Results 8,881-8,900 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to check out the Deputy's question about trotting racing. I am not familiar with the case the IHRA is making so I will check that out later today or tomorrow and come back to the Deputy. On greyhound racing, we would hope to get it back some time this month. That is not confirmed yet but that is the intention. It will be without spectators but it will all be done outdoors...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I have answered questions on the pandemic unemployment payment already so perhaps I will answer some of the Deputy's other questions. I am totally opposed to reintroducing austerity or austerity measures in Ireland. There is nothing I would hate more to see happen to our country than having to experience more austerity budgets. Let us not forget why we had austerity in Ireland ten or 12...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I have no knowledge or information on that incident. It is one on which I would have to seek a report from the Garda and I shall. There are a lot of restrictions in place as a consequence of this pandemic but there are not restrictions on protests or industrial action. Pickets and protests can happen provided people behave in a way consistent with the regulations, which are maintaining a...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The former Debenhams workers should get the redundancy payments they were promised, in my view, but, as I understand it, most of these issues are now matters for the courts and none of us can interfere in that. It is dishonest to tell people that politicians can interfere in a court process when they cannot. Let me restate what I said earlier about the pandemic unemployment payment. The...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I answered a similar question on direct provision earlier. On the events we have seen take place in the United States, as I stated, we have witnessed a real absence of moral leadership from the top in the United States. We should have had words of unity, comfort and reconciliation, but we did not get them and that is absolutely wrong. I am sure that if those events had happened in this...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Kelly. On young people who were working part-time before the pandemic and lost their jobs as a consequence of the pandemic, the changes we are making tomorrow will ensure that those young people are no worse off than they were before the pandemic. The most important thing for those young people is not the pandemic unemployment payment, rather, it is enabling them to get back...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy suggested, the Minister, Deputy McHugh, might be more up to date on this matter than I am. Assuming the virus continues to move in the right direction, primary and secondary schools will open for all children at the beginning of the school year, which is the end of August. What we have not yet worked out fully is the exact arrangements around how that will happen because...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: From the outset, I have always said that this is a living plan that can be accelerated if we are getting on top of and ahead of the virus. One thing we will stick with is the three-week intervals. They are in place for good epidemiological reasons. If one relaxes restrictions and the virus spreads, incubates and is tested for and so on, it will be at least two weeks before that shows up in...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has got it wrong. I am happy to set the record straight for her, but by getting it wrong, once again she is the one who has caused stress for a lot of people who are in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment today. It was a payment introduced by a Government that I lead. It amounts to €350 per week, a flat rate and one of the most generous in Europe. I stand over...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (4 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Every day there is some good news with the declining number of new cases, but it is tempered by sadness and grief at the loss of more lives. Although the numbers are small, every single one is heartbreaking, and our condolences go to all of the families and friends affected. While we may be adjusting our lives to a new normal, we will never get used to the deaths caused by Covid-19, and we...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Advertising (3 Jun 2020)

Leo Varadkar: In 2020 so far my Department has spent €4,308.20 on social media buying. This relates to content produced in Autumn 2019. My Department is coordinating the National whole-of-government communications response to the COVID-19 emergency. There will continue to be expenditure on public information notices to ensure maximum clarity for citizens, businesses and our wider community. This...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I think the cost of tests will come down. Everything in healthcare is at a premium at the moment, whether PPE or testing kits. Everyone is looking for the same stuff and the cost is very high, but I think the cost of testing will come down. The Deputy is right that in Austria, one can have a test done in the airport but one has to bear the cost of €190. No work has been done in our...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We hope to get driver testing going again as soon as possible when it is safe to do so. Somebody suggested that part of the solution might be a Perspex partition between the passenger seat and the driver's seat, and having a similar solution for taxis. That is being examined. I totally appreciate that we need to get testing started as soon as possible. A car means freedom in large parts...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I will come back to her on the summer colleges once I have more information on what the package is and what may not be possible. On children with special needs, we are totally aligned on our concern about that issue. I share the Deputy's desire to do something for children with special needs over the summer to ensure they get the education, attention and therapy that...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I might be out of date on this but the last time I was briefed on this, which was a week or two ago, the estimate for the cost of testing for Covid this year will be somewhere between €400 million and €450 million. That is because of the fact that the tests cost about €200 a go, which is a lot of money. I might be out of date but that is the most...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy knows, I am here for three hours today to hear Members' statements and answer questions. I am happy to do that and to be held to account for as long as I hold this office. I agree with the Deputy that it is sending the wrong message that I spent two hours in the Chamber and one hour here, but that happened because of a procedural row and a vote that went on for an hour and was...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: That is my view on that. With regard to the coláistí samhraidh, the Minister is working on a package to help them. We want to do something to help them because I realise they will be financially hit by having no income for the summer. However, we must ensure we do it in a way that is fair. There are many other groups in society and other businesses and organisations that will...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have those dates. It is reasonable to ask for them so I will check with the Minister and either he or I will contact the Deputy once I know what those dates are. I do know that the €11 million just transition fund for the midlands is there even if the ESB's €5 million has not yet arrived. The money is there and it is ring-fenced for just transition in the midlands....

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I agree with him on the overall point. If we can front-load bog rehabilitation, we should. It would be a great thing to do. It would secure jobs in Bord na Móna. It would also help to restore our natural heritage and promote tourism. The question the Government is grappling with now is that of how to fund it. The carbon tax revenues for 2020 have already been...

Covid-19 (Taoiseach): Statements (27 May 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot confirm or deny that. I do not have the report in front of me, although it was published either on Friday last or on the Friday before. If the Deputy has heard what I have said about this publicly on a number of occasions, I have acknowledged that there are people who would be better off on ordinary long-standing welfare payments than on the pandemic unemployment payment. There...