Results 761-780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I outlined our position on this only in the last hour. We have very strict rules in relation to the use of Shannon. There are no flights going from the US through Shannon to Israel. There are troops being carried to US bases and anybody carrying munitions needs permission and a licence.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That commitment stands and the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, is working on it at the moment, with a view to having the referendum concurrent with the local and European elections. The court is up and running and we are keen that Ireland be part of it. I will have to come back to the Deputy on the issue of the central division. My understanding when I was...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have met a lot of farmers on this issue for the best part of a year now and I understand the impact it is going to have on thousands of farms around the country. At our invitation, Commissioner Sinkevičius is coming to Ireland on Thursday. The Minister for agriculture, Deputy McConalogue, and I will have a chance to meet him and we will explore any flexibilities that might be...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to clarify this. What was agreed by Cabinet today is a supplementary budget for health of about €1 billion for this year. The budget relates to next year. The way it works is we have a budget in October, then a Revised Estimates Volume, REV, in December and there can be Supplementary Estimates but the Supplementary Estimates are for the existing year, not the following...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: No.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The wording will go to Cabinet next week. Subject to being approved by Cabinet next week, it will be published and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, I and others will then have an opportunity to go through the wording. Changing the Constitution is never straightforward. We always have to bear in mind how it might be interpreted by the courts. I have a strong view that laws should be made in...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is all set out in our climate action plans and we are doing everything we can to step up climate action but this requires-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----system change and one cannot change systems that took generations to build up in a short period of years.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We need to bear in mind that while we have to step up climate action, which we are doing and will do, the impact that will have on a global atmosphere and environment can unfortunately only ever be small. That is why we will have a particular focus on adaptation and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, will bring an updated adaptation plan to the Government before the end of the year.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I mentioned that.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I am not familiar with the issue Deputy McGrath has raised. Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, will be able to come back to him directly on it. There have been calls for statements on climate action, on the situation in Northern Ireland regarding the Assembly Executive not functioning and on violence against women and domestic and gender-based violence, in particular. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned in my earlier reply, a community engagement team has been established. It is engaging directly with elected representatives, relevant local than local authorities, the local development companies and other entities and individuals. The purpose of the community engagement team is to improve the flow of information regarding arrivals into areas and to help equip local...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. At the outset, I recognise that very many communities across the country, including in County Kerry, have accepted and even welcoming large numbers of Ukrainians and international protection applicants in the past few years. With respect to the Harmony Inn in Kingscourt, Killarney, the Minister has met the Kerry TDs, the mayors of Kerry and of Killarney, and the chief...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy, I am not. I appreciate why you have to say things like that, but I can absolutely guarantee that I am not. I am sorry you had to make that up, quite frankly. The Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, was telling me about something else.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to Shannon, the US does not fly planes through Shannon to Israel. It does bring some of its troops to service people through to bases in Europe and other parts of the world, and has done that for a very long time. I have set out the rules in relation to the use of Shannon Airport for transit. I think that has happened to the Palestinian people for the past 75 years is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and killings, and that has to change. I hope that one of the things that can come out of this, if anything can come out of this, is a renewed effort from all sides - the West, the Arab world and the Islamic world - to demand a two-state solution to give the Palestinians the homeland they need.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am not an expert on terms like "genocide". My understanding of genocide is that it is an attempt to obliterate an entire nation or an entire people. For example, the Holocaust, or Shoah, and the killing of 6 million Jews, which was half the Jewish population, was certainly genocide, or an attempted genocide.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will look at it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will propose an amendment to People before Profit's motion tonight in which we will call on the House to deeply deplore the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, including the death of more than 11,000 people, almost half of whom were children, as a consequence of Israel's military actions in Gaza, condemn the barbaric acts on 7 October by Hamas in Israel and specifically condemn...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this important question. It was during my first term as Taoiseach that we ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. We are not a country that just ratifies a convention and then moves on. We are a country that makes sure we have done what we need to do before we ratify a convention and that is what we did on this occasion. It...