Results 9,341-9,360 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I know that from the number of queries I have received about this issue in recent days. I spoke to the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, about this yesterday. He is from rural Cork, as the Deputies will know, and he assured me that this new law will not have any adverse impact on bingo halls or bingo nights and will not cause any bingo nights to be cancelled or any bingo halls to be closed.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: However, it will require bingo operators, many of which are big commercial operations, to provide at least 25% of the money they raise for the charities. Some of them have not been doing that and that is wrong.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of it. The Minister of State, Deputy Griffin, has been working on this with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, for some time and they hope to be able to confirm progress in a few months.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to get back to the Deputy on that.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There is no change in policy. We now have the lowest pupil-teacher ratios in primary schools ever and that has been delivered by this Government with the biggest budget ever for education.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The targeting of additional resources is both for disadvantaged schools and children with special educational needs.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is and I am happy to answer the Deputy, with the agreement of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The Deputy asked the very good question of whether I can give hope to the people in the regions who will be affected by the closure of the peat power stations. The answer is "Yes" and I can. This is the first big test of just transition for our country which, over the next couple of years, will get...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for the question. I understand St. James's Hospital has withdrawn the poster and it was certainly not a national policy. I understand that this was specific to the hospital and it accepts that, at best, it was a clumsy idea. People who listened to Ms Phil Ní Sheaghda and Professor Patrick Plunkett on the radio this morning explaining how discharge lounges work and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy but I am afraid I cannot give that confirmation. I will inform the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, that the matter was raised in the Chamber and I will ask her to contact the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have not seen the Bill but when the Government sees it we will give it due consideration.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is a specific question about an individual and it is very difficult for me to answer a question without all the information.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is aware it is unlawful for a Minister to make a direction about any individual patient but-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to check on this as I am not up to date on the matter. I am sorry.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: When I say it is out of date, what I mean is that it is a document which was published some 15 or 20 years ago and which needs to be renewed and updated. That is what we intend to do. I will return to the Deputy on the question of the independent monitoring body. I must talk to the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health on that. The acute adult mental health unit at...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned earlier, Lorraine Walsh did phenomenal work on the CervicalCheck steering committee. I have met her many times, as has the Minister. I am sure he would be happy to meet her again and speak to her on any concerns she has. Ms Walsh resigned from the committee on 31 October. The RCOG report was published only yesterday.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It was only completed in the past couple of days. I ask that people read the report-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and allow RCOG to come before the Joint Committee on Health, which it has offered to do. The best people to explain the report, which is essentially a clinical audit-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----are the individuals from the RCOG who compiled it. We established a patient advocacy service in the past couple of months. Such a service had not previously existed.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Bill is before the House. There will be more than enough time both here and on Committee Stage for Deputies to debate it and to put forward any amendments they may wish to propose. It is interim legislation. A bigger item of legislation involving the establishment of a regulator is also being prepared. The Bill is an interim measure designed to make some improvements while the larger...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (4 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----the Bill has caused some concern. I reassure people that there are no plans whatever in the legislation that would cause the closure of any bingo halls in Ireland. Rather, the legislation seeks to ensure that bingo halls, many of which are big commercial operators, actually provide money to charity as required. The legislation requires that 25% of the money goes to charity. We know...