Results 7,681-7,700 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which is very much a priority for Government. We are determined to make more progress on it. Much has been done already with the town and village renewal scheme in recent years through the Department for Rural and Community Development. However, we need to accelerate it. When we see it done in a town, it is great to see derelict buildings being...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The transport budget for next year contains additional funding for local and regional roads and also for low-cost safety improvement works. It will be the first quarter in the new year before the Minister for Transport is in a position to allocate that.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Doherty raised this earlier and I stand by the reply given to him.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly pursue that matter. It is important that we give people as much information as we can about these issues. We have seen a really significant reduction in the incidence of the virus throughout Ireland, but not so much in Donegal. The numbers have only come down slightly in Donegal. East Donegal in particular seems to have a high incidence of the virus. In the other Border...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Out of respect to both Deputies, I will reply separately to the two queries. The plan at the moment is not to ease any restrictions and that means that masses can only happen online, as is the case currently. Obviously, 25 people can attend a funeral mass or a wedding but not a regular mass. The Taoiseach met with the four Catholic archbishops to discuss this issue. We hope to be in a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The way the CRSS works is that it compensates businesses whose premises are closed as a consequence of Covid orders. It is supposed to help them with the ongoing running costs of those premises even when they are closed. If a business does not have a premises, then it is not eligible. The people to whom the Deputy refers may be eligible for other grants.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: They may be eligible for the wage subsidy scheme and some of the grants that are available through local enterprise offices. It is important to see it as a package.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot really account in the House for the actions of Dublin City Council.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: It is a local authority, and I think my own party is in opposition on that particular council. Councils receive funding from lots of different mechanisms. They get direct grants from the Government. They also have money from the property tax, commercial rates and other charges. Ultimately, it is for them to decide how best to deploy their budgets, which amount to more than €1...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will check that out.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The truth is that I do not know. It is the Department of the Taoiseach that co-ordinates those regulations. There is a list of published essential services and essential work. I do not know for sure if it is on that list or not, but the Department of the Taoiseach will answer the question for the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: That does seem like an extraordinarily long time to wait to be interviewed in respect of such a serious matter. I do not have information on the matter but I will certainly raise it with my ministerial colleagues and ask them to get back to the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I am not familiar with the particular project, but funding was increased in the budget for 2021 so we would anticipate an announcement of funding for regional and local roads, probably around January or February, so perhaps it can be included in that.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Government, on the advice of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, is nominating the former Senator, Geraldine Feeney, to be a member of SIPO. The idea of having a former politician on SIPO is to have somebody who has a working understanding the work we do as politicians. I think it was Mr. Jim O'Keeffe in the past and it is now proposed to be Geraldine...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: No.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy might have been a fly on the wall at the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meeting last night, at which this exact issue was raised.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I must say it has not been a huge issue in my constituency office, but it clearly is in many other constituencies where people are very dissatisfied with the level of service they are getting from the telecommunications operators at this time. From a legislative point of view, I am bringing forward legislation which will give more powers to both the Competition and Consumer Protection...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We already have a law that requires equal pay for equal work. However, it is not as simple as that. Many women work in professions that were traditionally considered female professions and those professions have been less well paid historically than jobs that were traditionally seen to be male professions. It is the breadwinner model, as it is described. Why is a garda paid more than a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We have discussed it many times, although not at the Cabinet this week. The Taoiseach, the Ministers of State, Deputies English and Troy, and I have been involved in this. There has been a huge amount of engagement with Mandate, ICTU and, to the extent possible, with the liquidator. I have been in direct contact with Debenhams UK. We have done a lot to try to bring about a solution to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We are making enormous progress here south of the Border. As I stated earlier, the percentage positivity rate was approximately 7% but is now under 4%. The average number of weekly cases is down approximately 1,200 to approximately 400. The numbers in hospital and ICU are a fraction of what they were in the spring and are now stabilising or falling. The picture in the Border counties...