Results 12,401-12,420 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Additional things, including ICT equipment and sprinkler systems, had to be added along the way.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The cost was always likely to increase, although not by the amount by which it has increased in recent months.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Further inquiries are required. The Department of Health is making those inquiries. I imagine that the Committee of Public Accounts and others will want to do the same.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: When we discuss the cost of the new national children's hospital, we should not forget the value of what we are building. The main hospital will be at the St. James's Hospital site. The satellite centre in Blanchardstown will open this year and the satellite centre in Tallaght will open next year. We should not forget the value of what we are building. Something struck me when I was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not doubt for a second the depth of the housing crisis affecting so many of our citizens, whether they are in emergency accommodation at hotels or bed and breakfasts, spending a large proportion of their take-home pay on rent or seeking to buy for the first time by putting together a deposit and finding a home they can afford. We are hard at work as a Government to deal with this. What...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I tried my best to answer her question earlier. The Minister, Deputy Eogahn Murphy, has been to Vienna and knows it well. That is one of the reasons he has been driving forward the cost rental model as part of the solution to our housing shortage. To resolve the housing crisis, we need houses of all sorts. We need houses built by developers for young people to buy or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We can only deal with this issue in the context of wider concerns and wider issues. There are lots of people working in the public service, 300,000 of them, including doctors, teachers, gardaí, people who work in this House and other civil servants. They all work really hard. There are lots of areas in our public service where we are now finding it hard to recruit because we are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Just as in places like Venezuela, it would implement socialist policies, it would blow all the money in the first couple of years and, after that, it would just be austerity, austerity and austerity.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The difficulties in recruiting and retaining healthcare staff, including nurses, are very real. They are not unique to Ireland: the same problems exist in places where pay is much lower, such as Northern Ireland, and much higher, namely, the Middle East and Australia. It is the consequence of an international labour market in which there is a shortage of healthcare staff. Deputy Pearse...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I do not accept the Deputy's charge. The stakeholder group meets regularly and information is given to stakeholders. Any time Opposition spokespersons have asked for a briefing, they have been provided with one. We could not publish the contingency plan until the day we did so because we had to have the European Commission one first, and I explained that at the time. The work on social...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the Deputy back and wish him and his party a happy new year. The withdrawal agreement is the only agreement on the table, and it has been supported by 28 Governments, including that of the United Kingdom. We will allow the democratic process to take its course in Westminster tonight, when the British Parliament will vote on the withdrawal agreement and four amendments. We will...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I spoke by phone with Chancellor Merkel on Thursday 3 January. The main focus of our discussion was Brexit, and the importance of the Withdrawal Agreement that was agreed between the EU and the UK last November being ratified. We agreed that we would be ready to offer additional reassurances and clarifications to the UK, but that there could be no renegotiation or contradiction of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Expenditure on taxis from January - December 2018 totalled €26,053.46. Taxis are used for official purposes where there is no other practical or suitable alternative mode of transport available. My Department has a taxi account for official business purposes with a company selected by the Office of Government Procurement under a Framework Agreement for services in the Greater...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Communications (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Eleven customer complaints were received in my Department since 2016. Two complaints were received in 2016, five complaints were received in 2017 and four complaints were received during 2018. No customer complaints have been received in 2019 to date. These complaints are not categorised, but nine of the complaints related to issues experienced with other Government Departments and the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: EU Bodies (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is an advisory body whose function is to represent economic and social interests in the Union’s decision-making process. The EESC has 350 members, who are drawn from economic and social interest groups in Europe, nominated by national governments and appointed by the Council of the European Union for a renewable five year term of...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Expenditure (15 Jan 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 115 together. The following table shows spend on the purchase of space in various media, along with creative work. The spend includes a number of major cross-Government public information programmes aimed at improving citizens' lives that the Department funded centrally during 2018. Examples of these include the Healthy Ireland campaign, which...

Post-European Council: Statements (19 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I stayed to listen to everyone who was present for my contribution.

Post-European Council: Statements (19 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Merry Christmas.

Post-European Council: Statements (19 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I attended the European Council in Brussels on Thursday, 13 December and Friday, 14 December. We met in three separate formats over the two days and discussed a wide range of issues. Chancellor Kurz reported on Austria’s work as the holder of the EU Presidency for the past six months. I congratulate the Chancellor and his country on what has been a very efficient and effective...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Departmental Budgets (19 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 19 together. My Department's gross budget in 2019 will be €35.266 million, as set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services published yesterday, which represents a 3% increase on the figure for 2018. The allocation is divided between administration and programme expenditure. The administration allocation covers the running costs of...