Results 15,821-15,840 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I am familiar with the project and have met the promoters, but I do not have any information on the land sale.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Who owns the land?
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Deputy should telephone or write to it. I can make inquiries for him, but I do not have information on Shannon Properties.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I am not properly informed on the matter. For my own education, I will ask for a note on it from the Minister for Health and ensure it is passed on to the Deputies.
- Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together. On 21 December last I travelled to Lebanon to visit members of the Defence Forces serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL. The purpose of my visit was to demonstrate Government support for the UNIFIL mission and the Defence Forces serving overseas and also for me to gain a better understanding of the...
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: There is no specific legislation proposed on that matter but I know the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, is examining it to ensure there is at least proper transparency about charges and that people are not double-charged.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I am very familiar with the issue, as the Deputy can imagine, because people may start their train journey in Maynooth and Leixlip, but shortly after that the train arrives full in my constituency in Clonsilla, Coolmine, Castleknock, Navan Road Parkway and Hansfield. Passenger numbers on those train lines have now exceeded where they were before the financial crisis began, which is good on...
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I do not have the details those budgetary allocations in front of me. However, I know that the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, is an extremely active and very effective Minister of State. Almost every Friday he is in some part of the country announcing a new scheme. I imagine if it is possible to spend the money, he will ensure that happens.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Minister is working on those amendments and I know it is priority legislation for him. Those amendments will be completed as soon as possible in order to bring the Bill back to the House.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Bill is on Committee Stage and will be before committee on 9 February.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, negotiations are now underway. Having a trade deal between the EU and Mercosur involving those countries in South America would be beneficial to our economy in the round, as it would be for their economies, but we have a particular sensitivity around the beef sector. As I said at the IFA AGM, without its beef sector, Ireland would not be Ireland and we are very...
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy correctly points out, it is possible to obtain cannabis on a medicinal basis in Ireland by licence, though one needs an appropriately qualified doctor to prescribe it and a licence from the Minister for Health. The Minister for Health has never actually denied a licence and when applications come through, with a consultant or an appropriate specialist to back them up, they are...
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I will do my best to reply within one minute. To clarify, there are over 2,000 section 39 bodies which range from non-governmental organisations, NGOs, to companies and charities. Their staff are not Government employees or public servants. Therefore, the position has not changed. They are funded by a block grant which part funds their operations and it may range from €10,000 for a...
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: They are the facts and I am sorry if the Deputy has a difficulty with them. We have looked into this matter.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Some section 39 bodies comply with public pay policy and some do not. We have seen how some of them have paid extraordinary salaries to the top brass, bonuses and other things like them-----
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Some cut pay during the recession.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Some did not cut pay during the recession.
- Order of Business (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, will make a more detailed statement on this issue later. It was agreed at the Cabinet meeting today to offer Government support to the Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, to commence construction of a new north runway. It is very important for the economy, tourism and business that we increase capacity at the airport. We want...
- Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I think what I said in Davos, and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, said it as well, was that our economic recovery was complete and that we were now expanding again as an economy, but that is not to say that our society has healed. We know the consequences of the lost decade - ten years in which virtually no houses were built, and ten years in which there was inadequate investment in the...
- Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----including anything one can imagine. It does not deal with a lot of the issues like those the Deputy just mentioned. It does not address at all the whole issue of performance, efficiency and where the money goes. It proposes more and more money, but it does not ask the fundamental question as to why we do not get a good return from the €15 billion that we are spending already....