Results 10,241-10,260 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy proposes preventing homeowners, property owners and landlords from selling the apartments or houses they own. We think that is too onerous. If a person owns an apartment or a house and it has been rented out for a period, he or she may need to sell it. He or she may need to pay off debts or emigrate.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We have extended the period of notice that has to be given to tenants. They have much more time than they had before to find alternative properties.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That will be in the patient safety Bill, which is on what used to be called the A list, and will be published this session.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Brady for raising this important matter, which I know is of concern to many people. No legislation on it is promised. However, we will have to assess the findings of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes when it produces its report. That will not be until the first quarter of next year. We will take the matter from there.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I spoke to Deputy Howlin about this matter yesterday. The Bill is on Committee Stage. We are keen to work with the Labour Party to get it enacted during this session. The Department is still working on amendments to it. I asked the Minister for Justice and Equality to prioritise their drafting with a view to having the legislation enacted by the end of the year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The winter plan will be published before the winter. As for wishing to bury a document, here are the facts: four Ministers, including the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health, went out to Dún Laoghaire-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and to the wonderful new national rehab hospital that is now almost completed and that will replace the Victorian facilities there.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I absolutely guarantee the Deputy that we were disappointed the visit did not get more coverage than it did.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not take half a day out with four Ministers when I want to bury something. I absolutely guarantee the Deputy that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We were disappointed it did not get more coverage. Why did it not get more coverage? Because it is good news. These are the 250 healthcare capital projects that are going ahead-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----over the course of the next three years.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: To respond to Deputy Kelly's other questions, the Government accepts the de Buitléir report. It is Government policy to remove private practice from public hospitals but, having read the report, everyone will understand the difficulties and costs associated with its delivery. It will cost €600 million a year, or €6 billion over ten years, three times the cost of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Finally, Limerick has a new emergency department and the new Leben wing, both delivered by this Government and open and operating, and a new ward block under construction which will be opened and will operate certainly in the next six months. I will have to come back to the Deputy on the 96-bed block, but so much investment has gone into that hospital to date I know he will want to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I think the Deputy may be conflating evictions with notices to quit. Of course, they are not the same thing-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----and it is wrong to conflate the two. Eviction rates in Ireland are probably among the lowest in the western world. Leaving that aside, a crucial part of the Government's housing policy has been to enhance and strengthen the rights of tenants. We did so by introducing rent controls. Hundreds of thousands of people renting across the country who might have faced very high rent...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Regarding the rent caps, rent increases are set at a maximum of 4%. That has given hundreds of thousands of people already renting a house or an apartment a degree of certainty about their rent. However, it has a knock-on effect, in some cases a negative one, on people who need to move or people who are renting for the first time. That is the downside to rent controls. However, it gives...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. To go back to his earlier comments, I do not think there is any Minister in the Government who is subject to more scrutiny than Deputy Harris, whether it is in the media, taking questions in this Chamber or appearing before the committee, so I do not accept that at all. I also do not agree with the Deputy's assertion that publishing a document during the summer recess is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: When it came to the HSE capital plan, which runs for three years starting this year, I was there myself and so was the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. I guarantee the Deputy that when we try to hide something, we do not send the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance alongside the Minister for Health.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is not just for this year; it is for three years. What that HSE capital plan contains is the 250 projects that will go ahead over the next three years and answers that bogus claim that the overrun on the children's hospital has somehow caused all other projects to be stopped or delayed. Yes, it does have an impact, it does require some projects to be reprofiled, but we have set out in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It was used in my own constituency to require schools to take on-----