Results 13,061-13,080 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have been clear that we are willing to consider a review clause but we are not willing to consider a backstop that can be unilaterally terminated by one side.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Every time we try to have a serious discussion about Brexit, I am more convinced that there would be no deal if Sinn Féin were leading these negotiations. It is evident that this uncompromising and extreme approach would not work. If we are going to have an agreement between the UK and the EU, one has to be willing to be generous on occasion and give them something, so long as one...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 11 together. It is a totally factual answer. I have chaired five Cabinet committee meetings since June 2018. Cabinet committee B, social policy and public services, met on 7 June and 22 October. Cabinet committee C, European Union, met on 21 June. Cabinet committee A, economy, met on 9 July and 12 November. Cabinet committee D, infrastructure, is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Many questions have been raised and I will do my best to answer as many of them as I can in the time permitted. The negotiations are happening in private. They are happening in a "tunnel" and in private for a very good reason. I have always said throughout these talks over the past year and a half that it was not helpful to give a running commentary on negotiations. It is certainly not in...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There is a difference there. I will make everything available to the Dáil that I can but there is a difference there. We are talking about legal advice. This is an EU-UK agreement. It is not an agreement between the UK and Ireland or the UK, the EU and Ireland. It requires ratification by Westminster and the European Parliament so the UK Attorney General is in possession of his own...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----not just specifically-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----our own.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Regarding Palestine, Palestine is regularly raised at European Council meetings, most recently around the status of Jerusalem, where the European Union was united in our view that the embassy should not be moved to Jerusalem until the final status of that city is decided. Deputy Boyd Barrett has raised the Kimberley process before. I have written to him about this. I am not sure if he has...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together. On 4 October, I travelled to Brussels for a series of meetings with the staff of the EU institutions ahead of an important phase of negotiations on the EU-UK withdrawal agreement. I met the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, the chief EU Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and the chair of the European Parliament...

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate what the Deputy said. I understand that target is not just for the Government. It is 2.5% of GDP from the entire economy. It is not solely down to Government to provide all the funding for science and research. Industry has to play its part as well. I do not know what the figures are for 2019 but I am confident there has been an increase in Government spending in that area....

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On that one, trust the science not the stuff on the label.

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In the next session.

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister of State, Deputy Daly, who was present in the Chamber, has departed. The mental health budget next year will exceed €1 billion for the first time, including €55 million for development, so there is a big increase in funding in the area. It has been much acknowledged by people across the House. If it has been refused, I imagine it has been refused for a good...

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know why that family room in Sligo University Hospital has been closed. I am sure the Deputy has asked the hospital manager why that is. I imagine that would be the right person to ask first rather than the Minister for Health.

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am not. I will have to ask the Minister for Finance to provide a reply to the Deputy. It is probably an adjudication under the EU VAT directive rather than a decision of Government. When it comes to food supplements, my advice is caveat emptor. Food supplements very rarely do anything for our health. They are mostly snake oil and just cost people money.

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will try to come back to the Deputy with a more detailed answer but I would point out to Members that this House rather foolishly passed a resolution that the Department of Finance and the Minister for Finance could not engage with the so-called vulture funds.

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not believe it is in the programme for Government, but I understand where Deputy Shortall is coming from. Many members of the public, and I too, get extremely annoyed seeing people who have been involved in wrongdoing sailing off into the sunset with very generous pensions and very generous lump sums. The question is whether there is something we can do about it. We have to consider...

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: For everybody who pays into their pension, it then becomes an entitlement. It is not a gift, it is something into which people have paid. We have to consider pension rights and property rights and whether or not the public would want to give us the power to take away somebody's pension rights. The second issue that would need to be considered is due process. While there are people who...

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is proposed to bring a memo to Cabinet to establish this citizens' assembly before the end of the year and to allow it to do its work in 2019. I can confirm that the citizens will all be from Dublin city and county and not from the surrounding counties. It is not intended that the directly elected Dublin mayor will have jurisdiction over parts of Meath, Kildare or Wicklow. I am happy to...

An tOrd Gnó (Atógáil) - Order of Business (Resumed) (13 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know the details about it but I will check what is the position. The HSE's budget for next year will increase by over €1 billion so I would like to understand why such a service is being removed. I will check into it.