Results 10,261-10,280 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: -----and open additional special classes and that has caused some difficulty and consternation among school principals and also boards of management.

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

Leo Varadkar: Yes, some of them were on holidays when they were asked to take on a special class, but I am glad the Minister has invoked that power to require schools to open new special classes and used it. We will work with the principals and boards of management to allay their concerns about taking on additional special classes. Where I differ with the Deputy is that I do not think global figures...

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

Leo Varadkar: Like the majority of people in this House, I am a big supporter of the public services card. I think it has worked extremely well. More than 3 million people in this country now have a public services card, including me, and when people were asked what they think about the public services card they have, more than 80% of people were satisfied with it and prefer it to what they had before,...

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

Leo Varadkar: As Deputy Brady is aware, the national childcare scheme is coming into effect later this year. It will provide increased subsidies for childcare for tens of thousands of families across the State and, for the first time, some 10,000 middle income families will qualify for childcare subsidies. The vast majority of these families, about 80%, have the public services card already and will be...

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his question. The matter of special needs is very important and I know that, as a former Minister for Education, the Deputy has had a real and genuine interest in that area down the years. All of us in this House are very aware of the struggles that many parents face in trying to ensure that their children receive the special education they need. While I do not want...

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. That change to the law - the new section 37A of the Education Act - gave the Minister, for the first time, the power to instruct schools to take new special classes. That power was used this summer for the first time.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policy Reviews (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Briefly, regarding Oughterard, I agree with Deputy Burton that there should be communication between the Department of Justice and Equality and residents-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policy Reviews (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----on what plans, if any, there are to accommodate asylum seekers there.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policy Reviews (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There are good examples of where there have been good communications. Wicklow town is one example and Lisdoonvarna is another where communities were engaged with. Some fears were allayed and some scare stories corrected. I am told that has not happened yet in Oughterard because any plans or proposals to accommodate asylum seekers in that particular town are only at the initial stages and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policy Reviews (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I know the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is dealing with it. I will check with him to see if we can get it done in this session also. On the public information campaign on Brexit, that is run through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Until now, it has been largely business focused. People have heard the business focused advertisements on radio and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There is a certain narrative at the moment that this is some sort of Fine Gael, Big Brother-style police state conspiracy. It is not, because Fine Gael has only had control of that Department for approximately three years. The public services card was an all-party effort and debates in the past show that all parties were very much in favour of it. The concept of the public services card...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It is all in the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005. The passport legislation is also covered in the specific legislation. It was always intended to be a public services card and that is why it is called that. That is why the legislation lists all the public service bodies that can use it.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The legal advice from the Attorney General and a third party is very strong but if it has to be tested in the courts, so be it. I do not think appealing a judgment or a finding is somehow wrong.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We do not need to bring in legislation because it is the view of the Attorney General and third party legal advice that the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, as amended, covers the matter.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: To pick up on one other thing, it is not possible for us to appeal the report because it has no legal status or standing. We can only appeal an enforcement order and one has not issued from the Data Protection Commissioner; only a press release has issued.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Department did. There was advice from the Department's counsel, the Attorney General and a third party, all of which was in agreement.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policy Reviews (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together. It is important to communicate across a variety of platforms, including social media, to ensure transparency and clarity for all citizens. The Government information service is now required to provide 24-7 services to media organisations on all topics of public interest and with short response times. The social media channels for my...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As I informed the House on several occasions in the past hour or two, the report will be published today. The report is being published on the direction of the Minister, Deputy Regina Doherty, notwithstanding the concerns of some of the officials in her Department. It is being published alongside a response from the Department. I think that is a good thing because people only heard one...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cyber Security Policy (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have always been of the view that the public services card is a good idea. It is a success. It is very popular. We know from surveys of people who have one - I have one - that over 80% of people like it, particularly those who now use it as a free travel pass, elderly people in particular. It is designed to make public services more accessible, for greater efficiency and for removing...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (17 Sep 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies very much for their questions. I will speak first on the most recent report of IFAC. It is essential that Government take on board the advice of IFAC. The Opposition should also do so. Among the recommendations and findings the council put to us is a concern about the surge in corporation profit tax. We were only taking in approximately €3 billion a few years...