Results 14,261-14,280 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Leaders' Questions (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The new National Maternity Hospital will be paid for by the State and will be owned by the State. It will be paid for by the people and it will belong to the people. That is not the case for the current National Maternity Hospital on Holles Street so there will be a significant change for the better in that regard. I do not know about the issue of indemnity but we have all the records. It...

Leaders' Questions (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is right. Language is very important. It is very important that we do not minimise this in any way in the language we use. It is also important that we be sensitive. In the coming weeks and months people are going to find out information about themselves and the people who they believe are their birth parents and it will be very difficult for everyone. Even the parents who...

Leaders' Questions (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On the audit of records, I answered that question, as did the Minister, Deputy Katharine Zappone. I have also answered the question about the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. On giving an assurance about the passage of the Bill through the House, I can offer no such assurance as we do not have a majority in the Dáil or the Seanad. We are seeing other legislation being held up...

Leaders' Questions (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My apologies for not answering that earlier. The primary purpose of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 is to provide an adopted person with a statutory right to apply for his or her birth certificate and information about his or her adoption order. A further aim of the Bill is to give adopted persons, birth parents and relatives a statutory right to an information and tracing...

Leaders' Questions (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We use the terms "incorrect or illegal registrations" rather than "illegal adoptions" because technically these were not adoptions at all, but perhaps that is splitting hairs and not the most relevant point at this stage. Deputy McDonald is correct that this is not something new. We have known that this practice existed in the past. We suspect that it was quite commonplace. Journalists,...

Leaders' Questions (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We all agree that this is a very difficult issue which needs to be handled with the utmost sensitivity. We are opening another dark chapter of our history. These are events which took place 50 and 70 years ago when Ireland was a very different place. It seems like a foreign country to the one it is today. Nevertheless, we must acknowledge these matters and deal with them as best we can....

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 19 to 21, inclusive, together. I travelled to Sofia, Bulgaria, where I participated in an Informal EU Summit on the evening of 16 May, and the EU-Western Balkans Summit on 17 May. The Informal Summit on 16 May was chaired by President Tusk and focused on innovation and the digital economy and possible future EU actions to promote investment in...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 29 and 30 together. I met with Prime Minister May on the margins of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 17 May. We discussed current developments in relation to Brexit and the ongoing efforts to assist the parties in Northern Ireland to re-establish the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. Prime Minister May told me that she expects...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Data (30 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently 209.5 whole time equivalent staff working in my Department. This compares to a figure of 203.5 whole time equivalent staff on 31 December 2017.

Referendum of 25 May: Statements (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: History was made on Friday. It was made by 1,429,981 people who came out with hope in their hearts to vote for compassion in our Constitution. As a country we said to Irish women, we trust you and we respect your choices about your healthcare. More people voted on Friday to remove the eighth amendment than the combined number of people who voted on both sides in 1983. It was, therefore, a...

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have the exact figures in front of me but overall there has been a very substantial increase in the roads budget this year for regional and local roads. I know some local authorities are behind schedule in the works they intended to do because of the bad weather, but there has been a very substantial increase.

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will ask the Minister, Deputy Ross, to correspond with the Deputy.

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The policing model is principally a matter for the acting Garda Commissioner and his team. They are best placed to know what type of policing works in the different communities throughout the country. I point out that, over the past couple of years, we have made considerable progress in increasing the size of our force of gardaí. We will meet our target of increasing the number of...

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure it is clear that it has no Exchequer implications, but if it does, the Oireachtas will seek a money message. I am not sure if it has done it yet, but if it determines that it has Exchequer implications, it will have to seek a money message. I am not sure if that has been done and will have to check. Like the Government, I welcome the proposals from the European Commission...

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That legislation is on the priority list so we should see it in this session.

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It depends on the sector.

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The general scheme of the Bill has been prepared and was published in March. There has been a lot of preparatory work done around that general scheme to allow us to draft the legislation quickly. There is not a draft Bill ready yet but a lot of work has been done on the general scheme to allow us to legislate and prepare the legislation quite quickly. The Minister, Deputy Harris, will...

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, will take that question.

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I understand there have been some delays in providing medical records that have been requested by women affected and their sisters and also some difficulties finding some of the smear slides in laboratories. I know CervicalCheck is under a lot of pressure trying to do lots of different things at the moment, as people can understand. Additional staffing is going into CervicalCheck and it is...

Order of Business (29 May 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is a bit late now to-----