Results 9,661-9,680 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: If the Deputies want to give me an example of a school that has been cancelled, give it to me now.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: If anybody in the Chamber wants to give me an example of a school that has been cancelled, they can do so now.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 12, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the economy most recently met on Wednesday, 4 September. It had been scheduled to have its first meeting of 2019 on Monday, 1 July, which was postponed due to the extended European Council meetings. The next meeting of the committee will be on 16 December. The Cabinet committee on the economy is...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As Deputies are aware, the Cabinet meets every week and sometimes twice a week. Cabinet committees tend to meet quarterly. There are standing items on the agenda, usually a review of the implementation of overarching Government strategies such as Sláintecare, the climate action plan, the Action Plan for Rural Development, Project Ireland 2040 and Global Ireland 2025. We will often...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As they have been working since 2011, there has been no fundamental change.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No, I did not.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We reshaped them. We have been having Cabinet committee meetings every month or every other month for seven or eight years, with the senior officials group meeting before them.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's recollection is wrong.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The one that deals with security, for example, allows us to bring in the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and the Garda Commissioner, whom we cannot bring to a Cabinet meeting. There are many ways to do business: at the Cabinet, Cabinet committees, meetings with Ministers and meetings with people not under the umbrella of a Cabinet committee. Sometimes officials, in particular, favour...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: To respond to the questions about Sláintecare, what I was referring to specifically was eligibility. Sláintecare sets out an all-party vision for universal healthcare, in which healthcare is provided on the basis of need, not on the ability to access it. However, Sláintecare does not state it would be totally free for everyone. It leaves open the possibility of co-payments,...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The point I am making is that it may be free for a lot of people but not for everyone and that it may be subsidised for others. The de Buitléir report on how we can remove private practice from public hospitals was brought to the Cabinet. It is Government policy and what is recommended in Sláintecare. The de Buitléir report makes for a very good read. I have read it...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Micheál Martin is correct to point out that the UK is very much in election mode now. As a result, the normal engagement that occurs between governments is suspended. Having said that, we are staying in touch. I met Secretary of State Smith in Enniskillen last weekend. He is in close contact with the Tánaiste. Secretary of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together. In June, I chaired a meeting of Cabinet committee G on justice and equality issues and, in July, I chaired a meeting of Cabinet committee B on social policy and public services. On 25 July, the Government decided to reorganise the Cabinet committee structures and established committees on the economy; social policy and public...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. I assure them that the Government's objective is to make sure that St. Joseph's Shankill stays open, that the services are protected and are made sustainable into the future. Both the HSE and the NTPF are engaging with St. John of God community services on that matter. It is important and valid to put on the record that funding per...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: On the Cuisle centre, this matter was raised earlier in this session and yesterday, so respectfully I refer Deputies to the answers given by me and the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to those earlier questions. Turning to the matter raised by Deputy Scanlon regarding Sligo, some €10 million was provided in the budget this year to open an additional respite house in...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. I was last in touch with Prime Minister Johnson on 27 October, after the withdrawal agreement Bill had passed on Second Stage in the House of Commons but the programme motion for the further passage of the Bill had been defeated. I also spoke to him on Saturday, 19 October, following the events in Westminster, when the UK...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The HSE's budget for this year is the highest ever. It will be up by another €1 billion next year. A lot of resources are being dedicated to the health service. The budget for disability will be €2 billion for the first time next year. I do not know the details of the particular project and I will certainly ask the Minister of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: This is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners, which generally have very good IT systems but there have been some problems in the past couple of days. It would be a decision for them to make rather than Government. If the website is down again and people who are genuinely trying to file on time cannot do so, it would be appropriate for the Revenue to extend the deadline again but that...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am very familiar with Swords but not with this particular dispute. I would always encourage employers to engage with staff and their representatives. As I mentioned in reply to another Deputy earlier, I am not familiar with the dispute so I am reluctant to comment on it. I will have it checked out.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Nov 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The rural regeneration fund is going well. It is a €1 billion fund, as the Deputy knows, that we have set aside to invest in rural communities, towns, villages and parishes all over the country. As is the case with any competitive fund, there is no guarantee that every constituency and county will get money every time. That is not how it works. It is based on an assessment of the...