Results 6,721-6,740 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Covid-19 (Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I have no doubt whatsoever that bogus self-employment is very real and is a problem in our economy and our society but it is worth pointing out that the percentage of people who are self-employed in Ireland has not changed much in recent years. There is a narrative out there that there has been a huge drift to self-employment and that more people who in the past would...

Covid-19 (Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I have to give the Deputy that one. The CRSS is working very well and I get very good feedback from businesses about it. It is helping them with their fixed costs. It is not the only scheme out there and there is a tourism continuity scheme for businesses that were not included. There is also a transport scheme and the new CBAS, which was only announced the other day. We should bear in...

Covid-19 (Enterprise, Trade and Employment): Statements (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am glad to have this opportunity to update the House on the topic of business and Covid-19 under this new format of statements and questions and answers. I look forward to answering Deputies' questions. I am sharing time with the Minister of State, Deputy Troy. Although today's topic is business and Covid-19, I will also speak about how my Department is supporting employees. Covid-19...

Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2021: First Stage (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: No.

Consumer Protection (Loyalty Penalty and Customer Complaints) Bill 2021: First Stage (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: No.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am afraid I do not have an update on this. My understanding is that the NASRA, which is associated with the PNA, is not recognised by the HSE because it has existing agreements with another union. I think it is SIPTU but I am not 100% sure. I will certainly ask the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to provide an update for the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I have read about the case but I am not an expert on it. I want to be careful about what I say on such a sensitive issue. I know that after the apology I made as Taoiseach we made offers to ten or 16 people, most of whom accepted them, but there are now difficulties with people who did not apply for the ex gratiascheme at the time because they believed they would not be...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am not aware of a directive on this matter but I will check it out and come back to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I understand where the Deputy is going with this but I am constrained by stock market rules in what I can say in this regard. What I will say is, as I said earlier, that the Government supports the concept of establishing a third banking force with sufficient scale to challenge Bank of Ireland and AIB. We have never really had that in Ireland and it would be a good thing to have it. We...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. The list of mass vaccination centres is not exhaustive. There may be additional centres or centres that are open for a few weeks in one area and then moved to another area so that a large county can be catered for and perhaps this can include Limerick. I want to make the point very clearly that the list is not exhaustive and there may be additional centres. It is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that the backlog in primary medical certificate assessments is causing a great deal of distress for hundreds of people across the country. It has been raised with my constituency office as well. I will make contact with the HSE to see if anything can be done to speed up matters. It is important that the assessments be done.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Let me just say-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am a great supporter of a technological university for the south east. One of my regrets as Taoiseach in the previous Government is that this is one of the measures we did not get over the line. I am determined that we will get it done and up and running in 2022. While I am strongly of the view that it should be centred in Waterford city and we should use some available sites there to...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising these issues. My colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, has done a great deal of work on the case of Mr. Richard O'Halloran and in trying to assist that gentleman and his family. The issues the Deputy raised in respect of others who may be detained are pertinent and ones in which the Government takes an interest. Perhaps the Joint...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: To be clear, there is no date set or agreed as yet. What is being planned for is a phased return of schools across March and into the Easter period, starting with sixth years and the youngest years in primary school. That would also include special schools and special classes that are 50% back being back 100%, as they should be.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will take them up with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Taxi drivers have suffered more than most in this pandemic. They have experienced a significant loss of income and their vehicles have not been used much in the past year or so. The Deputy's suggestions make sense and I will take them up with the Minister.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am very sorry to hear what people in Bandon are experiencing. I visited after floods a couple of years ago and spoke to many of the business people and residents. The flood works that have happened there have produced some benefits but the problems are far from resolved. I will certainly undertake to inform the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that this was raised here in the Chamber...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I, once again, warmly welcome the absolute 180° U-turn by Sinn Féin and other parties when it comes to the national broadband plan. This was opposed tooth and nail when we signed that contract in 2019 and now nobody wants to cancel it. We had all the usual conspiracy theories and all the rest of it about how the contract came about and who got it and why, and how somehow things...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Munster. The Deputy raised this issue last week or the week before. On foot of that, I have written to the Minister, Deputy Foley, and have asked her to take up the matter directly with the Deputy. I do not know the details of the school project but it is important that proper consultation happens with all of the people affected.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned earlier, we have asked the national immunisation advisory council to consider that and to give us advice as to whether we could prioritise family carers, for the reasons that the Deputy said, but not just them. We have asked it to consider other groups too, such as those with cystic fibrosis, CF, and people who are immunocompromised, for example, people who have transplants. ...