Results 17,221-17,240 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I understand it has been compiled but I have not seen a draft or final copy. I will ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, to respond to the Deputy directly.

Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I join Deputy MacSharry in welcoming the reduction in the number of people taking their lives by suicide. As I said earlier, one death is one too many and we must continue to work towards reducing the number of deaths by suicide further into the future. Tackling suicide is, of course, about a great deal more than the National Office of Suicide Prevention. Funding for mental health has...

Questions on Promised Legislation (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: There is no promised legislation.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not discount the seriousness of allegations that are made and I assure the Deputy that, if I have anything to do with them, they will be taken seriously. At the same time, we have a duty in this House not to assume that any allegation made is necessarily true. Allegations need to be investigated, and people are entitled to their good name and to due process, but I am very much...

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: First, I am very sorry to hear about the death the Deputy mentioned. I do not know the details of the individual case but I am sorry to hear about it and extend my condolences to the individual's family and their loved ones. On the specific allegations the Deputy makes, I am not at liberty to say whether they are true or not or to what extent they are true. It is not my role, and cannot...

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The decision made by Government during the week was to indicate that we are now making plans for a referendum on the eighth amendment in May or June of next year. I will decide, as I hope everyone in this House will, how I will vote when I actually see the question. I am not the kind of person who will give a "Yes" or "No" answer to a question I have not yet seen. Perhaps Deputy Coppinger...

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: A timeline is required for any referendum. One needs legislation and that legislation needs to go through the Oireachtas - Dáil and Seanad. One also needs to establish a referendum commission and give it some time to do its work, as well as a period for a campaign. In that context, May is actually the earliest that this could possibly be done. I accept the view that it would be...

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the Deputy's question, and as I have explained, there is no tax forgone. Businesses that made losses in the past can offset those losses against future tax liabilities.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: This pattern is extraordinary. It happens every day. The people on these benches listen attentively to the questions, scripted or unscripted. We try to answer and we get-----

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It shows an innate contempt for democracy and free speech and it indicates the kind of society we might have if Sinn Féin ever got into power. In light of this type of behaviour, those in Sinn Féin would try to restrict free speech and restrict democracy if they were in power.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As I said, there is not tax forgone because businesses can offset previous losses against future tax liabilities. A change was made in 2014 for a good public policy reason. Banks were allowed to use those tax credits as part of their tier 1 capital ratio. That then allowed us to spend less money recapitalising the banks. It would have cost us another €3 billion at that time to...

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I compliment Deputy McDonald on a flawless delivery of her script. Pauses, intonation, everything was absolutely perfect as always. I hope she did not spend too much time practising it this morning.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is absolutely the case that our first priority for the budget in a few weeks' time is to balance the books and to do so for the first time in ten years. Why is that important? I spoke to a student audience this morning in Merrion Square about why it is important. This country currently carries a debt of approximately €200 billion a year. Contrary to some of the narrative out...

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am coming to it. I did not interrupt Deputy McDonald.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Public spending will increase next year by about 3.5%. That is an increase in spending of almost €2 billion. That is only possible because we did not implement the economic policies of Sinn Féin in the years gone by; we implemented policies that allowed jobs to be created and incomes to rise again.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: That is exactly why it will be possible to increase spending on public services. I am happy to organise a briefing for Deputy McDonald and Deputy Pearse Doherty. The way tax works is that if one is a self-employed person, a farmer or a business and one has made losses in a previous year one can off-set them against future tax liabilities. The same thing applies to banks, for example....

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy asked me a straight factual question and I gave him a straight factual answer. Statutory responsibility lies with the Health Service Executive. That is what the Health Act stipulates. The Health Act was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas and it was brought into the Houses by the Deputy when he was Minister for Health and Children.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: That is where the statutory responsibility lies.

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: However, I fully accept-----

Leaders' Questions (27 Sep 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----that, of course, political responsibility lies with the Minister of State with responsibility for mental health, Deputy Jim Daly, who reports to the Minister, Deputy Harris, who reports to me. I fully accept political responsibility for dealing with these problems and I fully accept that there are problems that need to be dealt with. The Deputy will be aware that today the CSO will...