Results 1,081-1,100 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----and try to rescue the hostages who are currently being held in Gaza. I hope we can all agree on that. I also hope we can agree on a third thing, namely, that it is not acceptable for Israel in defending itself to violate international humanitarian law, to target civilians, to cut off civilian infrastructure or to order people to be displaced to the south of Gaza. I hope we can agree...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Alongside the UN, we have called for the order which Israel has made for Palestinian people to move to the southern part of Gaza to be rescinded. That is not an acceptable demand in our view. We have also clearly condemned the cutting off of supplies of water and fuel to the people of Gaza. That is not acceptable. In contrast, we need humanitarian corridors. The European Union is working...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The position of the European Union is the one agreed in the statement by the European Council. That was agreed on Sunday after many conversations over the weekend. I hope we will be in a position to build on that position today at the extraordinary Council of the European Union. Each EU member state has its own foreign policy. We only have a common foreign policy when we agree to have one...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy McDonald for raising this very important and very serious matter once again in the Dáil. I say once again that Ireland unreservedly condemns the brutal attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life it has caused. We also condemn the terrorist attacks that occurred in France last week and in Belgium only yesterday. We also demand...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (17 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I visited the US on 17-23 September, primarily to attend the UN General Assembly High Level week. During this week, I took the opportunity to have a number of bilateral meetings. I met with UN Secretary General António Guterres who thanked Ireland for its unswerving support for the UN. We discussed the Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals and we agreed the urgent need for the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Data Protection (17 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: In reply to Parliamentary Question No. 133 of 3 October, 2023 the Deputy was notified of two instances of a data breach identified within the Department during the past decade. The case in 2016 arose on foot of a complaint by an individual made to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in 2017. The complaint concerned an allegation that a breach had occurred by way of the unauthorised...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of wastewater treatment plants in east Galway. Deputy Cannon raised this with me last week, particularly in relation to Craughwell and Clarinbridge. A new funding stream was launched by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in April under the multi-annual rural water programme for the wastewater collection...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There are two aspects to this. The first is bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into use. I am glad to hear there are not many in Corofin but the Deputy will know as well as I do that there are many towns and villages in Ireland where there is a lot of dereliction. Our first priority has to be town centres and village centres first and bringing those vacant buildings back to life....

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on budget 2024. One hundred years ago, in April 1923, W.T. Cosgrave presented the first ever Budget Statement to Dáil Éireann. The budget was introduced just as the Civil War was ending, and the Government had a job on its hands to convince people both of its financial competence and the benefits of Irish statehood....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I believe Israel has the right to exist. Israel was established by the United Nations in accordance with international law. It has the right to exist. I hope the Deputy will agree and will say that in his follow-up response. As any sovereign state, it has the right to defend itself when it is under attack. I can understand why Israel needs to take action to root out terrorists and people...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am disappointed in the Deputy's remarks.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: He mentioned UN resolutions. Israel was established by a UN resolution. He did not say that. Israel is a sovereign state. It is the closest thing to a democracy in that region. It has a right to exist and defend itself.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy may describe it as-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy may well describe it as an apartheid state-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----but let me ask him this. The Deputy and I could live our lives freely in Israel, me as a gay man and the Deputy as a revolutionary socialist. Neither of us would be able to live our lives freely in Gaza. We would not, because of the oppression that would be imposed on people like the Deputy and me.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I agree with Deputy Bacik's broad comments, that those two statements should not be contradictory. It is very sad that in so many parts of the world, including in the US and in large parts of Europe, it is not possible to say what Deputy Bacik just said. Thankfully, in Ireland it is possible to say it. The Palestinian people do have the right to self-determination and to seek the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We often talk about the term "culture wars" and I am not even sure what the term means sometimes, but some of the discourse I have seen online makes it feel like some sort of culture war, that you have to choose sides and you have to be either entirely on one side or on the other. However, we all know the world is more complicated than that. Wrongs have been committed on both sides. This...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her question. I reiterate Ireland's total condemnation of the attack by Hamas and other militant groups on Israel and the devastating loss of life it has caused. Civilians were targeted. Young people, older people, children, peace activists were killed or taken hostage. In these circumstances, Israel has the right to defend itself. It is surrounded by enemies, many...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The baseline position of the Irish Government is that we can only bring peace to the region through a two-state solution. That becomes increasingly difficult with every day that passes and every settlement that is built, but we still believe the best and only solution that will bring peace to the region is a two-state solution, and that is the outcome we strongly support. There has to be a...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (10 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The below table details the amounts paid by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecuting counsel from 2018 to end of September 2023. YEAR Fees Paid to Counsel by DPP 2018 €17,391,679 2019 €16,813,805 2020 €15,785,139 2021 ...