Results 11,541-11,560 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Committee last met on 8 February 2018. The meeting was attended by Ministers and Senior Officials from the Departments of Finance; Public Expenditure and Reform; Foreign Affairs and Trade; Justice and Equality; Health; Communications, Climate Action and Environment; Transport, Tourism and Sport; Housing, Planning and Local Government; and Defence. Arrangements are being made for the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I welcomed Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis to Dublin on 4 March. I joined him in a visit to Hartstown Community School, which I understand has the largest percentage of students from Lithuania in the country. We then had a bilateral meeting over lunch at which we discussed the excellent bilateral relations between Ireland and Lithuania; areas for further cooperation between us;...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens Assembly (26 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Year Costs Incurred 2016 € 274,321 2017 €1,535,133 2018 €533,607 2019 €12,496 Members were reimbursed for expenses incurred in attending meetings, including travel costs and a contribution towards childcare. Payment was not made for attendance or any missed days of work either to members or their employees. Expenditure incurred in 2019 relates to a small...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Personnel Data (26 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) is calculated in terms of whole-time equivalents. This data is collated on a monthly basis and strengths are expressed in end of month figures. Defence Force Regulation CS4 provides for an establishment of 1,233 Officers, 3,661 Non-Commissioned Officers and 4,606 Privates. The table below shows the strengths (Whole Time Equivalent) breakdown...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Funding (13 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: In 2016, the Local Diaspora Engagement Fund (LDEF) provided assistance to local and community projects and initiatives throughout Ireland which were focused on developing strong diaspora links within the community. The fund was administered by the Department of the Taoiseach. Funding provided and drawn down under the LDEF in County Galway in 2016 was as follows: Year Organisation Project...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Funding (13 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: In 2016, the Local Diaspora Engagement Fund (LDEF) provided assistance to local and community projects and initiatives throughout Ireland which were focused on developing strong diaspora links within the community. The fund was administered by the Department of the Taoiseach. Funding provided and drawn down under the LDEF in County Roscommon in 2016 was as follows: Year Organisation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Northern Ireland (12 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Issues in relation to Northern Ireland are considered as part of the annual National Risk Assessment. Although a border poll would not be regarded as a risk, and the very important and sensitive policy issues related to it would not be dealt with in the Risk Assessment process, the question of relationships on the island of Ireland, and between the two islands, are always considered as part...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I have seen the joy on their faces when that happens. Nobody ever said to me it was Part V housing, or that it had been built by Clúid or the Peter McVerry Trust and not by the local authority and that they did not want it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Nobody ever said he or she did not want a nice new house in Waterville in my constituency because it had been bought directly from a developer and had not been built by Fingal County Council. No real person who receives a social house ever says that to me.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: What they want is a home with security of tenure. There are many ways to achieve this. Local authorities can build social housing as they used to do in the 1950s and 1960s.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It can be done through the affordable housing bodies such as Clúid, the Peter McVerry Trust and the Iveagh Trust which do a great job. It can be done under the Part V system, under which a certain amount of houses in a new estate are set aside as social housing. It can also be done by direct purchase. Why is it bad that local authorities buy derelict and unused houses in rural areas...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: What matters is that last year 9,000 families, more than the number in any of the last ten years, moved into social housing in secure tenancies. We should not obsess about whether it is done through an affordable housing body, a local authority or a trust or under Part V, Part 8 or section 26. That is not what matters.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised by the Minister of State that the figures are available. As I have seen breakdowns, I imagine that that is correct and that they are available. I think the Deputy has got it wrong. The truth is that after years of running into problems and delays when we did not have the money to do it, we are now delivering on the issue of social housing. We increased the social housing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We will increase it by even more this year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy does not want people to know that-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----she is trying to make out that housing provided by an affordable housing body such as the Peter McVerry Trust or the Iveagh Trust or under the Part V mechanism does not exist.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: They are real houses with real people in them.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Last Friday I had the pleasure to be in Dundalk where 120 new social homes are under construction and will soon be occupied.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It was not done directly by Louth County Council but through an affordable housing body - Clúid. The county manager, the politicians and representatives of Clúid were there. Everyone worked together, using taxpayers' money to deliver social houses for people who needed them, but the Deputy is trying to say they do not count.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Mar 2019)

Leo Varadkar: As we are all aware, there are approximately 70,000 beef farmers in Ireland. Beef farming and the beef industry are essential parts of the agricultural and rural economy, extending well beyond the farm to marts, processors and other aspects of the meat industry. On what the Government is doing to support farmers, the Deputy will be aware that we have put in place a successful beef data and...