Results 13,601-13,620 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: -----a speech or a single item of legislation, we would of course do that. It has not been seven years.

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

Leo Varadkar: Let us not forget that of those seven years we spent the first four rescuing the country, taking it back from the brink, putting our public finances back in order-----

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

Leo Varadkar: -----and getting people back to work. We were opposed at every step along the way by Sinn Féin.

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

Leo Varadkar: The first four of those seven years at least were spent putting this country back in a position where we could afford to invest in housing, infrastructure, healthcare and transport again. We are now in that position. It is not possible to ramp these things up overnight. No number of soundbites, easy solutions or one-line amendments will do anything like that.

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

Leo Varadkar: This is the kind of progress that is being made. New building is picking up. People can see that now all around the country particularly in the city of Dublin.

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

Leo Varadkar: There were 14,000 new homes built last year and behind that number there are 14,000 individuals and families who moved into a new home last year, a new house or new apartment, and in many cases freed up other properties for other people to live in. That was a 50% increase on the year before. We estimate that this year, approximately 20,000 new homes will be built, particularly if one...

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

Leo Varadkar: We had double-digit increases in those zones before the rent pressure zones were brought in. That is not the case now.

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

Leo Varadkar: The old tactics of Sinn Féin have not changed. Their tactics are just to shout us down.

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

Leo Varadkar: They do not like to hear the truth. They do not like to hear the facts. They do not like to hear real statistics. They just shout us down.

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

Leo Varadkar: Of course I get it and everyone on this side of the House gets it. The Deputy and his party do not have a monopoly on either empathy or compassion.

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

Leo Varadkar: All of us do constituency work and all of us have friends and family. All of us are aware of plenty of individual cases on which all of us work hard to try to get results for parents. Instead of coming in here trying to pretend that somehow he has a monopoly on understanding or a greater empathy or compassion than people on this side of the House, the Deputy could come in here with...

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

Leo Varadkar: -----but he did not do that in either of his contributions. The Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, is working extremely hard on this. There is a large budget of €1.8 billion for disabilities. As I mentioned, we are putting in the procedures and recruiting the extra staff we need.

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

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Ceann Comhairle. First, I am very proud and pleased to have been a member of a party, and of a Government, that enshrined children's rights in our Constitution, and did so for the first time. In the years since then, we have been doing everything we can to realise those rights and to make them real in our laws and society and not just in the words in our Constitution. Taking...

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

Leo Varadkar: A record €10 billion is being invested in education this year. In the health area, children with profound disabilities, 40,000 of whom are in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance, DCA, now have a medical card as of right. They do not have to be means-tested based on their parents' income. When the party opposite was in power children, even though they had profound disabilities,...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's question relates to my visit to New York in July, to take part in a series of events marking the launch of Ireland’s election campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-2022 term. On Monday 2 July, I participated in a ceremony marking 60 years of Ireland’s participation on UN peacekeeping operations, and paying tribute to the 88...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee E last met on 11 April 2018. Work continues on the issues/projects raised at that meeting. Most notably the Sláinte care report was published and launched.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee D last met on 1 February and its next meeting is not yet scheduled. As I have previously indicated to the House, the Committee works to ensure a coordinated approach to the delivery and ongoing development of policy across the areas of infrastructure investment and delivery, housing, and climate action. Since the last meeting there is significant work underway across...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee B last met on 7 June. The Committee, which covers the areas of Social Policy and Public Service Reform, ensures a co-ordinated approach to the delivery of commitments in the Programme for Partnership Government, and provides the opportunity to shape proposals on issues such as equality, disability and disadvantage which require input from multiple Departments. Work continues...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Reports (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The leaking of some information from the Scally Report before the women and families most affected could be briefed was wrong. The report concerned a very sensitive issue touching on the lives of women, some of whom are very ill, and of families, some of whom are grieving a devastating bereavement. The leaking of this information was done without any regard to the interests of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Commissions of Investigation (25 Sep 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In December 2017, following a request from the IBRC Commission of Investigation, I extended its deadline for reporting on the first module of its investigation, the Siteserv transaction, to 31 December 2018. To the end of August 2018, the IBRC Commission spent a total of €4,268,887, of which €1,829,867 was spent on legal fees in relation to the Counsel engaged on behalf of...