Results 11,661-11,680 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know but I have requested it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The indication I have had is that they have requested a further extension with a view to reporting until the end of June 2019, which I have granted. I have no reason to believe there will be a request for further extension but it is an independent commission of investigation and I am not across it.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, could benefit from additional resources. It is not a simple matter of allocating an Estimate, but also finding people who are available. Skills in drafting legislation are not as easy to obtain as we might hope. The OPC could certainly benefit from additional resources.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Economists put it at around 3%, recognising that there will always be a certain number of people who are between jobs. Long-term unemployment, that is people who are out of work for more than nine months, is about 2.7%. Based on that figure, we have full employment now. There will always be people who are between jobs, for one reason or another and who are receiving jobseeker's benefit....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I think I said that our objective was to get to a point where there was a job for everyone who wants one, not that there is a job for everyone who wants one. I acknowledge that there are parts of the country where the number of jobseekers exceeds the number of vacancies. However, taking the country as a whole, there are almost as many vacancies as there are people looking for work and that...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The project to have a technological university for the south east is one of three things that I want the Government to get done for Waterford city. These are the opening of a second catheterisation laboratory for the hospital, the establishment of a technological university and the development of the north quays. These are all part of developing Waterford as the major growth centre for the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: With regard to the technological university for the south east, I have been to Waterford Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Carlow as Taoiseach where I met the senior management teams and encouraged, cajoled and impressed on them my desire to get this done and the Government's commitment to the project. One of my special advisers has a particular remit to try to get this...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Not at the moment.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Not at present but that was done in advance of the Commissions of Investigation Act. Now that we have had a critical mass of investigations, it may be timely to do that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Much of this can be down to the chairmen and the issue involved in terms of how efficiently an inquiry operates. Inquiring into commercial transactions or events that happened decades ago will never be straightforward.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not accept that we ignored it. The Minister for Justice and Equality took the motion into account. He has established a process and appointed somebody to examine the different aspects and claims and potentially scope out what an inquiry would look like and do. It is important to get it right.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No. All GSOC can do is inquire into Garda matters, and the particular claims and allegations in this case extend well beyond the Garda.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: If one is going to set up inquiries, one needs to do so sparingly and in such a way that they will be successful in finding answers and making findings. This makes sense. The vast majority of inquiries, to my recollection, were not just set up in that a barrister, a judge or someone else with legal expertise scoped them out in advance. That is the sensible approach.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: A very good analysis was done by the Central Bank of the code of conduct for mortgage arrears and how it differs from banks to what are described in that report as unregulated loan owners. That is a very informative report and paints a more nuanced picture than what often comes across in the media as to how vulture funds deal with debts and with resolving them. We have also accepted...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That idea has merit. One of the reasons we decided at Cabinet not to oppose the Bill was that we think it has some merit. The traditional role of the Comptroller and Auditor General, as the Chairman knows, is to examine expenditure that has already occurred rather than planned expenditure. However, it might be a useful additional role if the office is able to take it on. At least we would...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I think it has but, being a Member of it, I am kind of biased. Once one is a member of an institution, one will always think it is value for money. The wider public may think otherwise.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: There are good things and bad things. The fact that much more Private Members' legislation is being accepted is a real positive.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, but more Private Members' legislation - some important legislation - has become law in this Dáil in the three years it has existed than probably the 15 years of the previous three Dáileanna. This is definitely a positive. We do have a problem with duplication of committees and committees warring with one another as to who will take on which issue and calling in people twice.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No. What happened, and I am happy to put this on record, is I put forward a proposal last summer that the confidence and supply agreement be renewed and that we agree that the next election be held in the summer of 2020. I put forward a set of policy ideas that I believed could be implemented between now and then. The Leader of the Opposition took a different approach, which was to seek a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of An Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (28 Feb 2019)

Leo Varadkar: That is not quite what I said. It was more nuanced than that.