Results 9,621-9,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I rang Ms Murphy yesterday and spoke to her about this issue. I told her that what she said was not on. She reflected on that and at that stage she had already withdrawn the comments and apologised for them. We know in this House that there are hundreds of thousands of people in this country who are migrants. They make our economy stronger, help run our public services, and enrich our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----are much more likely to be fleeing ISIS than having anything to do with it. Ms Murphy understands that a bit better now than she did a few days ago.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Collins for raising this important issue. We have a housing shortage and everyone knows that. The solution to the housing shortage is to build more homes-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----of all forms. These include private houses for people to buy, because most people want to own their own home, and that is a good thing; houses for people to rent, because some people need or have to rent at various points in their lives; and social housing for people on the housing list and who need social housing. This is a perfect site for that type of housing. It is very near the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----to all of the public for a mix of housing, and that is what is planned. There is no ideology from this side of the House regarding housing. We want more housing of all forms. Those who are ideological about housing are those who vote against housing developments for one reason or another, such as there being too much of this type of housing or too little of that type of housing. They...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and lots of it and as soon as possible.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We are focused on delivery, while the Deputy is focused on ideology. What is planned in the O'Devaney site has now been adopted by Dublin City Council by 38 votes to 19. Nearly 800 new homes will be built on this site, 50% of which will be homes for people to buy, 30% of which will be social housing for people on the housing list and 20% of which will be affordable purchase units. That is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am glad she was able to gain access to the reception centre in Clonea to meet people and talk to them about their lived experiences. If she had rung ahead, she may have found it even easier to get in. I imagine in the case of Ms Murphy a call was made in advance to ask whether a visit was possible-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and people were told they could visit. I read the article in the Wexford Peopleand I do not think the Deputy characterised Ms Murphy's comments on homelessness exactly as they were described. In fact, in the article she described her experience of being homeless. I do not know how many people in the House have had that experience, but she has. She described how she left home very...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I probably know a little bit more about experiencing racism than perhaps Deputy Smith does. I do not know if the Deputy is saying my bar is high or low, but it is certainly not something tolerated in the party I lead. I rang her yesterday-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: This will be put into the public domain but not until every woman who agreed to participate in the audit has had the chance to get her results, the offer of a meeting has been made, and the meeting has happened. I think the Deputy will agree that is the way it should happen. That is why the Government has not received the report-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We have not received it and it has not gone to the Government. We will not receive it until each of the women has had an opportunity to hear the results for herself. After that, it will be published, but only at that point. Of course, a briefing will be made available for Deputies. I sincerely hope that, given that this is the second audit and is different from the previous audit, we...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am sorry to hear about the experience of the family the Deputy mentioned. I am not familiar with the case and I do not want to comment on it for those reasons, but I extend my condolences and sympathies to the family she mentioned. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, RCOG, audit report has not been shared with Government as of yet. I have not seen it and it is not with...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: This is just more of the same from Deputy Micheál Martin. I was in Cork at the weekend, turning the sod on a development of 120 homes, a mixture of affordable and social housing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I met lots of people. I was in Blackpool shopping centre and in Blarney too, where I got a very good reception. The Deputy is clearly irritated about that and------

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----has returned to his usual display of outrage and faux anger. If he wants a classic example of local authorities not fulfilling their responsibilities, Fianna Fáil councillors in Galway city only the other day voted against 20 social houses in Ballybane. That is a classic example of local authorities turning down money from central government and voting against social housing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is an example of it. I am really curious to hear-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There is something I would like to say because I think it is important, so perhaps it may be possible to do so without interruption. I am really curious to hear Fianna Fáil Deputies raising the housing issue this week. I did not think they would do so, particularly in view of the absolutely paper-thin, nonsensical housing policies put forward by Deputy Micheál Martin at the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----even though anybody who has served in government and anyone in this Chamber should know that this is contrary to the EU VAT directive. What do we get at the Fianna Fáil Ógra conference? A promise to instruct the Central Bank to change the macro-prudential rules.