Results 14,701-14,720 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I will deal first with the survey and research aspects. As outlined on 18 October 2017 and again on 22 November 2017, the research commissioned is to inform Government communications. It is intended to help the Department learn more about public awareness and understanding of Government services. As outlined in the Secretary General's review, the intention is to continue with the citizen...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In terms of cross-departmental campaigns, what is different is that it is no longer intended to fund cross-departmental campaigns through my Department. However, it is intended that the Government Information Service will have a role in co-ordinating cross-departmental campaigns, for example, Healthy Ireland, which cuts across different Departments. Project Ireland 2040 will be handed over...

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have any information to hand on that particular service in Sligo, but I will ask the Minister for Health and the HSE to correspond with the Deputy.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 5, inclusive, together. On 1 March, I requested that the Secretary General of my Department conduct a review into the operations of the strategic communications unit, SCU. The report from this review was accepted by the Government on 27 March and published on the same date. The report finds that there is significant benefit to be realised by...

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have a national rare diseases strategy and a rare diseases office has been established to implement that strategy. I am not able to provide detailed information on those two particular conditions, so I will ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to reply in more detail, perhaps by correspondence. I should say that it is not the HSE's role to recognise or de-recognise illnesses....

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We certainly need more GPs to cope with a rising and ageing population and the increased demand for healthcare that goes with it. It is important to point out that we have never had more GPs. There are more GPs registered on the Medical Council's specialist register than ever before, and more GPs have a contract with the HSE under the general medical services scheme, GMS, than ever before.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Those are the facts. There is misinformation around that issue, but those are the facts.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We have never had more GPs in Ireland with GMS contracts with the HSE. We have never had more GPs-----

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: -----on the specialist register of the Medical Council and we have never trained more GPs. The number of places on the GP training scheme increased again this year, having also increased in the previous year. Very encouragingly it was oversubscribed; many more people applied to get on that scheme than there were places, so we will increase it again.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I very much welcome the Deputy's suggestion. I will certainly speak to the Minister, Deputy Creed, later today as to whether it is possible to bring GLAS payments forward for the reason the Deputy suggests.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As I understand it, the rules around country of origin labelling are very clear. One has to put the country of origin on a product but producers may sometimes use clever branding to disguise where a product comes from and to mislead people, perhaps by using particular colours or names that people associate with one country. The best thing people can do is look at the label, which has to...

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We had an extensive debate on this in the Dáil last week and the Minister, Deputy Creed, has introduced a number of measures to assist with the fodder shortage, including the implementation of a targeted fodder transport measure which was introduced back in January and has a budget of over €500,000.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: That Bill has been published. It is being piloted by the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy O'Donovan, and is due to move to Committee Stage and Report Stage as soon as we are ready to proceed.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is to go to Committee Stage next. The legislation to regulate lobbying and ensure it is transparent was introduced in 2015. That was done by the previous Government, of which I was also a member. Obviously, we will have regard to any further recommendations from SIPO to improve the legislation further.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have a date for that.

Order of Business (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Statements on a leaked document when nobody even knows whether it is true-----

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Only preliminary work has been done on that legislation. It is being put together by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment but I do not have a date for publication.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am advised that on receipt of complaints made to the Charities Regulator about Project Arts Centre property, it indicated to the trustees of the Project Arts Centre that the continued display of this mural would, in its opinion, constitute a political advertisement in respect of a matter for which the charity was not set up. As I said earlier, I assume the Charities Regulator would have...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: What we need is proper independent information, like we are getting now from the Referendum Commission, which just started its work in recent days, and those of us who wish to advocate change going out there and speaking to people one to one, not berating them or preaching to them but listening to their concerns and answering their questions.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (24 Apr 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I understand this decision was made by the Charities Regulator, not the Government, and I assume the Charities Regulator would have taken the same approach or attitude had it been a pro-life or anti-abortion mural. I have no doubt but that the mural will appear elsewhere. Someone who owns a private building may wish to make the space available for the mural to be reinstated. Perhaps even...