Results 5,821-5,840 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The mental health budget in Ireland is at the highest level ever at well over €1 billion. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is making great changes and great progress in the area. I acknowledge that the need is greater than it ever was before. I would be doing the Deputy a disservice if I gave him an answer now about north Tipperary specifically, but I know how important it is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid that I am not familiar with the details of the issue but I will certainly inform the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, that it was raised here today and ask them to reply directly.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid that I do not have an update on that but the Government commitment stands. I will see the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, later, let him know that Deputy Conway-Walsh raised it, and ask him to reply to her as soon as he can.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I was not aware of that. I will certainly check it out. There may be a good reason for that that the Deputy and I do not know but it sounds strange. I will make inquiries and get back to the Deputy when I have a reply.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The LDA was established on an interim basis in 2018 by way of an establishment order, pending the enactment of primary legislation, when it will be established as a commercial State agency - a State-owned developer. Once the primary legislation is in place, equity funding of €1.25 billion will be made available to the LDA through transfers from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that the waiting times for therapies are very long and far too long in many parts of the country. Although I may be incorrect, I think that CHO 7 was part of a pilot where we are going to move therapists into schools, which we think might be a more effective way of providing these services than through the HSE. I will seek an update on that and come back to Deputy Crowe about...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know how important it is to the CF community. As a country, we should endeavour to be among the first to approve and reimburse new medicines. It makes sense from a health point of view and it also makes sense from an economic point of view. If we are asking pharmaceutical companies to invest and employ people here, we should be among the first...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Like the Deputy, I have been getting a number of representations from people living in the Middle East and the Gulf area who are caught by this issue. At the moment, we are only recognising people as having been fully vaccinated if they have received a vaccine that is approved by the EMA, but it is open to the Government to recognise other vaccines, including those approved by the WHO. We...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is very concerned that the question of continuation of rail services into Dublin Port should arise at a time when the focus is on ensuring that our transport modes are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. The ultimate aim is that rail freight continues to be facilitated by Dublin Port in line with...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. In the last budget or perhaps the one before, we increased the income limits for access to the full medical card, although that was probably for the over-70s, not those between 66 and 69, and I imagine the Deputy’s constituent is in that bracket. I can see how it could be a difficulty that somebody moving from invalidity pension or carer’s payments would...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. On foot of the Deputy raising it the last time, I asked my officials to engage with the company. I am afraid I do not have a recent update on that but as the Deputy has raised it again, I will get that and pass it on to the Deputy as soon as I can.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. She is absolutely right that the take-up by Irish people of the vaccine is very encouraging. There is very little vaccine hesitancy in Ireland. It is going to stand to us in a few months' time, I think, that Irish people have been so willing to get vaccinated. In some countries, refusal and hesitancy rates are as high as 30% or 40%. That is going to be a problem for...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I may have picked the Deputy up wrong, but I think he is asking me to agree with him that whatever is announced will not be enough. Perhaps that was a Freudian slip, because that is what he is going to say no matter what is announced. Leaving that aside, this is something that I have called for too, and it is something the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, is working on. We should be...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Tá an tAire ag bunú grúpa oibre dírithe faoi theorainn ama idir oifigigh Roinne agus ionadaithe ó údaráis áitiúla Mhaigh Eo agus Dhún na nGall. Aithneoidh an grúpa oibre saincheisteanna atá fós gan réiteach agus rachaidh sé i ngleic leo. D’fhéadfadh an grúpa tuairisciú ar ais don Aire faoi...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: This is a significant concern at the moment. It is an issue many of my constituents are raising with me and I imagine Deputy Kenny has had the same experience. What I can confirm is that the Government has agreed to reduce the gap between the first dose and the second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine from 12 weeks to eight weeks. We cannot reduce the gap to anything shorter than that, as...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Berry for raising the issue of the Ice Dome at DkIT. It is an excellent piece of infrastructure and it is sad that it has been out of use for so long. I have been advised that DkIT is actively engaged in a process to secure a lease arrangement for the Ice Dome. I understand that the intention is to enter into a lease arrangement with a sporting organisation but, as these...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My understanding is that Paul Reid and the HSE have given general guidance on maternity hospitals saying that it is allowed and indeed advised that partners should attend the birth of their child and attend scans and paediatric or neonatal ICU if their child is in there. However it is the case – it has always been the case and will always be the case - that on occasion we must allow...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Staff are vaccinated and increasing numbers of adults are vaccinated and I hope we will be able to get beyond this point quite soon.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. At the outset, I would like to state that I believe we all respect and value the role played by the Religious Sisters of Charity in providing healthcare and education down the years when the State did not. We all support the building of a new national maternity hospital at Elm Park. We need it and women need those modern facilities. Holles Street is a great hospital...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: From the point of view of the Government, it is an absolute requirement that the constitution and the memorandum and articles of association, memo and arts, for the new hospital must specify that any procedures and treatments legal in the State are available in that hospital. There can be no ambiguity about that. That includes sterilisation, IVF, assisted reproduction and terminations. I...