide the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: From the outset of Covid-19, many employers have taken the initiative, in line with subsequent requests from the Government, to be as flexible as possible in allowing staff to take time off to look after their children who are not attending school or crèche. Employers have a general duty of care towards their workers and that care is often expressed in the form of negotiation,...