Results 12,501-12,520 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----should have a CEO type model and the Garda Commissioner should be allowed to run the Garda in the same way as the CEO of any organisation is allowed to run it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is not a case of hand-picking appointments and promotions. There will be a Garda board in place. One will see many organisations in the public and private sector with a CEO and a board. The CEO does not get to hand-pick key staff. That has to go through a board and there has to a proper recruitment procedure where people can apply for jobs.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: One development we want to see, of which I know the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, is in favour, is more people coming in from the outside. We have a division in the Garda between sworn gardaí and Garda civilian staff. We want to put that together into a single organisation. We want to have in Garda top brass and senior management a mix of people, some who are sworn policemen and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Howlin and acknowledge his long-standing interest in reform of An Garda Síochána. I also acknowledge the work he did in driving that forward in the previous Government. We had a chance at Cabinet this morning to discuss the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. That was chaired, as Deputy Howlin knows, by Ms Kathleen O'Toole. We...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I agree with the Deputy that we need proper regulation in this area, as the Minister for Justice and Equality acknowledged yesterday. He has established an interdepartmental group to examine the issue, with a view to it reporting to him in January, which is only in a few weeks' time. As I said, I agree that we need regulation in this area. I also agree that nobody ever wants to see people...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy did not condemn-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I condemn violence and thuggish behaviour by anyone under any circumstance. Let there be no doubt about that, but in two contributions - in fact, now in three contributions - Deputy Pearse Doherty has dismissed the fact that tax evasion is a serious offence.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has criticised the Garda. He has criticised the High Court for making the order, having heard the case.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Pearse Doherty has said nothing about the thugs who climbed on the back of a cattle truck - 20 of them - who broke into property, injured three people and killed a dog-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: When it comes to Sinn Féin and the rule of law and public order and condemning violence, it does not take very long for your balaclava to slip.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We all need to be careful in this House not to say too much about individual cases without knowing the facts. If the Deputy read the newspapers today and followed the coverage of the story, he would realise the facts behind this individual case seem to be about much more than an elderly farm family being evicted from their farm. The case involves many years of debts and arrears, VAT fraud,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the Deputy's question, as matters stand, under the Private Security Services Act 2004, anybody who engages in private security work is obliged to comply with the law and behave in a lawful manner. While doormen, those who fit alarms and provide security at events are required to be regulated by the Private Security Authority, those executing eviction orders are not. It is perhaps...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The board is responsible for the project and accountable to the Minister. Of course, the Minister and the Government are accountable to the Oireachtas. As I stated earlier, the board is happy to receive a delegation from or meet the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and the Committee of Public Accounts to give further information on the reason for the cost escalation. I repeat that this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It may turn out to be one of the most expensive children's hospitals in the world but it will also be one of the best. Its first elements, such as the satellite centre in Blanchardstown, will open to patients next year, while the centre in Tallaght will open the year after and the main campus will open in 2022. Work is very much under way. This project is real. The hospitals will be under...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The cost of €1.433 billion is-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----the gross or agreed maximum price, which contains assumptions on tender price indexes and the cost of inflation which may cause the cost to increase. I will not pretend otherwise.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Yes.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It may be the upper limit but it is based on certain contingencies.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is possible.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I think we all agree that the country's new children's hospital is a project that we all support. We all want to see it built, if not on time and maybe even not ahead of schedule-----