Results 1,761-1,780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for the question, which she has raised previously. The proposed legislation we approved today is to ban the sale of vapes to those aged under 18 and by those aged under 18. Equally, they will only be able to be sold in licensed stores. There cannot be pop-up shops or stands at festivals or events targeted at children. There will also be restrictions on advertising,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: There are a number of sources of finance for city and county councils when it comes to repairing roads. There are grants from the Department of Transport. Councils can use their own resources from commercial rates, for example, and the local property tax. The Minister for Transport is responsible for allocations by county. He acknowledges, notwithstanding a very big allocation for local...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important and sensitive issue. As I read the report, families like the Chadas, the Hawes and others affected by such tragedies were in my mind. The report was approved by the Cabinet today. The Minister intends to publish it in the next couple of days. I do not know the exact date. There are many recommendations in the report. It needs thought and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: To be very clear, section 64 of the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 explicitly prohibits the charging of admission and enrolment fees for admission or for continued enrolment in a school. Whatever may be said to parents, they do not have to pay them, and they are voluntary contributions, but I appreciate that many parents do not feel that way and feel under pressure to pay them. ...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have read the report, as has everyone at Cabinet, because we approved its publication, and we await the advice of the Oireachtas joint committee once it has done its report. Certainly, as far as my party is concerned on this matter, members have a free vote, but just like Deputy Bríd Smith, I would prefer to wait until the Oireachtas joint committee makes its report, and that is why I...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I can give Deputy Tóibín the absolute assurance that they will not be deleted or delayed. The national children's hospital is costing much more than was projected, but it is also taking a lot longer than was projected, so the amount of money being spent each year is largely in profile and for that reason it will not impact other capital projects. The national broadband plan is...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will certainly consider any legislation that the Labour Party puts forward, but I would have to understand how that would work. We also have an issue of older people - senior citizens - becoming homeless. Would the Labour Party's Bill have the effect of putting them at the bottom of the list? That would be a problem. What we need is enough social housing for everyone.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputies opposite have all raised important issues – four very important issues. I have no difficulty in having them debated. We have Government time and Opposition time in the House but the Government is using its time this week to enact important legislation. The Opposition chose its issues but it did not choose any of the issues just raised for debate this week. Therefore,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputies are obviously free to use time next week, when they will have more Opposition time. They can use their Opposition time from this week, or we can try to schedule some debates through the Business Committee-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ----but we have a legislative programme and need to get it done.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The week after, so.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I accept that the country has a lot of problems and we have a lot of work still to do as a Government, and there will always be work to do, no matter who is in government, but I do not accept the Deputy's premise that we are doing so badly. This is a country that has full employment. It is a country that has among the highest life expectancies, if not the highest, in the European Union. It...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy is aware, there are many different ways of measuring inequality but the measure that is most commonly used is the Gini coefficient, which is a measure of income inequality. That shows that Ireland is one of the more equal countries in the European Union and the OECD. While it is not the case every year, it does show that over the period of the last five to seven years,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As I indicated to Deputy McDonald, we have had two temporary eviction bans in Ireland. One was introduced by the previous Government, which I led during the pandemic, and the other was introduced by this Government last year. What did we learn from those two eviction bans? At best, they reduce the number of people who are homeless in the short term. The most recent eviction ban did not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The truth is any time a temporary measure is introduced, there comes a point where that measure has to end. There is then a snapback, bounce-back or an effect where numbers rise. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, made it very clear, on the week he proposed we have a temporary eviction ban, that there would be an uptick once it was lifted. That...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We will consider them and she will see our response to the motion when the debate occurs. The Deputy can list statistics and that is fair enough. There are other statistics that I could mention. House prices have been falling for several months. They have fallen for nearly six months in a row In Dublin. They have peaked and they are falling. The number of people buying their first home...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I am somebody who believes in home ownership. I believe no form of housing security is better than home ownership. Not only does home ownership give people the security of owning their own home, it means they do not have to pay rent when they retire. It also gives them financial freedom such as the option of borrowing against the value of the home to return to education. It gives them so...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy asked what we are doing now and what we are doing today. First, we are providing additional funding for local authorities and NGOs this year to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place. Second, additional emergency accommodation is being provided so there is emergency accommodation for almost everyone who needs it, if they do need it. Of course, emergency...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important question. I acknowledge that we have a real and serious problem of rising homelessness in Ireland. More than 12,000 people today are in State-provided emergency accommodation. Emergency accommodation is available for almost everyone who needs it but emergency accommodation is not the solution. We seek to avoid people having to use...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Data Protection (30 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: All Department of the Taoiseach official devices and the software apps which run on them comply with guidance provided by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). This guidance is based on risk assessments appropriate to the circumstances and is kept under continuous review by the NCSC. The Department of the Taoiseach expects all users of official devices to exercise appropriate...