Results 16,461-16,480 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Again, it is something I would have to check and on which I would have to get legal advice. I am conscious that this is now a matter before a tribunal. The email is among the documents furnished to the tribunal.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is within the terms of reference of the tribunal to look into these matters.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I must restate the fact, and this has been over and back in different forms for nearly two weeks now, I am still not clear what allegation is being made.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Tánaiste and the Department of Justice and Equality had no hand, act or part in the legal strategy. They did not know about it before the event happened.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: There is a record of an email between officials discussing it after it had already happened, at which point, needless to say, it would have been too late for the Minister to influence it or intervene.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: She would have not have had the authority to do so anyway.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The advice in the email is that the Minister and the Attorney General had no function in such a matter.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Garda Commissioner had her own legal strategy.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: This is an email between officials from two and half years ago. It is not inconceivable and certainly should not give rise to conspiracy theories that it may take a few days for somebody to find such an email. It should be borne in mind that it is an email between two Department of Justice and Equality officials in which one official relates a third party conversation he had with an...

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I think that the ordering of the House obviously is a matter for the Business Committee, and there is a mechanism under special-----

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----notice questions to raise matters such as this. Again, I am conscious that this House has set up a tribunal to establish the truth about these matters, including carrying out an inquiry into-----

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----the former Commissioner's legal strategy in this regard and also-----

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----the role of State entities, including the Department of Justice and Equality. That is why this House established a tribunal and I would be reluctant to agree to any parallel process in this House that would be separate from or undermine in any way the work of the tribunal. I would need to take-----

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----advice on that. As the Tánaiste said in the radio interview in the last hour, she did not recall the email at the time at which she spoke to me. She was away at the time in Dubai. I was subsequently away in Sweden. She was away in Boston. We only had the opportunity-----

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----to speak again last night.

Leaders' Questions (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for clarifying that, of course, to mislead the House is to deliberately seek to deceive the House; to misinform the House is to give information that may not be fully correct. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify matters as best I can. The House will appreciate, once again, that I do not have first-hand knowledge of any of these matters. I am replying...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Seanad Reform (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In the Programme for a Partnership Government, the Government stated its commitment to pursuing the implementation of the Report of the Working Group on Seanad Reform (the Manning Report) and I intend to honour this commitment. One of the recommendations of the Report, published in 2015, was the establishment of an Implementation Group to oversee implementation of the reforms contained in...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Strategic Communications Unit (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 92 to 94, inclusive, together. The Director and a member of staff in the Strategic Communications met with their counterparts in the UK and the Netherlands to learn at first hand how both countries went about the streamlining and optimisation of government communications, from the perspective of the citizen. Both countries have adopted a whole of Government...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Commissions of Investigation (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The IBRC Commission was established on 16 June 2015 under the Commission of Investigation (Irish Bank Resolution Corporation) Order 2015. Mr. Justice Brian Cregan, a judge of the High Court, is the Commission's sole member. The Commission is entirely independent in its work and it is not possible for me to make any comment on the status of the Commission other than in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff Training (21 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The training and development needs of the staff in my Department are identified through the performance management process. This is to ensure that staff are equipped with the skills and competencies to both perform their roles efficiently and progress their careers. The cost of providing training and coaching for the development of staff in my Department in the five year period from 1...