Results 10,201-10,220 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: On the contrary, the Government takes one third of its profits in dividends to pay for services across the country. We need to see if there is something we can do, particularly for Shannon Airport. Although it has very strong routes to the UK, including Heathrow in particular, and North America, it lacks a route to a significant continental hub such as Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the amount for Hartstown has been settled, but I will check up on that. As the Deputy said, Huntstown is at an early stage and still needs to be worked on. Funds are available. There is a €1 billion fund for rural development and a €2 billion fund for urban regeneration. Local authorities have community funds, funded through the local property tax, rates and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and beds too. If this was down to more beds, more staff and more money, we would have solved it a long time ago. We have never spent more money in our health service. We have been adding extra beds for seven years. We have never had more staff. It takes a lot more than additional resources. That is a simple solution. If simple solutions worked, they would have worked by now. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am very much aware of the issues with fire safety in Hartstown and Huntstown community centres, which are in the constituency shared by the Deputy and me. Some community centres, particularly many of the new ones, are owned and controlled by local authorities, whereas many of the older ones are privately owned. One of them belongs to the Archdiocese of Dublin. In other cases, they are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that overcrowding in our hospitals was indeed very severe this morning. I apologise to the patients and staff affected and also their loved ones, who deserve much better than to have to wait for a hospital bed. It is worth pointing out, however, that the vast majority of people on a hospital trolley this morning will be in a proper hospital bed before the evening is out. ...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I outlined the actions taken. They are not claims; they are real. The Deputy can check them for herself. More money is being invested and spent in our health services than ever before. Per capita, the level is one of the highest in the world. More beds have been added to our hospital system every year since 2012. In recent weeks, there has been extra investment in the fair deal and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's assessment is correct that it is his view that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union whole and entire, to use his own language. That means the UK, including Northern Ireland, leaving the customs union. However, as I explained to him when we met in New York, there is a reason we came up with the deal we did after two years of negotiations with Prime Minister May and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: In answering the Deputy's question, I am conscious that I will be talking about non-papers that I have not seen. I do not mean that as a double negative. I have not seen them. I was aware of their existence, which was public knowledge and was commented on in the newspapers in the past week or two. Essentially, the UK provided non-papers to the EU task force on the basis that they would be...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I met the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, on Tuesday 3 September. The Vice President was on an official visit to Ireland, marking the latest in a series of high-level visits by representatives of the US Government this year, including President Trump and Speaker Pelosi. I was pleased to host the Vice President, the Second Lady and other family members for a lunch, which...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Undocumented Irish in the USA (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: During my recent visit to Los Angeles, I met with representatives of groups that support Irish immigrants on the West Coast of the US. The Government’s Emigrant Support Programme provides very significant levels of funding to support the work of such groups in the USA, including almost €4 million in 2017. While I did not meet on this occasion with representatives of the US...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure works to ensure a coordinated approach on issues relating to infrastructure, Project Ireland 2040 and Rebuilding Ireland. The Cabinet Committee last met on 10 September 2019 and its next meeting is scheduled for 10 October 2019. There is significant work underway across each of the areas covered by the Committee through Government Departments,...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Seanad Reform (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The all-party Seanad Reform Implementation Group [SRIG] published a Report and draft Bill in December 2018. The Report was noted by Government at its meeting on 30th April 2019. Government also noted that the Report includes four statements from various groups outlining where their position was not in line with recommendations of the Report. The Government will reflect on the views of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Regeneration Projects (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Mulvey Report - Dublin North East Inner City - Creating a Brighter Future- which was commissioned by Government was published in February 2017 and contained recommendations for the social and economic regeneration of Dublin's North East Inner City (NEIC). In June 2017, Michael Stone was appointed by Government as independent Chair of the NEIC Programme Implementation Board. Members of...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I attended the UN Climate Action Summit in New York last Monday, 23 September. I was accompanied by Minister Bruton and Ireland’s Youth Delegate, Alicia O’Sullivan. The Summit was organised by UN Secretary-General Guterres to encourage Member States to rapidly boost ambition in order to meet the targets set under the Paris Agreement. In my statement to the Summit I...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 114 together. In July I chaired a meeting of Cabinet Committee B, dealing with Social Policy and Public Services. On 25 July, the Government decided to reorganise the Cabinet Committee structures and established the following Committees: - Economy - Social Policy and Public Services - Infrastructure - Brexit, Foreign and European Affairs - Environment...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I attended the UN Climate Action Summit in New York last Monday, 23 September. I was accompanied by Minister Bruton and Ireland’s Youth Delegate, Alicia O’Sullivan. The Summit was organised by UN Secretary-General Guterres to encourage Member States to rapidly boost ambition in order to meet the targets set under the Paris Agreement. In my statement to the Summit I...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I visited Los Angeles from 25-27 September to formally open the new Consulate General of Ireland and to attend a number of engagements focussed on developing economic ties with the West Coast of the US, especially in the tourism, creative and tech sectors. I attended a Tourism Ireland roundtable discussion focused on attracting US tourists to the Irish market and also a dinner event...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens Assembly (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: At its meeting of 11thJune 2019, the Government agreed to the establishment of a Citizens’ Assembly to advance gender equality. The establishment of the Citizens’ Assembly on gender equality was approved by Dáil Éireann on 9 July and Seanad Éireann on 11 July. The Citizens’ Assemblies Act 2019 providing for the use of the register of electors to select...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Correspondence (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Correspondence with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development during the period in question is primarily a matter for my colleague the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. For the information of the Deputy I wrote to Commissioner Hogan in June 2017 thanking him for his good wishes on my election as Taoiseach, and in October 2017 concerning the Irish and EU...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (1 Oct 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I met Mrs. Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP in Government Buildings on the evening of 18 September. We discussed Brexit developments at that time and also discussed the political situation in Northern Ireland and ongoing efforts to restore the power-sharing institutions. I emphasised the Government’s full commitment to all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, and our continuing...