Results 11,141-11,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Seanad: Statement by the Taoiseach (18 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: If it is the decision of this House to give more time to this particular issue than any of the issues that were mentioned today, that is the decision of the House and Members must be accountable for it.

Seanad: Statement by the Taoiseach (18 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: This is a Parliament, the House can pass Private Members' Bills and can pass legislation. If the decision of this Seanad is that this is the issue of most importance to Members, that is their decision but they must also be accountable for it. I do not have the power to impose any guillotine.

Seanad: Statement by the Taoiseach (18 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: In regard to climate action there are many areas, where Ireland does well environmentally. We are close to the top of the league tables when it comes to things such as recycling. We are doing well on wind energy and can do much better again. We have brought through some really important legislation in the past three years, largely Private Members' Bills, for example, Deputy McLoughlin's...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Communications (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I very much agree with the Deputies who have praised the response of Prime Minister Ardern to last month's events in Christchurch. I believe she responded with great dignity and leadership. She became a unifying force for New Zealand. In our conversations, she often speaks about how we need to tackle both the root causes and the enablers of terrorism and extremism. That is the correct...

Post-European Council Meetings: Statements (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am pleased to have an opportunity to update the House on the special meeting of the European Council, which I attended in Brussels last Wednesday. President Tusk convened this meeting following the UK Parliament's rejection of the withdrawal agreement on 29 March last. As Deputies will recall, at the previous meeting of the European Council on 21 March, we agreed that if the withdrawal...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Communications (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 to 16, inclusive, together. I spoke by telephone with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, on 27 March. The Prime Minister contacted me to discuss what actions might be taken to counter the proliferation of violent and extremist online content following the horrific terror attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on 15 March. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Martin asked about direct rule. The Tánaiste and I have discussed this with our counterparts. We have been very straight in saying that we cannot support a return to direct rule. We have had no indications from the UK Government that this is what it intends to do but we have given our view, straight up, that we could not support this...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Brexit Negotiations (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 13, inclusive, together. I last saw the British Prime Minister, Mrs. May, on the margins of the special European Council meeting on 10 April. At that meeting, the Prime Minister presented her case for a further extension of the Article 50 deadline. The House is aware that the European Council agreed to an extension of the deadline to 31 October,...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Brexit Preparations (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: On no-deal preparedness, we have not taken the decision to step down our preparedness in the way the United Kingdom has, but those measures were complete, or close to complete, at the end of March in any event. Deputy Howlin asked about the uptake of customs registration numbers by businesses. Revenue has identified 84,000 businesses that may need a customs registration number, that is,...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Brexit Preparations (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions No. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. My Department works closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which has overall responsibility for Brexit. A comprehensive set of structures has been put in place to ensure that all Departments and their agencies are engaged in detailed preparedness and contingency activities. Within my Department, staff across...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I meant to say that these were everts that happened in the past. All of these institutions are closed and have been closed for quite some time now. It is still, of course, a real issue, a live issue and a lived experience for those who were in those institutions. I join the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, in calling on anyone who has information that would be of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Government's commitment to universal healthcare is a very real one. It is evidenced by the fact that prescription charges for people with medical cards are going down and by the fact that prescription charges for those who do not have medical cards are also going down through the reduction in the drugs payment scheme, DPS, monthly cap. It is also evidenced by the fact that we are...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is not something we are proposing to do. As far as public hospitals are concerned, however, all patients will continue to receive the same medicines whether they have health insurance or not and no matter who they are insured by. The best system would be a single system of approvals, with the European Medicines Agency, EMA, deciding on a European-wide basis which medicines are approved...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not think that it is but that is a decision for the Chair.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I believe in the European Union and in free trade and not in tariffs, quotas or rules of origin. That is why I am not in favour of Brexit. I am in favour of the European Union because that is one of the things it is all about.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We need all types of development in Ireland, including in our cities: housing, office buildings, hotels and student accommodation. We will have a population of 6 million by 2040. It is therefore not a case of either-or; we will need all sorts of development in our cities. While the block to which the Deputy refers has no housing in it, An Bord Pleanála just the other day approved...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have never been a fan of guillotines. In my six years as a Minister in three Government Departments I never used the guillotine once. There does come a point, however, at which a filibuster is under way and a minority in either this House or the Seanad are preventing a democratic decision from being made. I do not know how many hours of debate that Bill had. I think it was 70 or 80 hours.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Any Deputy or Senator who cannot make his or her argument in 70 or 80 hours-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----would probably have difficulty getting elected to this House anyway, whatever about the other one. There comes a time when the use of a guillotine or limiting debate is merited, and that is when debate has gone on for four, five or six days and people are just repeating themselves or deliberately using filibustering tactics to prevent the majority from having its view. However, as the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Apr 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am sure the Minister, Deputy Zappone, would be happy to do that. I will speak to her later as to whether she can do so when the Dáil resumes. The fifth interim report of the commission was discussed at Cabinet yesterday and published today. It makes gruesome reading, even if many of the facts were known to us already, and gives us a further insight into a very dark part of our...