Results 18,021-18,040 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It increased when Deputy Shortall was in government.

Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: B'áil liom cead a chur in iúl, mar eolas don Dáil, gur chuir mé m'ainmniú mar Thaoiseach in iúl don Uachtarán agus gur cheap sé mé dá réir. I beg leave to announce, for the information of the Dáil, that I have informed the President that the Dáil has nominated me to be the Taoiseach and that he has appointed me accordingly....

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Go raibh míle maith agat a Cheann Comhairle. Is mór an onóir dom a bheith anseo inniu mar Thaoiseach tofa i nDáil Éireann. Táim fíorchorraithe agus thar a bheith buíoch as ucht an tacaíocht atá faighte agam ón Dáil. Is am speisialta é seo, ní hamháin domsa, ach do mo chlann, mo chairde agus mo lucht tacaíochta...

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: On a personal note, I would like to add that were it not for Deputy Enda Kenny, I have no doubt that I would not be standing here today. As a result of his stewardship, I was able to regain the seat for our party, first on the council and then in the Dáil. In fact, I took my seat in the Dáil for the first time ten years ago to the day, as did many other people. Congratulations,...

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Enda Kenny also gave me the opportunity to serve on the Front Bench and then to serve as a Minister, along with an opportunity to demonstrate my ability and potential. Without opportunity, there is no hope and there can be no progress. This is a theme to which I will return later. Deputy Enda Kenny's leadership also enabled me to become an equal citizen in my own country only two...

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I have been elected to lead, but I promise to serve. I thank Deputy Micheál Martin, the leader of the Fianna Fáil Party, for his words of advice. I thank all of the speakers who have set out the challenges facing this country and this new Administration. Leadership should never be just about one person. Leadership is not just about setting a course for the future, it is also...

Nomination of Taoiseach (Resumed) (14 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Therefore, the equal right to speak must also apply to Ministers and backbenchers of this party and also Members of the main Opposition party. As stated earlier, I took my seat in the Dáil exactly ten years ago today. So much has changed in the intervening decade. I have grown, evolved and changed in that time as well, but I am still motivated by the same ideals which drove me to...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Question Heading for question(s) 111 (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The JobPath companies will consider funding requests for appropriate training for jobseekers engaged with the service where a need is identified that is not otherwise provided by the company directly or state providers (such as Solas/ETBs), within a reasonable length of time or at a location convenient to the jobseeker. The intervention identified is linked to both the activation needs of...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Insurance Data (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Department does not take out insurance policies but pays out compensation where necessary. Accordingly, there are no insurance expenses incurred by my Department and no insurance policy costs. In cases where a person takes a personal injury claim against the Department, this is handled by the State Claims Agency. The Pensions Authority, Pensions Ombudsman, Pensions Council and Social...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: State Bodies Mergers (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection has, this afternoon, published its report on the Proposed Restructuring of the Money Advice and Budgeting Services and the Citizens Information Services and I thank the Committee for its engagement with this matter. In February, the Board of Citizens Information Board (CIB) decided the new governance model for local service delivery...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Data (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The number of Public Services Cards (PSC) issued to date is approx. 2.6 million. The number of PSCs currently going through the system is approx. 10,000. It typically takes about fifteen minutes for a person to register and authenticate their identity to get a PSC. There are 100 registration locations nationwide. For the majority of these a person can book an appointment within 24 hours...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Public Services Card Provision (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: For the past number of years, the social services card has been progressively replaced by the Public Services Card (PSC). The PSC is designed to replace other cards within the public sector including the free travel pass and to make it easy for providers of public services to verify the identity of customers. A PSC is issued following a registration process called SAFE, which involves the...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Programme for Government Initiatives (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Action Plan for Jobless Households has been approved by Cabinet and will be published in the next few weeks.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Social Welfare Appeals Status (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Social Welfare Appeals Office has advised me that an appeal by the person concerned was referred to an Appeals Officer on 7 April 2017, who will make a summary decision on the appeal based on the documentary evidence presented or, if required, hold an oral hearing. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Reports (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Pathways to Work report and the report on An Analysis of the Community Employment Programme are readily available on my Department’s website - www.welfare.ie The Pathways to Work Quarter 4 2016 report is available here: The Pathways to Work Quarter 1 2017 report should also be available on the website shortly. The report on An Analysis of the Community Employment Programme,...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Jobs Initiative (1 Jun 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The students’ summer jobs scheme was first introduced in 1993 to provide income support for less well-off students who were disqualified under social welfare legislation from receiving unemployment assistance during the summer months. The scheme allowed students to take up part-time work useful to their community and to receive payment for this work. The scheme required considerable...

Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I want to correct something I said earlier. I mentioned that I would be at the joint committee tomorrow but I will not be. That particular matter is being handled by officials but I will be in the House. I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has not made any changes recently to the arrangements that apply to seasonal workers and part-time workers who need to access social...

Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am almost finished. Where a person has been working in his or her usual employment and also working in a second employment, the second employment could only be considered subsidiary if the above conditions are satisfied. I gave a commitment on Report Stage of the Social Welfare Bill 2016 in the Dáil that I would ask my officials to examine the issue of jobseeker's benefit and the...

Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I acknowledge that was a rather convoluted reply setting out the rules as they are, which was not quite what the Deputy asked me about, He asked about the review. I do not know when the review started but it has been under way for some time. It would have been some time after the Social Welfare Bill passed through the Dáil. It probably started some time earlier this year. I met a...

Topical Issue Debate: Employment Rights (31 May 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----I do not know whether that was the case or not. We are doing the work on the review. The key issue is to have it done well before the next budget. We want to have it done before the summer so that we can see what the options are and what they will cost with a view to making some changes in the budget to be then implemented in the Social Welfare Bill before the end of the year, but we...