Results 13,141-13,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: When it comes to winter planning, we have had a winter plan every winter for ten or 15 years and it has not worked.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If the lesson in winter planning is that the standard winter plan that we have had for ten or 15 years, including additional home help, additional home care and transitional care, has not worked, the last thing we need to do this year is have yet another winter plan that will not work.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That is what is going to happen. Between 22 December-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: May I speak?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Between 22 December this year and 3 January next year there are 12 days, seven of which will be Sundays, Saturdays or bank holidays. What has been happening in the health service for ten or 15 years is that hospitals effectively closed for seven days out of 12.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We need to change that. We need to make sure, for the first time ever, that during that period radiology departments and laboratories will be open and working at full whack, that consultants will not be on holidays in the first week of the year, particularly those who work in emergency departments, and that nurses will not be on leave in the first two weeks of January. We need to make sure...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that we have a long-standing problem with overcrowding in our emergency departments which we have faced for probably two decades at this stage. As a doctor and a grandson, I certainly do not want to see any citizens or patients spending prolonged amounts of time on trolleys waiting for hospital beds. There were 391 patients on trolleys this morning at 8 waiting for admission...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are different reasons and different issues why beds cannot be opened. Much of it has to do with planning, for example, but if the Deputy will let me answer his question I will do so. I have itemised the 240 beds that were opened. Another 79 beds will be opened. They have been delayed but they are planned for this quarter and the first quarter of 2019. That includes an additional...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: European Council Meetings (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I attended a series of European Council meetings in Brussels on Wednesday 17 October and Thursday 18 October. Ahead of our meeting on the evening of 17 October, Prime Minister May had the opportunity to outline the UK perspective on the Brexit negotiations. We then met in Article 50 format, where Michel Barnier provided an update on negotiations since the Informal Summit in Salzburg. I...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Seanad Reform (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Seanad Reform Implementation Group is finalising it's deliberations and is expected to report in the coming weeks.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Communications (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In communicating the work of Government, it is important to provide information to citizens in a manner in which they wish to receive it, which includes the medium of video. Below is the breakdown of costs which have been processed by my Department relating to video production from June 2017 to September 2018. Note that amounts below represent payments fully processed through the finance...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I attended the Asia Europe Summit in Brussels on 19 October. On the margins of the meeting, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of Asian leaders, including the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. I recalled the Prime Minister's visit to Ireland in 2013 and spoke of the continuing close relationship between Ireland and Japan. I also outlined the reasons Ireland has sought election to...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy (as at 6 November 2018) is set out in the following table. Grade *Number of Staff Secretary General 1 Second Secretary General 1 Assistant Secretary 6 Principal Officer 15 Assistant Principal Officer 35 Higher Executive Officer 34 Administrative Officer 16 Executive Officer 36 Clerical Officer 37 Services Staff 18 * Excluding politically...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Meetings (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As I have stated in the House recently, I was invited by Science Foundation Ireland to present Mr. David McCourt (CEO Granahan McCourt), with the Science Foundation Ireland St. Patrick's Day Medal at a public event held in Washington DC in March 2018 at which the media were present and which was reported at the time. We did not discuss the national broadband programme. Mr. McCourt wrote...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Consultations (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 113 together. Details of the public consultations undertaken by my Department in the years 2008 to 2017 and to date in 2018, and the location of submissions where published, are set out in the following tables. 2008 No. Details of Consultation undertaken by Department of An Taoiseach Web address for submissions where published 1 Consultation on a...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Contracts (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department does not have any budget for capital expenditure or infrastructure. Therefore the company named has not undertaken any work for my Department or any agency under its remit in the past ten years. The properties occupied by my Department and by the National Economic & Social Development Office (NESDO) are provided and maintained by the Office of Public Works.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Meetings (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently four Ministers of State, including the Government Chief Whip assigned to my Department. The Minister of State with special responsibility for Defence, the Minister of State for European Affairs and the Government Chief Whip are based at the Department of the Taoiseach. Their offices have confirmed that the Ministers have had no engagements, meetings or correspondence...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Commissions of Investigation Data (6 Nov 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has no responsibility in relation to any commissions of investigation, State inquiries or State Tribunals which arose from recommendations of the Independent Review Mechanism. Accordingly, the issue of cost does not arise for my Department.

Post-European Council Meetings: Statements (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I attended a series of European Council meetings in Brussels on Wednesday, 17 October and Thursday, 18 October. On Wednesday evening, we met in Article 50 format to discuss the Brexit negotiations. The meeting of the European Council proper on Thursday morning focused on migration, internal security and external relations. This was followed by a European summit, where we exchanged views on...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If it is the case that Prime Minister May has refused to meet the four parties, I am disappointed to hear it. Sinn Féin, the SDLP, Alliance Party and Green Party combined represent the majority of people in the Northern Ireland Assembly, or close to it. That meeting should happen. I will have that meeting, having also met the leader of the DUP recently. I did not hear Secretary of...