Results 801-820 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Cathal Crowe for raising this important issue. I have a note from the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, advising me that in light of the circumstances of Ennistymon Community School, she has asked her officials, on an exceptional basis, to continue funding the school meals programme for all students until the end of the current academic year, which will run...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The starting salary for a teacher in Ireland is now over €41,000 and is significantly higher than the equivalent figure in Northern Ireland or Britain, for example. An extra 3,700 newly qualified teachers have registered with the Teaching Council this year and there are now more than 120,000 teachers registered to work in Ireland. Budget 2024 contains a range of targeted teacher...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: First of all, I want to acknowledge the really excellent work that Threshold does. It receives significant Government funding and, as a consequence of that, is able to do a lot of its work. As it often points out, very many notices to quit, far from being eviction notices as the Deputy claims, are invalid. It is really important that people seek advice from bodies like Threshold if they...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have read about this issue in the past few weeks, but I am not fully up to date on it and I do not want to give the Deputy a misleading reply, so I will ask the line Minister to revert to her during the day or tomorrow.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is probably a matter for Cork City Council rather than central government, but I will let the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, know it was raised and ask them to revert to Deputy Barry with a further reply.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that this is a very important issue. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to revert to the Deputy on it directly.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am very sorry to hear about that lady's experience. It is impossible for me to comment on any individual case without having all of the details. Complex surgery requires a lot of resources, staff and theatre time and ICU beds to be available.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Sometimes ICU beds go to emergencies rather than people who are on waiting lists. We are expanding ICU and HDU bed capacity. I do not have the exact figures in front of me, but I understand there has been an increase of 25% in the past three years alone under this Government. I will check the figures and come back to the Deputy with the detail in writing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The future of energy in Ireland is renewable. That is the safest, most secure and cheapest way to provide for our energy needs in the long term. We need renewable energy, backed by interconnection to Britain and Europe, and mass battery storage in Ireland. That transition is very much under way. It is happening all around us, all over the country, such as the wind...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. It is interesting, bordering on comical, that the Deputy who opposed the carbon tax is now calling on us to use the carbon tax-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----which he opposed to pay for gas storage. It is so absurd I do not think I will go down that road at all. Storage has to be paid for. Nobody is going to store for free a huge amount of gas for us which has to be burned off or brought into the system every couple of months. The proposal is that the user of gas will pay for the storage. That makes sense to me. The Deputy is proposing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and that is not an approach that works in international affairs.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: He is an author of the Good Friday Agreement. It was in that context he said it, by the way. You have to make sure you use your influence in a way that is effective, not in a way that just makes you look good on telly or in front of protestors. That is not how you conduct grown-up politics or international affairs. On the humanitarian clause the Deputy mentioned, I will make inquiries...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I tried in my earlier response to Deputy McDonald to explain what we are trying to do. For the first time, there is clear agreement across 27 member states in the European Union that the only solution to this conflict is a two-state solution. Ireland has a role to play in making sure the EU presses for this, advocates for it and makes this the end to the conflict in the area. We can do...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We must work with our allies and not hector them. The Deputy's approach again is to hector me.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is how she would behave at a European Council meeting. She would go in, hector people, point the finger, leave early, do a press release and big press conference, make herself look good but ultimately would achieve nothing for us------

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----nothing for Ireland and nothing for the Palestinians.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Under this Government, there are record levels of spending and investment in healthcare. Spending on healthcare will increase next year, not go down. There are also record levels of staff working in our health service. There are 20,000 more staff than there were when this Government came into office, including 6,000 extra nurses and midwives and about 2,000 extra doctors and dentists....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is the vision the Deputy has for Ireland, which I hope never comes to pass. On ICU beds, it is an area in which the Government has been very active in the past three years. We increased the number of ICU beds considerably since the pandemic and will continue to do so. That programme will not be adversely affected in the next year. As everyone will understand in this House, it is not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have explained the position. This is not the same as Ukraine. An investigation is already under way in respect of potential war crimes-----