Results 841-860 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: International Relations (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 to 17, inclusive, together. I took part in an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders by video-conference on 17 October, convened by President Michel following Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October. At the meeting, we reaffirmed our statement of 15 October: condemning Hamas for its brutal and indiscriminate attack; acknowledging Israel’s...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputies for their contributions. I join Deputy Dillon in welcoming the approval of more than 100 new social houses in Mayo. We are seeing very good numbers now in new social housing provision. We will probably build more new social housing this year than any year since the 1970s. It looks like the 2020s will be a record decade in terms of public housing provision in the history...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: When it comes to Croí Cónaithe, that is going very well, with approximately 4,000 applications submitted. We will review the process. It is still a new grant. We want to make it as simple as possible so people can draw down the money as quickly as possible but we need safeguards as well because ultimately, this is taxpayers' money. There will always be issues and we have to make...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee on housing will take place on 27 November. The committee works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the implementation of Housing for All and programme for Government commitments regarding housing and related matters. Housing for All is now in its third year of implementation. Next...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We are confident we will have the memorandum and the terms of reference to the Cabinet in the next couple of weeks but then we will need to approve people to serve on the panel, to be the chair and to serve on the inquiry. We hope to make progress on that quite soon. There will be a public element to it and nursing homes will be covered. It will, of course, be complicated in certain...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate the Deputy is being very clear that she is referring here to professional commercial cyclists and not everyday leisure or commuter cyclists. It is something that should be considered and I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, about this in the context of our road safety committee. I do not make a commitment either way but it is something to which we can give...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: If we are talking about the same tax, the liability has been deferred by a year because we appreciate some changes have to be made to it as some anomalies have arisen that were not anticipated. We have given An Bord Pleanála a lot more work to do and there is a lot more building going on in the country. That is great but it means there is even more work for it to do from the private...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I really admire the work that the Order of Malta does around the country. I know it has a particular presence in Castlebar. The application would be a matter for the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her officials to assess but I can mention it to her and I will do so.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I agree there is a gap there and we need to give foresters and potential foresters the confidence they need to plan the trees we want them to plant. We are all aware of the problems that have occurred in recent years. Some €10 million has been provided to owners of ash plantations affected by ash dieback. More recently, there has been a new reconstitution and underplanting scheme,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Burke for raising the Cork elective hospital again. It is an issue he has been campaigning on for quite some time. The Government has identified St. Stephen's Hospital as the preferred site for the new elective hospital for Cork. It is now in planning phase and developing detailed project briefs, a procurement strategy and pre-tender business case for all the elective...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy can be sure both the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, will be very proactive on this and indeed the Tánaiste is in China as we speak. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has to submit an epidemiological report to the Chinese control authority, which it will assess before deciding whether the suspension can be lifted. The...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, has been allocated €250 million to establish a scheme to help businesses with rising costs to cushion the blow of rising costs and to enable them to retain their staff. To put it in context, €250 million is twice the amount claimed under the temporary business energy support scheme this year, so it is a very...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We agree that an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is required. The killing has to stop. Hostages need to be released. Citizens of other countries need to be allowed to leave and we need to make sure that we get humanitarian aid into Gaza as soon as possible. The Government is not proposing any specific sanctions at this point. We know when sanctions work. Sanctions work when they are...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There are an estimated 8,000 foreign and dual nationals and immediate dependents in Gaza who are seeking to leave. Evacuations are being managed on a country-by-country basis and it will take time for this process to be completed. The names of all Irish citizens in Gaza who have asked to be included on the list of those to be evacuated have been submitted to the relevant authorities. We do...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will have that quite soon. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is working on heads of the Bill and we hope to have that enacted next year. I was not going to bring it up, but I do agree with the Deputy. People are entitled to sue the media if they so wish, but they do not have to. There are other ways to seek redress, one of which is a complaint to the Press Council of Ireland. That is...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to check up on that. The former Minister of State, Deputy English, had done a lot of work on it and was very advanced on that legislation to give the people to which the Deputy referred at least a say, and they should have a say. I do not know exactly where we are with that, however. I will check with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Shanahan for raising this very important issue. We have very serious problem in this country with gambling addiction and it is getting worse. Of course, it has been amplified by the fact that it is so easy to gamble online and make purchases online. As the Deputy knows, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, is currently bringing that legislation through the House. I am not...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is extremely disappointing for our farmers and our food industry that a case of atypical BSE has been detected. We export over 90% of the beef we produce, so our reputation for safe and sustainable production is crucial. The animal was ten and a half years old and was identified during the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's ongoing systemic surveillance of fallen animals....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have always been a huge supporter of the tourism sector and industry. I got to work very closely with it for three years as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I have continued to engage with it and I really find people who work in the tourism sector to be among the most hospitable and welcoming people, and among the best businesspeople we have in the country. I will never forget...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to clarify that I have not called for a curb on international travel; far from it. That is not my position whatsoever. I said that we have to take account of it and that some journeys are more valuable to the State than others. I have given the Deputy an example of exactly that. I also said we need to make sure we move towards sustainable aviation fuels. That is the future....