Results 6,341-6,360 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Reports (21 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will recall that this particular Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment consists of two important and complementary components, namely a comprehensive analysis of the potential economic benefits as well as a robust sustainability impact assessment including social, human rights and environmental impacts that the trade Agreement could have in Ireland and the Mercosur...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is a competition Bill but it also gives additional powers to ComReg. It is being drafted at the moment and is at an advanced stage. We anticipate having it enacted before the summer recess. I compliment the Minister for Community and Rural Development, Deputy Humphreys, on bringing forward the rural Ireland plan, building on the work done by her predecessor, Deputy Ring. The plan...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. I make the point that Government Deputies make up more than half of the House and it is not unreasonable for them to be allowed to raise questions on promised legislation, just like everybody else.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the questions that have been asked, last night I signed the new code of practice giving people the right to disconnect. Essentially, it has three elements: the right not to be expected or required to reply to emails and phone calls out of hours; the right not to be victimised for refusing to do so; and the duty to respect the right of others to disconnect. It is a code of practice...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. As a consequence Covid-19 and the need to pare back non-Covid-19 health services in order to keep people out of hospitals where they might pick up the virus, we have seen a very significant increase in waiting lists for colonoscopies and oesophago-gastro-duodenoscopy procedures. It is important to say that when somebody has the frank symptoms of cancer they are, of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will be happy to take a look at that matter. If the Deputy can pass me on the details later in the day, I will do so. A leisure centre closed by Government order should be in receipt of the weekly CRSS payment but perhaps because the centre mentioned by the Deputy is not a commercial entity in the normal sense, it does not. That would be unfair. We are trying to mop up some of these...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I absolutely acknowledge that there are many people who are annoyed or disappointed because they felt they were going to be prioritised for vaccination. Whether it was an assumption or an assurance they were given, many people believed they were going to be prioritised. It did not only apply to gardaí or teachers. The list mentioned by the Deputy could probably extend to hundreds of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My understanding is that the modelling done by NPHET and Professor Nolan does factor in our projections in respect of vaccination. The difficulty we have at the moment is that not enough people are vaccinated. Whereas vaccinating all those over 70 years reduces the number of deaths dramatically, it does not reduce the number of ICU admissions dramatically. That is why we need to vaccinate...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We anticipate that everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be fully vaccinated by the end of September.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: These are probably questions for Professor Nolan rather than me. Vaccinations will not be 100% effective. There will still be cases.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is a little strange for a spokesperson from a party that had been advocating very low Covid or zero Covid to then start lining up calls this week, last week and the week before for restrictions to be eased.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I may have misunderstood the Deputy's question. If I did, I apologise. I thought she was referring to unvaccinated visitors.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We all want to see these restrictions eased. We all want people who are having a baby to have someone there to support them. We want fathers to be able to be there for appointments - of course we do. However, bringing unvaccinated people into a hospital is a risk and there have been miscarriages as a result of Covid.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think this is about billionaires flying in on private jets. That is just a conspiracy theory. This is about hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens who live in the US and France and hundreds of thousands of EU citizens who live here but call places like Poland home. The situation is that consultations are now under way, as is required under the legislation, about extending...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The vast majority of people aged over 80 have already been vaccinated. We are moving on to those in their 70s at the moment. Indeed, that is well under way in some parts of the country. This can be complicated. Some people are housebound and others are in isolated areas where it is difficult to get to. Arrangements are being put in place using general practitioners and the National...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I answered some of those questions earlier but I am happy to expand further on them. First of all, the vaccine roll-out is going really well in Northern Ireland. I want to congratulate the authorities in Northern Ireland, and in Britain, on the fabulous job they have done in securing vaccines and getting them to people very quickly. That is happening because the UK had a different set of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I think it is the case that Britain and Northern Ireland are going to open up faster than here, largely as a consequence of the fact that the vaccine roll-out is happening faster there. However, the difference is going to be a couple of weeks. If one goes to Northern Ireland or England now, one is not going to find restaurants or non-essential retail open. None of those services are open...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I only heard about those events in the past hour or so. Without knowing all the facts, I do not want to comment any further. However, I am of the view that the former Debenhams workers were very badly treated by their employer in the way they were laid off over a year ago. The Government has done all that it can to ensure that their legal rights and entitlements were...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy knows full well that the legal entitlement to redundancy in Ireland is two weeks per year of service. That is statutory redundancy. If the House or the Government decides to increase that to three or four weeks, so be it. That cannot be applied retrospectively, however. The legal entitlement is two weeks per year of service. Sometimes people have collective agreements that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Apr 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to emphasise that the decision the Government made to revise the priority groups for vaccination was made based on public health advice and the advice of doctors and scientists, both in the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, and the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET. I often hear in this House, Government and Opposition Members saying that we should...