Results 12,941-12,960 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Health regularly meets the trade unions, as do all Ministers in their respective briefs and-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform engages with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU. This is the system we have had for a very long time and it works very well. According to the HSE, the number of patients on trolleys is 289 today, a decrease of 14% on last year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is also a decrease on the year before. The count that is done by the INMO is different and includes patients on beds, patients on trolleys and patients who are not in emergency departments.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is a wider measure of overcrowding but is not a trolley count anymore. It has been changed over the years to include many more categories of patients.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is a bed count as well. That is on the INMO website so I am not telling any tales in that regard. Whether the figure is 300 or 400 does not really matter.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That is not the point. There are far too many patients waiting for admission to a proper hospital bed almost every day of the week, all year around. What can we do about that? Obviously better and proper management systems make a difference and we know that from the hospitals that are performing well. We also need more beds and better primary care so people do not end up in hospital in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Thanks very much, Deputy. I am a very strong supporter of reducing taxes on income and taxes on work. I know some people believe that, when one reduces income tax or USC, one is somehow giving people money. I do not see it that way. I believe it is allowing people to hold onto more of the money that they earned in the first place. We know at the moment, when we need to continue to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have set out our projections in the years ahead. We are able to afford a tax package of about €620 million per year and still increase public spending from €66.5 billion next year to €68.7 billion the year after to €70.8 billion the year after that, €72.6 billion the year after that and €74.6 billion the year after that. I am happy to provide...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Martin is actually wrong on that point. We could have done what Sinn Féin and the left wanted to do - we could have borrowed more. We decided, instead of borrowing, that we should balance the books.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We could have had a €700 million increase-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----in spending on health rather than a €1 billion increase in spending on health. The VAT increase-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----was as much about funding health and housing or balancing the books as it was about finding money for a tax package. Deputy Martin knows how budgets are done. There are always a number of moving parts. In terms of carbon tax, the ESRI is way off the mark. Certainly, this Government of Fine Gael and Independents does not intend to raise carbon tax to the kinds of level suggested in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In terms of the trajectory, we have not worked one out yet. That is something-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: No, we have not. That is something that we are going to need to work on in the years ahead.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff Data (20 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are nine special advisers.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff Data (20 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are two working on press and media matters and seven on policy and other matters. Of the nine, six are male and three are female. I mentioned Angela and Clare, but perhaps I forgot to mention Sarah who is head of the Government Information Service. One third are female; therefore, it is the same proportion of women as in the Labour parliamentary party. It is not a bad figure in that...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Staff Data (20 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is one third.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government Implementation (20 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will do my best, as always.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Programme for Government Implementation (20 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It always takes longer to answer a question than to ask one, as I am sure Deputies appreciate. The progress report on the programme for Government was published over the summer. We do them every six months now, so I imagine we will have another one soon enough. On climate change, I am a little disappointed by Deputy Martin's attack on the former Minister, Commissioner Phil Hogan. It is...