Results 17,961-17,980 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The Bill will outlaw canvassing by anyone, including politicians, for people to be appointed as judges. It will require all judges to go through the JAAB. Currently, none of them does if they are seeking higher judicial office. It will also ensure the new board will have a lay majority and a lay chairman because if there is to be less political involvement in the appointment of judges, we...
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: She has experience as a school principal and a master's degree in education. My intention is that all Ministers of State who attend the Cabinet - four Ministers of State attend the British Cabinet, so it is not unprecedented - should-----
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: My intention is that all Ministers of State who attend the Cabinet should be paid the same salary, but if this requires legislation, it will not be priority legislation.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The priority legislation in education will be legislation such as the Technological Universities Bill, not legislation relating to payments for any politician.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned earlier, it has been a long-standing practice that the Chief Whip is paid a Chief Whip's allowance.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: That has been the case for many previous Governments-----
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: The assistant Government Whips, as the Deputy knows, also get allowances. However, of course we will comply with the law if there has been an overpayment. If so, yes, absolutely, such an overpayment would have to be recouped. I will have to examine the situation and understand it fully. The interest of the Ministers who sit around my Cabinet table is not in salaries and allowances, so I...
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I know the Deputy does not like the fact that I made reference to "Love Actually" yesterday on my first visit to Downing Street.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I have not been there as often as Deputy Adams has. I follow him on Twitter and I am aware that he is more a fan of Richard Curtis's later works such as "About Time". If so, I suggest it is about time that power sharing was restored in Northern Ireland and that he went about making sure that was the case. I had a very good meeting in Downing Street yesterday with the Prime Minister,...
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I have no reason not to believe her assurance.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: It is an assurance that we will have to hold the British Government to.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: First, it is longstanding practice that the Chief Whip had a Chief Whip's allowance, just as there are allowances for the assistant Government Whips and there are allowances for party Whips. I do not accept that the payment of a Chief Whip's allowance or any allowances paid to Whips in this House is somehow illegal but I will examine the matter further -----
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: -----and make whatever changes or recoveries are necessary if what the Deputy says is correct. I am very pleased that the Minister of State, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, will remain at the Cabinet table. She has been an excellent Minister in the time gone by and is enormously suited to the Department of Education-----
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: I think we may need to amend Standing Orders to allow for an additional part to Leaders' Questions where the Deputy and the leader of Fianna Fáil can question each other. To answer the questions the Deputy put to me, the mandate I have comes first from the people in Dublin West, the people who voted for me and allowed me to be a Member of this House, then from my party and then from...
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: Let me be very frank about the controversy around the appointment of Máire Whelan to the Court of Appeal. This is definitely not the issue I would like to have dominated my first week as Taoiseach. I do not want there to be any further controversy while I am Taoiseach about any judicial appointments in future, so things will change.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: First, we will prioritise the judicial appointments Bill. That Bill will be brought into the Dáil next week.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: If the Dáil and Seanad have to sit into July and into the recess-----
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: -----we will do that in order to get this Bill passed so that-----
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: -----we change this process in order that any judge who wants to apply for a higher court will have to go through Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, which is currently not the case.
- Leaders' Questions (20 Jun 2017)
Leo Varadkar: We will make these changes and make sure there are no future controversies about judicial appointments. The Cabinet secretary will carry out a review of Cabinet procedure so that we minimise the number of occasions on which a memo is brought to Government at very short notice.