Results 6,221-6,240 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: What the Deputy said about affordable housing is a bit misleading. The average home in Ireland changed hands last year for about €270,000. We would envisage that the vast majority of affordable housing scheme properties that are provided would be in and around that figure or lower. There are parts of the country where house prices are high, however, and the false impression and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We were in a different situation ten years ago. There were no homes at all being built in Ireland and there was no property at all moving. The policy solutions that might have been required ten years ago may not be the same as we require now and that may change again. Going back to that period ten years ago misunderstands the situation we faced then when no homes were being built and no...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is great rhetoric but there is little reality behind that. It has been the case since time began that houses and apartments cost different amounts in different places. There are places in the country, in Dublin and in the world-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: -----where there is a higher demand for housing and where there is a lower demand for housing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There are places where there is no public land and in those places the land cost impacts on the price of affordable housing. It is not that affordable housing will only be built on public land. It will also require the acquisition of land in some cases and it may be built on private land as well. I will go back to the NAMA portfolio, which was not mentioned by the Deputy. It is the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: They would have had to be serviced, at the cost of public services or higher taxes for ordinary people.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That is a further misrepresentation. I did not say "restrict". I said it would be wrong to ban them outright and I explained the role they have to play and have had to play. I was interested to hear Deputy Ó Broin on "Prime Time" only the other night, for the first time ever that I have heard him, advocating for private investment and long-term investment by pension funds in housing....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We want people to be able to have a private property in which they can live and raise their family before passing it to their children when they pass on themselves. That is not the policy of Sinn Féin or many of the left-wing parties in this Chamber, although they try to pretend otherwise. What happened in Maynooth and Hollystown is not right. We do not want investment funds in any...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: With the greatest respect to the Deputy, it is the ideology of everybody in this House that people who work hard, with a decent average or lower than average income, should be able to buy their own home. It is the case that in this country, 65% to 70% of people own their own home. That was not achieved by the Social Democrats; that has been a feature of long-standing policy by Governments...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I may be incorrect but I thought that Bill relates to a different matter, which is the leasing of properties for social housing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That is a different matter. As I understand it the Government is not opposing that but it is a separate matter and it is wrong to conflate the two.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Ba chóir go mbeadh gach duine ábalta úinéireacht a bheith aige nó aici ar a theach nó a teach cónaithe agus ní mór dúinn an deis sin a thabhairt do dhaoine. Is muidne an Rialtas atá i bhfabhar úinéireacht ar thithe cónaithe agus creidim gur maith an rud é go mbeadh úinéireacht ag duine ar a mhian nó a...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: North-South Ministerial Council (5 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: On 21 April I chaired the 21st North South Ministerial Council Trade and Business Development meeting. The Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy Diane Dodds, accompanied by the NI Minister of Finance Conor Murphy, represented the Northern Ireland Executive at this meeting. The North South Ministerial Council was established under the Good Friday Agreement to develop consultation,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Investigations (5 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I can confirm that no staff member of my Department has had access to files and/or email restricted and/or revoked as part of a disciplinary process or preceding, or following a disciplinary process, during the period in question.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (5 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I understand that Fáilte Ireland, which operates under the aegis of my colleague Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, has published re-opening guidelines tailored to various sectors of the Irish hospitality and tourism industry. These guidelines are available on the Fáilte Ireland website. Fáilte Ireland has worked closely...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (5 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 241 and 247 together. The Government has worked to support businesses through this difficult time with a comprehensive range of measures for firms of all sizes. The measures include the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) now extended until the 30th of June, the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), the COVID-19 Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), the...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Industrial Relations (5 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The right of workers to form associations and join a trade union is enshrined in Article 40 of the Irish Constitution. However, our Superior Courts have established that the Constitutional guarantee of the freedom of association does not guarantee workers the right to have their union recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining. Notwithstanding this, it has been the consistent...

Seanad: Business and Covid-19: Statements (30 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity to speak on business and Covid-19. This may be the first time I have addressed the Twenty-sixth Seanad. It is also a pleasure to be back in the Dáil Chamber. I am not sure I have been here this year. We have been exiled to the convention centre but I am glad Senators are making good use of the Chamber during our brief exile. I...

Seanad: Business and Covid-19: Statements (30 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I also thank Senators for a very interesting and informed debate. It is nice to come to the Seanad. I must come to the House more often because it is less adversarial and, therefore, sometimes a little more grown-up. I appreciate the comments and remarks of Senators. Senator Ahearn has often mentioned the Ballingarrane campus to me.There is specific...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (29 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We will certainly give the matter consideration. I am not sure we can waive the fee for five years but perhaps we can do a bit better than what we have done to date. As a result of the pandemic, many businesses have changed their models. Restaurants are doing dinner boxes and takeaways when they never did so before because they have been allowed to do so. Hospitality businesses are using...