Results 16,001-16,020 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I am still shocked by the overcrowding in our hospitals. I am also shocked that it has taken and is taking so long to resolve it. The figure of 100,000 the Deputy gives does not refer to people who spent the night on a trolley. That is a count done at 8 a.m. and could include people on a trolley for fewer than nine hours, maybe even one hour or two hours. The figures collated by the INMO...

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: In respect of patient experience surveys, when 14,000 Irish patients were asked what they thought of their experience in the health service, never mind what we think, 85% said they had a good or very good experience of our health service. That does not diminish for one second the fact that some patients have a very bad experience of the health service. That is something we need to change....

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We are providing additional resources all the time for the health service and people with disabilities. Obviously, we need to establish what additional resources may be required to implement the report in full and apply it to other similar cases. Certainly that is what we intend to do. Sometimes, even when we provide financial resources, we can have difficulty in finding staff. That is...

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If Deputy Micheál Martin wants to see the figures, they are available in the key trends in health document published by the Department at the end of each year. From 2007 onwards, the number of acute hospital beds was reduced every year. In 2015, however, as Minister for Health, I took the decision to reverse that trend and started to increase the number of acute hospital beds again....

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: The Government decided this morning that we would not oppose the Sinn Féin motion on hospital overcrowding. We want to be in solutions mode and will discuss solutions. For this reason, we will table an amendment, but will not oppose the motion. We hope the debate on the matter this week will be solutions-focused, something I believe we all want. The proposal Deputy Gerry Adams...

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Funding for Letterkenny University Hospital has increased from €94 million five years ago to €121 million this year.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Its budget has increased by almost €30 million.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We need to have a health service in which such a level of increase in funding and investment results in better outcomes for patients.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If that does not happen, we will continue to do more of the same.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: We know that more of the same does not work.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I did not bring up the fact that Deputy Martin is a former Minister for Health. I brought up a different fact, which I think is important. I mentioned a decision that was taken. It is important for us to double back a bit when we analyse these issues. In 2007, it was decided to start reducing our hospital bed stock. That decision was not made at the time because we were short of money....

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: From 2007 onwards, the number of acute beds was reduced.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: Fianna Fáil, the Progressive Democrats and the Green Party made an ideological decision-----

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: It is not factually incorrect.

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I would like to start by welcoming everyone back to the House after the December and January recess. I also want to begin by paying tribute to Dolores O'Riordan who died yesterday. For so many of us, especially those of us who grew up in the 1990s, she was the voice of a generation. No matter where one was in the world in recent times, it would not be long before one heard a Cranberries...

Leaders' Questions (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: If it was simply a matter of political will on the part of any party or of providing Government funding, the matter would have been resolved by now. That is particularly obvious when one considers that there has been an almost 20% increase in health funding in the past three years. The population has increased and there are now more older people here. There has also been pay restoration...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Strategies (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 78 and 94 together. The aim of the 'Ireland’s Global Footprint 2025’initiative is to double the impact and scope of Ireland’s overseas footprint in the period to 2025, enhancing our ability to advance our strategic international goals, and to promote our interests internationally. A detailed process of engagement to advance the initiative...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: On 31 August last, I held a formal meeting under the structured dialogue process with representatives of the Catholic Church, led by Archbishop Eamon Martin. I was accompanied at the meeting by the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation and by the Ministers for Education and Skills; Health; Transport, Tourism and Sport and Employment Affairs & Social...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Cabinet Committee Meetings (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I established Cabinet Committee C to cover issues relating to the European Union, including Brexit. It assists Government in its ongoing consideration of Brexit and also supports my participation as a member of the European Council. Cabinet Committee C last met on 11 September. The date of the next meeting has not yet been confirmed. Preparing for and dealing with Brexit in a way...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Government Information Service (16 Jan 2018)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 to 84, inclusive, and 88 together. The Strategic Communications Unit in my Department was involved in the Government initiatives in 2017 listed in the following table. Initiative SCU Involvement Cost ** Back to School Video support and sponsored posts on social media Work completed, invoices to be received. Est costs €10,000 ex VAT Treatment...