Results 1,841-1,860 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 to 36, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the humanitarian response to Ukraine and migration last met on Thursday, 4 May. The next meeting will take place shortly. This committee, which I chair, works to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the State’s humanitarian response for people arriving from Ukraine who have sought temporary...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Economic Policy (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 26, inclusive, together. The economic policy unit is part of the economic division of the Department. The unit assists me, as Taoiseach, in delivering sustainable and balanced economic growth and advancing the Government’s economic priorities. The unit also advises me on a broad range of economic policy areas and issues and provides me with...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Deputies Clarke, Dillon and Ó Murchú raised the issue of the date for the leaving certificate examination results. I do not as yet have a date. We all want it to be in August. Young people in sixth year want to know what course they will be doing next year. Many have to find accommodation, which is difficult, and the more time they have the better...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 14, inclusive, together. The newly established Cabinet committee on children and education will oversee the implementation of commitments in the programme for Government in the area of children and education, including further and higher education, with a specific focus on child poverty and well-being. The first meeting of the new Cabinet committee will...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to check with the RSA but my understanding is it is still trying to find an appropriate site in Drogheda for a test centre. I will double-check that. I know it has hired additional driver testers. There has been about a 30% increase in demand for driving tests so it has hired many more driver testers. We anticipate wait times falling in the next couple of months. That is...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for recognising the extraordinary work done by previous Governments of all parties that have held government on issues such as our commitment to UN peacekeeping. I really respect the role of our Defence Forces in that regard. Considerable increases in overseas development aid, ODA, have occurred in the past couple of years. I thank the Deputy for those words and assure...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important question. The legislation is relatively new and Coimisiún na Meán and the Online Safety Commissioner are relatively new. I have not actually seen any evidence-based assessment yet as to what the response times are and what they are by company; I would like to see too. My sense is that the legislation is good enough but it is still...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I have heard about the dispute but I do not know the details. We have mechanisms to resolve disputes of this nature. Government offices, such as the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court, can get involved and can hear and assess any complaints.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We have had a reduction in public fares since this Government came to office. That has worked well. We have seen the number of people using public transport increase and it is now above pre-pandemic levels, which is not the case across most of Europe. That has been a successful policy. The National Transport Authority published a new national fares strategy...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I had a chance to meet briefly with Prime Minister Sunak in Iceland last week and we discussed this matter. We will meet again next week at the European Political Community summit in Chișinău. We will be working together to do all that we can to ensure the assembly, the Executive and the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement get up and running again....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I know the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, and his team, assisted by others, have pulled out all the stops in recent weeks to secure additional accommodation for international protection applicants. The number of people who have not been offered accommodation is around 250. Not too long ago it was over 500. Of course, people continue to arrive in the State, albeit in lower...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. With regard to TBESS, approximately 30,000 businesses qualify for that scheme at the moment. They are all over the country. Many of them are SMEs and many have employees. Helping with their energy costs, of course, does not just help the businesses and their owners, it also helps their employees and assists in reducing and managing inflation. It is just the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----but there are aspects of it that go too far, particularly if it comes to taking agricultural land out of use for food production. In urban areas, there are issues where it might become harder, for example, to turn a grass pitch into an all-weather pitch. There is a long way to go before this regulation is right. Negotiations are ongoing. I encourage people to engage in the debate...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Different rules apply in different areas for different reasons because we have different local authorities. There are also areas that are under special amenity area orders and areas that are under urban pressure. I do not want to come back to the Deputy with an inaccurate response. There are different rules in different places for different reasons. The Minister of State, Deputy...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of housing and I want to report some encouraging news on housing to the House. In recent days we received from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, the housing commencement figures for April so we know that the number of new homes that started construction in April was 10% higher than in April of last year. Just since New Year's Day, more than 10,000...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will. That sounds like a roadmap for reform as opposed to a Government decision, but I will not get technical about the differences.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will check it out and come back to the Deputy about it. When we assess things such as payments as a percentage of median income, we do not only take into account weekly payments. We also take into account supplementary payments such as the fuel allowance and other payments. Total income is not only what people get every week. It is the total income over the course of the year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: We would certainly include everything in any benchmarking exercise. What have we done already? We increased the weekly pension rate by €12, expanded the fuel allowance to approximately 70,000 more pensioners, gave a €600 energy credit to every household and made one-off payments last autumn, at Christmas and in spring this year. That is a lot and we will do more in the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: -----international protection applicants would arrive every year. The world has changed since then, but it remains our policy that we want to move away from direct provision. The Minister is developing proposals for a dedicated migration agency and more State-run facilities; we have some already. The number of staff has increased by 250. There are 250 additional staff in the Department...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 May 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I can absolutely assure the Deputy of one thing: there will be a further increase in the weekly pension. That will be in the budget. The exact amount has not been decided yet. That will have to be discussed between now and October and will have to be seen in the round with other things the Government wants to do. There will certainly be another pension increase. A decision on that will...