Results 11,861-11,880 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Even when they know that it is not true, it is smart cynical politics to make such a false claim. Therefore, they will make them all over the country on all sorts of project. Projects are delayed for all sorts of reason.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Sometimes it is because they do not yet have planning permission from the county council.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Sometimes it is because there are objections or they are being appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Sometimes there are changes in design or they go to tender. Sometimes the tenders come back higher than what was budgeted for.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: In Limerick in recent years there has been considerable investment – massive investment - by the Government in the particular hospital referenced. A new state-of-the-art emergency department and a new Leben building which includes cystic fibrosis, stroke and many other facilities are in place. In fact, 17 beds were added in the past year.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: The new 60-bed ward block has not been axed. Planning permission was secured only in October or November.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: There is a tendering process which I understand may be complete, but it may not be. That project will proceed to construction this year.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It is a yarn and it is Deputy Martin's spin. It is yet another conspiracy theory from the leader of Fianna Fáil. Roughly this time last year the Government published and approved Project Ireland 2040, which is a €116 billion, ten year capital development plan.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Does the Deputy think that if we knew this time last year that the project was going to cost €1.4 billion we would not have accounted for it?
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It is €1.4 billion out of €116 billion, and represents a little over 1% of the total cost of that project.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Of course, if we had known that this project was going to cost more we would have accounted for it, and accounted for it a year ago.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Members of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, in line with the code of practice for the governance of State bodies and the board's own code of governance, available on its website, has a duty to the board in the first instance, a responsibility to act collectively in decision making-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----and communication, and an obligation to observe its confidentiality arrangements.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: Mr. Quinn serves on the board in a personal capacity. Circular 12/2010, which deals with the protocol for civil servants nominations to the boards of non-commercial State bodies applies to civil servants serving on state boards, as comprehended from the code of practice for State bodies in section 3.4. The circular sets out the process by which a civil servant may bring the concerns to the...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: The process applies where a civil servant has concerns that a serious issue-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----is not being addressed to his or her satisfaction by the board or the board chairman. I understand that Mr. Quinn was and is satisfied that the cost issues-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: -----which developed over the summer and autumn of 2018, were being appropriately addressed by the board, and the chairman communicated both to the HSE and the Department of Health in a timely fashion, through the Government's arrangements, established by the Department of Health as the accountable Department for the project. Under circular 12/2010, Mr. Quinn would have had to advise the...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: It does not matter.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I understand the minutes to which the Deputy refers are either minutes from committees that met at official level or minutes of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, many of which were made available to the Committee of Public Accounts and other committees many weeks ago. The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is an agency that was established by the Oireachtas,...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: I understand that one of the reports from the meetings indicates that the increased costs were inevitable. That is yet to be determined. The PwC report currently under way may well answer that question. I think it is probable that what has happened here is that the cost of building this project, this massive hospital, this very complex development, was underestimated. This is not a case...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (19 Feb 2019)
Leo Varadkar: In fact, the vast majority of the money has not even been spent. Less than 20% of the project cost has been spent so far. This is a case of the real cost of the project being underestimated. We have seen examples of that in the past with other major structural projects, although not in the past decade. In respect of Mr. Paul Quinn, he was appointed by the Minister for Health to the...