Results 15,841-15,860 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is a really good report. It is the basis of a common vision as to where our health service should go that I think we can all sign up to, but to represent it as a comprehensive implementation plan to transform our health service just is not honest.

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: When we talk about the health service, it is important to acknowledge the many difficulties we face, particularly in access. They include people waiting for outpatient appointments or surgery or waiting to be given a proper hospital bed. We have real problems in access to the health service, but we should not ignore the many good things which happen in it every day. Life expectancy in...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that there have been irregularities in Garda finances. We saw it very evidently in the financial affairs of the training college in Templemore and we have seen it on a number of occasions in the non-collection of fees and fines. We see it in irregularities in how contracts are tendered for and awarded. We are in the process of implementing a significant programme of Garda...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We await its report. We will have the recruitment of a new Garda Commissioner and I intend that he or she should be able to come into and be a broom in the force and also bring people with him or her to change the organisation from the top. That is the only way it can be changed.

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am familiar with Accenture. I think it is a very good firm. It does a lot of important work in the private sector and has a lot of Government contracts as well. I think it had a contract in my former Department, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, which I assume was tendered in the normal way. Public bodies should always follow public procurement rules, full...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy O'Reilly for her opening remarks, which were very generous. I echo the sentiments she expressed concerning the important work of the Citizens' Assembly of just under 100 randomly selected citizens who studied this topic weekend in and weekend out and came to the conclusions they did, as well as the work of the all-party committee and all its members who studied the...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy knows, legal advice and the advice of the Attorney General to the Government are privileged and it is not the norm - it is in fact somewhat unprecedented - to produce legal advice. Legal advice inevitably argues from a position of "on the one hand, on the other hand" and gives different sets of opinions. The advice we will publish today is a summary of the advice of the...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If Deputy Martin submitted a freedom of information request on the correspondence between Ministers and Departments for every public body in the State, I guarantee him that every Department and agency asked for more money than they got. That is how the budgetary process works.

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If we take all Departments and Government agencies together, they sought additional increases in spending of €12 billion last year.

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The sum of just under €200 million is for new service developments. It is not for pensions. That is separate funding. We are ring-fencing the money specially and holding it back in the Department of Health to make sure the money is spent on what it is intended for and not lost in some deficit elsewhere. I refer to things like, for example, the extra €10 million for respite...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE service plan is credible, provided it is adhered to. It is always a struggle for the Health Service Executive, most public bodies and Government agencies to remain within budget every year. The funding they would like to have to do what they want to do will always be lower than what can be provided by the Government through the taxpayer. As is always the case every year the HSE will...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee E last met on 23 November.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committees are used to ensure a whole-of-Government, coordinated approach on issues, as necessary. They often allow for more in-depth examination of issues in advance of consideration by the full Cabinet. Cabinet Committee C assists Government in its ongoing consideration of Brexit, as well as other EU issues. It is also of use in the context of my participation as a member of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Cabinet Committee F last met on 9 November 2017 and that meeting was attended by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Trade; Justice and Equality; Communications, Climate Action and Environment; Housing, Planning and Local Government; and the Minister of State for Defence. Also in attendance were key personnel from the Defence Forces and an Garda Síochána together with a number of...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Public Private Partnerships Data (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is not engaged in any public private partnerships.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: World Economic Forum (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 to 122, inclusive, together. I attended the 2018 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland from 24 to 26 January. I was accompanied by a small delegation from my Department, including my Chief of Staff, the Secretary General of the Department, the Government Press Secretary, my Private Secretary, and a Security Officer from An...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Urban Renewal Schemes (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Programme Implementation Board chaired by Michael Stone is overseeing implementation of actions recommended in the Mulvey Report for the social and economic regeneration of the North East Inner City. The Board, which contains representatives from the community and business sectors and the key Government agencies, has met every month since it was established last June and will shortly...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Retirements (30 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: My Department and the National Economic and Social Development Office - the only body under the aegis of my Department - are both located in Dublin.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is important legislation. Heads have been approved by Government already but we do not expect publication this session, unfortunately.

Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We expect the publication of the insurance Bill in the first three months of this year but, as is almost always the case, legislation cannot be retrospective.