Results 1,661-1,680 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the publication of the report this morning. I have not had a chance to see it yet although my staff have provided me with a brief summary. I intend to meet the Chairperson, Senator Carrigy, in the next couple of weeks to allow him to present the report, and then we will identify the recommendations with which we can proceed. I have no doubt that there will be additional funding...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It sounds like a reasonable suggestion. I am not across the detail of this, but I will make sure somebody from my office gets in touch with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, about it and comes back to the Deputy with a further response.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for raising the two issues. I heard many of the stories about maths paper 1. It does seem like it was a very hard paper and that caused much distress for students and, indeed, their teachers. My understanding is that maths paper 2 was a bit more student-friendly and user-friendly. I should clarify that, of course, Government and the Minister do not write the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I can give two assurances, one of which is about the way papers are marked. Difficult papers are marked more easily and easy papers are marked harder because there is a way by which grades are distributed. I give that reassurance to students, parents and teachers. The grades for maths exams will be similar to what they have been in previous years. A hard paper is marked more easily....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have no doubt that this dispute can be resolved satisfactorily. All industrial relations disputes are resolved in the end. However, as I said yesterday in the House, all of us must adhere to and honour the agreements we have made. The Government has an agreement with the trade unions in relation to public sector pay. That agreement runs until the end of this year. It was voted on by...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the report was published this morning. I have not yet had the opportunity to read it but I thank the members of the committee and, in particular, the chair, Senator Micheál Carrigy, for their work. I also thank the witnesses who gave their time and shared their experiences and expertise in engaging with the committee. I will meet with the committee chair in the next few...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this important issue again. It is close to his heart and he has received correspondence from me on it in the last couple of days. I would have to speak to the Minister for Justice and the Attorney General on this but if it relates to a court order, then I do not think there is a mechanism by which Government can intervene. However, I will seek advice on that.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to confirm that I did not distribute that leaflet in my constituency. It was distributed by a member of the council and it shows that crime went down in 2021 and went back up in 2022. That is because we were in a lockdown in 2021 and crime rates fell when most of the country were confined to their homes. On the Deputy's substantive question, I can make that commitment. We...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy said in her remarks, these schemes were closed to new entrants back in 2011 and 2012 on foot of Ombudsman reports but the establishment of new schemes is long overdue, which I accept. A working group reported recently and it was made up of people from: the Department of Finance; the Revenue Commissioners; the Department of Health; the HSE; the Department of Social Protection;...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Refugees have the right to work in Ireland.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: They have had the right to work in Ireland for a long time, once they achieve refugee status, and anybody coming from Ukraine, as beneficiaries of temporary protection, also have the right to work from the moment they arrive in the country and get a personal public service number.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The group that is treated differently comprises people who are applying for international protection, and only a minority of them gain refugee status. That is a fact and it is a fact the Deputy should acknowledge because it is not the same thing.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: It stops them being refugees, because they are not refugees.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a matter that is under the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, so I will ask him to come back to the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate we have a real recruitment and retention challenge across the country when it comes to these teams. It is better in some places than in others but I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to come back to the Deputy with a specific response to his query.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Nolan for raising this important issue. I acknowledge there are nursing homes under financial pressure and some have closed. At the same time, others are making substantial profits and are opening. New nursing homes are opening as well as nursing homes closing. Last year we had a net gain in the total number of beds in nursing homes and so far this year we are seeing that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy, I absolutely agree that we should not do that, so please make sure your remarks and the remarks of other people who support you do not do that either. It is not right to create the kind of impression that somehow older people will be turfed out of nursing homes-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will leave it at that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will answer the Deputy's question here, but nobody in this Chamber is naive to the subtext of what is going on.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Some nursing homes are closing. They tend to be smaller nursing homes that would need a lot of investment to continue. New nursing homes are also opening. They tend to be larger and state-of-the-art. Overall the number of beds available in nursing homes is increasing. It increased by 88 last year. It has increased by 161 so far this year. That is what is happening.