Results 11,421-11,440 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: As I understand it, the National Transport Authority is publishing the document, not the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport or the Government. I cannot give the Deputy a commitment on the authority's behalf, but I am sure it will publish it as soon as it possibly can. Our ambition in Project Ireland 2040 is to see the population of Cork grow by 50% by 2040, twice the rate at...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I am not an expert on the particular pension fund. However, I met ESB pensioners some years ago when I was Minister for Social Protection. As the Deputy knows, the State pension is increased every year; in fact, it will increase this week by €5 a week. It has increased by about €1,000 a year in the past year. Pension funds such as the ESB's essentially are company funds and...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I am not sure if it was reported correctly. Generally, when the Attorney General gives advice, his advice is on legal matters, not the expertise levels of staff in local authorities, as being a barrister the Attorney General would have no knowledge of such things. However, he has said that even though it is not a referendum in a constitutional sense, we need to treat it as though it was....
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I think it is next week or the following week. The Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, is conducting it.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I am sorry, I may not have all the information to hand and will have to ask the Minister for Health to provide a more detailed answer. Only one of those matters relates to promised legislation, and that is the legislation to establish the tribunal recommended by Mr. Justice Meenan. Work on that is advanced. It is one of only six Bills that we have prioritised for this session and we intend...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: These are quite detailed questions. I have answered the one that relates to legislation. The others do not relate to the programme for Government but I will ask the Minister for Health to provide Deputy Micheál Martin with a more detailed reply.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Obviously it is our objective as the Government to make sure that as much of our public transport is accessible to people with disabilities as possible so that they can go about their lives, participate in the workforce and avail of the services they need. A question for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport would be best put to him rather than to me-----
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----but I know that the Minister has appointed several people who have disabilities to the boards of the transport companies with that particularly in mind, as he wants to make sure that their voice is heard at the boards. In respect of which buses Bus Éireann orders, that really is a matter for the company rather than the Government.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It is a good question. I was pondering this myself yesterday when I was reading the report from the European Parliament. The truth is that the Government has not taken a position on it yet, nor have we discussed it. I would very much like to know the views of the House on this matter so perhaps we should have a debate on it. Maybe a few indicative votes might be worth experimenting with.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It would not kick in until April 2021 anyway, so we have plenty of time to make this decision, no pun intended. One thing about which the Deputy is absolutely right is that I could not and certainly would not wish to countenance a situation whereby Northern Ireland was in a different time zone from the rest of Ireland.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----and Russia and China and it also means we would have to import fuel, which is a loss to the Exchequer. That is our principled objection on that. We supported three Bills that make our environment a better place for good reasons. We have a difficulty with this particular Bill because it will not reduce emissions at all. It will have zero impact on emissions.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Second, it may be worse in the longer term-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----because we would have to import gas from other parts of the world. Third, it is bad in terms of energy security because we would have to rely on Russia, China-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----the Middle East and Venezuela. Finally, it is a bad idea economically. It is bad for Cork, Killybegs, Foynes and all of the places where there are jobs to come from exploration, particularly when it comes to Bord Gáis-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----but because I am speaking facts I am being shouted down again so I will sit down.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: The Government is very committed to continuing to improve, expand and develop our National Ambulance Service. We have increased the budget for the National Ambulance Service every year for four years running. That money goes towards several objectives. It goes towards pay restoration, pay increases, extra staff, new ambulances, improving our existing ambulance bases and introducing new...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Any worker, employee or member of staff is free to join any union they wish to join. There is no argument or dispute about that matter. I understand that part of this dispute relates to the fact that the HSE is not willing to deduct union dues at source from the salaries of staff-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----and that is a different matter entirely. Any employer, whether it is a public sector employer or private sector employer, should not be forced by law or required to deduct union dues from people's pay-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It is up to people if they want to pay those dues-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----and that should be a matter for them. As I say, this is an industrial relations dispute-----