Results 17,601-17,620 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not have that information to hand. I know there has been considerable investment in Garda capital in recent years, not just with a return to recruitment but also additional vehicles, new Garda stations, new IT equipment and other developments. The Minister for Justice and Equality will be best placed to provide Deputy McLoughlin with a report on that.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: There is legislation promised in this area for calorie posting and other matters. Heads of the Bill have yet to come to the Cabinet but I know the Department of Health is working on it.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: There is no promised legislation on this issue. Programme for Government commitments are not specific to any particular service. I suggest a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health will give the Deputy a detailed reply.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: A memo will go to the Cabinet either tomorrow or next week on SNAs. Hopefully, there will be clarity over the next few days for people. The Deputy has made a valid point that this is not the best way to do things. It would be much better if people knew where they stood before the school year ended. I anticipate this will be the last year in which it is done in this way and, in future...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: This is an important issue. It is also important the Government puts in place a proper regulatory structure around gambling, both to regulate an industry from which many people get much pleasure but also one which gives rise to people becoming addicted, impoverished and unwell as a consequence. Legislation in this area is long overdue. The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, is working on...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: St. Vincent's hospital has its second lowest overcrowding in ten years, with one exception, and this is notwithstanding the fact the accident and emergency department at St. Columcille's Hospital closed. Kilkenny, which has a new emergency department and additional staff, has its worst overcrowding in ten years. Anyone who thinks overcrowding is directly linked to beds and staffing can see...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I apologise to the Deputy but I do not have the answer to hand. I will ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to inform the Deputy.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The heads have been cleared by Cabinet and the Bill is being drafted by the Department. We hope to have legislation later in the year.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: There is no promised legislation on this issue and nor is it in the programme for Government. Perhaps the Minister, Deputy Harris, will give the Deputy an answer.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: There is no promised legislation.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: There is no promised legislation.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I am advised that the heads of the Bill have been cleared and will be subject to pre-legislative scrutiny at the committee today. I have no doubt that the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, will handle the issue as well as any Minister can.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: What is proposed is a move towards a new approach called the total contributions approach. It involves taking the total number of contributions made through the course of someone's working life, whether it be 35 years, 40 years or 50 years, and the pension he or she receive will be linked with the number of contributions made, not when he or she made them. Obviously, any rule change will...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The same people who are working on the geothermal energy Bill are working on the minerals Bill which is working its way through the House. Once it is enacted, they will then turn their attention to the geothermal energy Bill. I know that it has been on the books for a very long time - seven or eight years at this stage - but so was the minerals Bill. With regard to an answer I gave...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The report on the bed capacity review is due in September and will inform the capital plan thereafter. Of course, the Government and the Minister are not going to wait for the report on a bed capacity review to take action. An additional 102 beds were brought into the system last year and 300 the year previously, and anything that can be done to increase capacity in our hospitals and reduce...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The way Deputy Burton and Karen O'Connell were treated was very wrong.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I think they were terrorised. One can see the fear in their faces when one looks at the coverage.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I will discuss it with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, but it is not the normal process for submissions, whether it is to do with a capital plan, the budget or the Estimates, to be published before decisions are made. It is part of the deliberative process. It probably would not aid our efforts to come to decisions and compromises to have all those submissions in the public domain because,...
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The procurement process is now at the detailed solutions phase and bidders have been invited to submit their detailed solutions in September. This is the last stage of the procurement process before moving to final tenders.
- Order of Business (4 Jul 2017)
Leo Varadkar: In terms of phasing in or rolling out high-speed broadband, over 50% of premises are already covered and it is anticipated that 75% will be covered by 2018.