Results 13,581-13,600 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue and giving me an opportunity to allay people's concerns. The Christmas bonus is really important, particularly for people who are on low and fixed incomes. It gives pensioners an opportunity to buy presents for their grandchildren. It gives people on very low incomes an opportunity to meet the inevitable bills that come with Christmas....

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Brophy for raising this important issue, which is causing enormous concern across the capital city. BusConnects is Government policy. It is a €2 billion investment in improving our bus services, not only in Dublin but also in Cork and Galway. Some people in my constituency spend more than an hour each day travelling to work on the bus. That is an hour in and back...

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

Leo Varadkar: There is no promised legislation on this matter but, as regards budgetary matters, they are obviously under discussion now and I am not in a position to make any announcements about the budget until the budget happens. I know the Minister, Deputy Creed, is working with the stakeholders' forum on all of those issues and, if he is in a position to, I will ask him to give a more detailed reply.

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

Leo Varadkar: -----having the contracts signed.

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

Leo Varadkar: I look forward to turning the sod, absolutely.

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

Leo Varadkar: The proposal published yesterday was negotiated between the Department of Finance and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU. It has been welcomed by some unions such as SIPTU and Fórsa, while others have given a more muted response and some have given a negative response. It is now up to people to make a decision for themselves and ballot as to whether it should be accepted. To...

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

Leo Varadkar: I agree with the Deputy that we should adopt a health-led approach to combatting the use of illegal drugs. Convicting people for minor possession has not worked. We have appointed a judge to head a group to examine the matter under the auspices of the Minister of State with responsibility for the drugs strategy, Deputy Catherine Byrne. The group was given a year to do the work and it must...

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

Leo Varadkar: I assume that the normal procurement process is being followed. I met the Ministers, Deputies Naughten and Donohoe, on this issue just last week. I will ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to give the Deputy a more detailed answer than I can. I am confident it is on track and we will be able to sign a contract, and that we will have shovels in the ground and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: People in rural Ireland pay road tax, tax on their diesel and petrol and property tax. They are entitled to have decent roads. As the Deputy will know, there has been a significant increase in funding for roads throughout Ireland this year. In the Deputy's county, the regional and local roads allocation, which had been €18.4 million in 2017, was increased to €21.7 million...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and I assure him that the Government is committed to rural Ireland and to making sure that it is vibrant and prosperous and a place that people want to live in, stay in, and move their families to and where they can establish successful businesses. Our plan for the nation, Project Ireland 2040, has rural Ireland at its heart. We want the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Deputy Wallace spoke once again about spin over substance. If he wants substance, here it is. There were 14,000 new homes built last year, which is 50% more than the year before. This year 20,000 new homes will be built. That is a significant number of new homes being built in this country for people and families to live in. These are real homes with front doors,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The figures for new home builds come from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, the independent body that collects numbers and does statistics for the State. I do think anyone disputes the accuracy of the CSO. It is the organisation that does the census and produces the employment figures every quarter. It is an independent body trusted to produce statistics. The figures for rent come from...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We all know what this is about. The Dáil is back, Sinn Féin is looking to score some political points so it puts down a motion that is just pure politics.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: A motion that is just pure politics, tactical, cynical, personalised and ineffective.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There is one thing that is absolutely certain: the Sinn Féin motion that has been put down for tonight, if passed, will not house a single person nor will it help us to build houses any more quickly than we are already doing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: This is all we have from Sinn Féin, oppositional politics, cynical politics, personalised politics. It does not really care about people who are homeless, about people on the housing list or young couples struggling to buy for the first time. That is why it has put forward no solutions. When it puts forward solutions they are solutions that do not work.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: All over the country when they can help, their councillors vote down social housing proposals.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Whether in South Dublin, whether in the north inner city, whether it is putting up property tax to reduce funding for homeless services this is the truth of Sinn Féin.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Once again the Sinn Féin benches demonstrate that the truth hurts.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I, as Taoiseach, and everyone in this House understands the depth of the housing crisis, whether for a generation of people who are renting, who want to buy but struggle to put together a deposit or find a property to buy or for people waiting years for council houses or for people who have to spend time in emergency accommodation. I agree with Deputy McDonald on one point, which is that the...