Results 12,701-12,720 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Does the Deputy have confidence in his deputy leader? Does he have confidence in Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, given her performance and that of Deputy Kelly when they held the housing brief together for five years?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It appears that Deputy Howlin is applying some pretty unfair double standards in that regard because the situation emerged and got worse during the tenure of the two former Ministers. It is unfair to target the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, personally when the Deputy is not willing to express a lack of confidence in his own colleagues. Let us not forget that 40% of the Labour...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Long before the people vote on the proposition in May, they will understand what they are being asked, just as they understood what they were being asked in the referendums on the eighth amendment and blasphemy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The straight answer to that question is that Túath Housing is a housing association. It issued a notice to quit to people with 18-month tenancies, but none of them will be evicted to emergency accommodation. The Deputy has that assurance.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: One of our policies was to change the regulations that made it more economic for developers to build offices and student accommodation than one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments. On the daft.iereport versus the RTB reports, it is important to put on the record that the figures on the daft.iewebsite relate only to new properties being advertised on that website. The Residential Tenancies...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Those increases would otherwise have been far higher. However, it does not apply to new properties coming on the market or to certain parts of the country and that contributes to the rate of increase presented in the daft.ie figures.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I answered the Deputy's question yesterday regarding a tax break for people who are renting. Through the Finance Bill and the budget, the Government is providing an income tax or universal social charge reduction for more than 1 million people because we recognise that there are people who are struggling to pay the rent. We also recognise that there are people who are saving for a deposit...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On the daft.iereport, it is important to note that its figures relate to a sample of rents advertised on that particular website and do not include people who remain in the same apartment or house year on year. That is the reason the figures are as they are. The RTB figures are far more accurate and cover the entire rental market. They indicate that rents are rising too fast, but certainly...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is wrong to demonise landlords. Before anybody asks, let me clarify that I am not a landlord.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We need landlords and property owners in this country. Without them, there would be no properties to rent and people would find themselves paying higher rents or unable to find a rental property. Approximately half of rental properties in Ireland have a mortgage against them. In such cases, the property owner needs to pay the mortgage before gaining an income from the property. As has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As are many colleagues of the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We would all agree that the core to the solution to the housing crisis is additional supply. That alone is not the solution but it is the core to it. We are making real progress when it comes to additional supply. This year, between 18,000 and 20,000 new homes and apartments will be built. That is the biggest increase in the number of new homes built this decade and a significant increase...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The 18,000 or so new apartments and homes that I referred to do not include student apartments. If one adds the student apartments to those 18,000, the figure increases by 2,000. If one adds some of the ghost estates that are still being brought back into use and vacant properties being brought back into use, the number of new places to live being built will increase to well over 20,000....

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department does not currently have any staff seconded to work in the public sector of another EU member state. In the past this Department provided funding towards the cost within Departments of releasing staff to take up posts as seconded national experts in EU and international organisations to increase the number of Irish people working in such institutions. This is now administered by...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (5 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is committed to lowering its carbon footprint. Energy usage in the Government Buildings complex, including my Department, is administered by the Houses of the Oireachtas and in 2017 showed a 14.1% improvement in energy efficiency. The Department is engaged with the OPW on various projects to achieve more energy efficiencies. This includes a lighting retrofits programme and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On the various information seminars, we will keep doing them all the way through to Brexit and perhaps beyond. The suggestion I thought I heard from Deputy Martin was that the seminars should be all done and dusted by now. It is not the case at all. It has to be a continual process of informing business as the situation unfolds. In terms of percentages, all firms that need to be...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: They will be voting for the deal or at least we expect the majority of them will.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 10, inclusive, together. While the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, led by the Tánaiste, has overall responsibility for Brexit, it is clear that Brexit will have implications for each Department and agency. Staff across several divisions of my Department contribute to the work on Brexit. The international, EU and Northern Ireland...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I think we will all agree that the First World War, or the Great War, was a truly terrible war that caused great suffering and the death of tens of millions of both soldiers and civilians. Its impact and the changes that followed therefrom still affect us and echo in the politics of today. Some good lessons were learned from the First World War. There was a move away from monarchy towards...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (4 Dec 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I see a former Minister for Foreign Affairs nodding, so I think it is already expressed in the treaties.