Results 13,161-13,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Howlin makes a very valid point in respect of tendering and the possibility of barring companies from tendering for past bad behaviour or bad practice, be it poor or shoddy building-----

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will answer if the Deputy will let me. The point was made regarding barring companies from tendering for such things as shoddy building in the past or failing to pay subcontractors. It is under examination but I understand that under EU public procurement directives, the bar for excluding somebody from tendering is actually very high and requires a burden of proof rather than a degree of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is happening as a consequence of legislation I introduced as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport providing for the transfer of smaller ports and harbours to local authorities and the new ports policy, which I launched as Minister. Yes, there are financial implications regardless of whichever port or harbour is transferred to a local authority. These implications mainly relate to...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That is now a matter for the courts. The EPA issues a report on urban wastewater every year. The latest report is based on an assessment of effluent monitoring results from over 1,000 wastewater treatment plants reported to the EPA by Irish Water and on enforcement carried out during 2017. Of these, the number of priority urban areas where wastewater treatment needs to improve is down...

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

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 15, inclusive, together. My most recent bilateral meetings with Prime Minister May were on the margins of the European Council in Brussels on Wednesday last and at the informal summit in Salzburg on 20 September. We were in contact by phone in the interim. At our meeting in Salzburg, I reiterated my hope that the future relationship between the EU...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): Cabinet Committee Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 9, inclusive, together. Following its establishment in July last year, Cabinet committee D met twice in 2017 on 2 September and 23 November. The Committee last met on 1 February to help us finalise Project Ireland 2040 and its next meeting is scheduled for 15 November. It works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the delivery and development of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): EU Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On Salzburg, and picking up on what Deputy Howlin asked, to this day I do not understand why there was an expectation that there was going to be some sort of breakthrough at that summit. I never expected it. It was an informal summit that was not about Brexit. I think what happened is that somebody hyped the British press into believing there would be a major breakthrough and when it did...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): EU Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----particularly because the only way we can make those decisions is at that time, when we have all of the information and the alternatives available. What I can say is that our objectives are as they always have been, which are to ensure that Brexit is orderly, that there is a withdrawal agreement, that there is a transition period during which business and citizens can adapt, that there...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The cost of motor insurance is one of great concern to his constituents and mine. The Minister of State, Deputy D’Arcy, is leading the Government's action on this and has done much work on it. Motor insurance premiums rose all the way up until the middle of 2016. According to the Central Statistics Office, CSO, they have...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Ordinarily, I would tell the Deputy that I do not have any information about the No. 220 bus service from Carrigaline to Cork. However, as it happens, my sister’s childminder, who is attending UCC, uses it regularly. I am advised that it is slow and, as a consequence of traffic, often gets stuck. It will be significantly improved and made more frequent in the next several weeks. I...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will outline our plans to the joint committee which is meeting tomorrow. It was discussed at Cabinet on Tuesday. Essentially, it will bring about a change to planning regulations, whereby it will be still okay for somebody to rent out a room in their own house through Airbnb or to rent out their own house through Airbnb for up to three...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have that information for the Deputy. I know there have been considerable improvements and considerable investments in UHL in recent years, such as the new emergency department and the Leben building which will provide additional bed capacity. Unfortunately, this has not led to significant improvements in overcrowding in the hospital and we need the modular build. I will ask the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed): EU Meetings (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together. I attended the Informal meeting of EU Heads of State and Government in Salzburg on 19 and 20 September. The summit, which was chaired by the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, was one of a series of such meetings relating to the future of Europe. On this occasion, our focus was on migration and internal security....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Work on developing the geothermal energy development Bill has been deferred until other legislative priorities have been dealt with. The immediate priority includes fully transposing EU environmental impact assessment legislation into existing minerals legislation to ensure the compliance of national legislation with EU requirements. The other priority is the full commencement of the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The new CAP will not come into effect until 2021, but I am sure that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine can take the views of the Deputy on board as we negotiate between now and then.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot comment on individual cases, but I will say that we have more SNAs than ever before. There is provision in the budget next year for a further 950 bringing us to a total of 16,000 SNAs.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We are also piloting a new system of speech and language therapy in schools which I believe will lead to improvements.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There is funding in 2019 for additional assessments of need.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: This will be done by way of new primary legislation, which may involve amending some existing legislation. We want to avoid a situation where nothing happens until the legislation is passed, so we will try to do the things that can be done without legislation in place. Those areas requiring legislation will have to wait. Unfortunately, fast-tracking any legislation in the world of new...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Oct 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I answered these questions to the best of my ability when Deputy Calleary raised them earlier. When we spoke of Carillion and Sammon previously, the Deputy was very critical of PPPs and zeroed in on that as the reason why there was a problem with buildings, however these were not PPPs, they were design build, which indicates that problems can arise in the structure of buildings through all...