Results 1,021-1,040 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. We believe such a ceasefire must be respected by all sides: Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Israeli Defense Forces. We are calling for the creation of humanitarian corridors so that we can get water, supplies, fuel and medicines into Gaza and get refugees and foreign passport holders out. I called for that at a meeting of the European...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am a big supporter of the tourism industry, as I know Deputy Griffin is, and I believe this Government is too. I remember that, 12 years ago when we were in the middle of a very deep economic crisis, it was the tourism industry, the farmers and the multinationals that lifted us out of that. I will never forget that. They deserve our support for that reason alone, as well as for many...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am very much aware of this issue in the constituency the Deputy and I share. On the face of it, such legislation sounds like a good idea but we will have to look into it because we are part of the European Single Market and there are EU rules that supersede any national rules. We also have a trade deal with Japan and would have to make sure the legislation was compliant with that. It is...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Garda recruitment is ramping up and we are confident that we will recruit 700 or 800 new gardaí this year. In the next few months, the total number of gardaí will again exceed 14,000 so total numbers will be rising again and will do so again next year. How gardaí as assigned to different parts of the country, as the Deputy knows, is a decision for the Garda Commissioner...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We are only a small country and we certainly are not a major military or economic power but we do have a voice and we are at the table when it comes to the European Union and the UN. We are certainly using that voice in the international bodies of which we are members. When the moment is opportune, these are the conversations we are going to want to have with our American allies and our...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The reason for the year's deferral is to allow us to give landowners another year to seek the dezoning of their land or to properly update various different maps to show which land really is serviced because there are some disputes as to whether land is serviced or not. We need a little bit more time here. The idea behind the tax is a very good one. When land is zoned and serviced, the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I think any state has the right to defend itself against terrorism. This State had to defend itself against terrorism for a prolonged period but it has to be done within the rules of international humanitarian law. We have been very clear about that from day one.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It is open to any pharmacist to pay the €1,000 bonus to their employees. Lots of private companies and business owners have done so. The Government helps by allowing them to do so tax free. That is a change we made in the last budget. I know it was not Deputy Fitzpatrick's reference but, quite frankly, I do not think the reference by the pharmacist about GPs was fair. GPs did not...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: That is one particular budget line. There is also funding through the Road Safety Authority and there is funding through local authorities as well. We will be doing a review of the national development plan allocations in the next couple of weeks. I would anticipate that will involve an uplift for road projects. I can guarantee the Deputy that it is not the case that road projects are not...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will open the new Athy distributor road, turn the sod on Tulsk to Scramoge-----

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and open the Moycullen bypass. It is never going to be possible to fund every road project in any given year. That never was the case.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important issue. I recognise Senator Currie's work on it. The area straddles both our constituencies. On a number of occasions in the past, the Government has allocated funding to restore the Silver Bridge and for some reason or another, it was not drawn down, so I hope it actually happens this time. That in itself would be very significant...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am familiar with the directive; I was involved in putting it together in my last job in government as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It has two aspects. One relates to the national minimum wage and the other to collective bargaining. On the first part, relating to the national minimum wage, we are way ahead of it already. We established the Low Pay Commission during the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The real minimum wage, the national minimum wage, is set at 60% of median earnings. That was the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission, which the Government accepted. It was the consensus view of employers, unions and academics and it is the fairest way to calculate it. That is the target we will achieve, if not next year, then the year after. That is a big change just in the past five...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have only read the headlines, I have not had a chance to read the report but I will. I hope the Deputy has read it too. I hope she also will read other reports and look at the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and ESRI analyses of these matters because, as she knows - even though she refuses to admit it - in the past three years, while 80,000 Irish citizens have gone to live abroad for many...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputies know, it is not my practice to organise meetings in the Chamber. If somebody wants to meet me they can write to me in the normal way and I will provide time to meet them if I can. I would always meet people with the Minister. I join the Deputy in congratulating junior cycle students on their results today. It is a great day for a lot of young people. We are seeing the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I do not accept the Deputy's charge. Young people in Ireland are better educated than ever before. More are completing third-level education than ever was the case in the past, from such a diversity of backgrounds. Young people are more likely to gain employment than ever was the case before. Young people, in particular those of us who are LGBT or women, have rights and freedoms that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will always consider good proposals from other people and the Opposition. I think we have shown that when it comes to housing policy. We have taken a number of steps in recent years and months that we might not have done previously. We will always consider these things but we must be careful around demand-side measures. I am not against demand-side measures but we must be careful...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: When I first became Taoiseach in 2017, we were only building around 14,000 new homes a year in the State. That has more than doubled. We are up to 30,000 and I would like to see it double again by the end of the decade. I believe that is possible. The target we set of building 29,000 new homes this year is a target, not a ceiling. We intend to exceed it, just as we did last year. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We know from recent history and, indeed, the history of the past few decades that both the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas and Islamic Jihad are all capable of terrible atrocities. As a Government, we condemn them unreservedly and unequivocally. I want to be very clear about that. As I have said, we call for three things to be done: an immediate ceasefire to be observed by all sides;...