Results 13,561-13,580 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: When one factors out part-time workers, students and pensioners the average person in Ireland working full-time, the type of people we all know and meet every day, earn €44,000 per annum.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Those people pay tax on some of their income at the highest rate. That is the anomaly and that is unfair. People on middle incomes who get a pay increase, an increment or do overtime lose more than half of that income in income tax. I do think that is unfair and it is something we want to change. We cannot do it in one go but we will do it in this budget, the next budget and the one after...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I can assure the Deputy that, as was the case in the last couple of budgets, we will not be giving tax cuts to the wealthy alone. Tax cuts will be focused on those with middle incomes. We have already taken people on the lowest incomes out of the tax net altogether and we have relieved them of the burden of the USC, which Fianna Fáil imposed on them. Some 38% of the lowest earners do...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Absolutely, we always engage with unions. That is the reason we have a public sector pay deal which was agreed less than a year ago. That deal runs for the next three years and it applies to all public servants in the country. It provides for pay increases every year for the next three years at a total cost to the taxpayer of €400 million last year. We made that agreement after...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. It is raised very much in my engagement with parents as I go around the country and on the occasions on which I knock on doors. The cost of education can be an enormous burden on families. Often, these are the same families who bear the high costs of childcare, school transport and, in some cases, rising rents or a large mortgage. ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 16 together. On 8 July the Taoiseach welcomed the Chancellor of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, to Dublin. This visit took place as Austria began its six-month Presidency of the Council of the European Union and followed Taoiseach’s own visit to Vienna in February. Taoiseach was pleased that Chancellor Kurz chose Ireland as the first member state to...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The most recent meeting of Cabinet Committee A took place on the 9th of July. The next meeting has not yet been scheduled but, of course, the full Cabinet also considers these issues on an regular basis.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I met with Pope Francis during his visit to Dublin Castle on Saturday 25th August. The meeting provided an opportunity for both of us to discuss a number of issues, though regrettably not in any great depth because of the short duration of the meeting. I welcomed Pope Francis who thanked me for the warm welcome he had received on arrival. We spoke of the legacy of pain and suffering...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I met with Pope Francis during his visit to Dublin Castle on Saturday 25th August. The meeting provided an opportunity for both of us to discuss a number of issues, though regrettably not in any great depth because of the short duration of the meeting. I welcomed Pope Francis who thanked me for the warm welcome he had received on arrival. We spoke of the legacy of pain and suffering...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens Assembly (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As I have previously publically stated, most recently at the Congress of Women's Caucuses on 10 September, I intend to bring forward proposals for the establishment of a new Citizens' Assembly to consider the issue of gender equality shortly. I would further propose that the Assembly also examines options for comprehensive local government reform, specifically the nature and powers of a...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: European Council Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I attended the Informal Summit in Salzburg on 19 / 20 September where I met with my EU counterparts. We discussed migration, internal security and Brexit. On Brexit, Prime Minister May presented the UK perspective after dinner on Wednesday evening. The EU27 met in Article 50 format the following day to review progress in the negotiations and to discuss next steps. Michel Barnier provided...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Commissions of Investigation Expenditure (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The commissions of investigation for which I am the specified Minister under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 are the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, commission of investigation and the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, commission of investigation. Following consultations with the Opposition parties by the then Minister for Finance, the IBRC commission of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Commissions of Investigation Expenditure (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am sorry to tell the Deputy that there were not significant savings. The Department's Estimate was voted through the House in April and by then the decision had been made to shut down the SCU. The money was never voted to the Department, thus the voted Estimate to the Department was €2.5 million less than was provided for in the budget and the savings never arose. The mother...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I made a private visit to Tuam on my way home from a conference in Galway. It was an opportunity for me to pay my respects to the children who were buried there and to see the site for myself. It was not quite what I expected. I expected to see the grounds of an old abandoned institution. It is not that at all; it is a very small site, almost within a housing estate, beside a large...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committee Meetings (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 12 together. Cabinet committee E last met on 11 April 2018. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee has not yet been scheduled. In addition to the meetings of the full Cabinet and of Cabinet committees, I meet with Ministers on an individual basis regularly to focus on particular issues. In this regard I meet regularly with the Minister for...

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Council (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Prime Minister, Mrs. May, did not attend the BIC and I understand she has never done so. While former Prime Minister Cameron attended one such meeting during his six year tenure, the practice since the early days of the Good Friday Agreement has been that the Taoiseach attends on behalf of Ireland and the Secretary of State attends on behalf of the UK Government. I have not spoken to...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am glad to hear that Rose is doing well and that Spinraza is providing benefits for her. I gave an oral answer on this topic last week and it is on the record. The position has not changed since then.

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Emissions Targets) Bill 2018: First Stage (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: No.

Ceisteanna - Questions: British-Irish Council (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. I attended the 30th British-Irish Council, BIC, summit in Guernsey on Friday, 22 June, hosted by Chief Minister Gavin St. Pier. I was accompanied by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. The BIC is an institution created under the Good Friday Agreement and brings together...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Overall, the number of patients on trolleys this morning was 291. That is 18.5% down on the figure for this day last year, and 17.56% down on the figure for this day two years ago. I appreciate, as always, that the figures vary from hospital to hospital. One could have very high numbers in one hospital and a figure of zero, or of only one or two, in others. Extra beds were brought into...