Results 1-20 of 931 for carers speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Offices (20 Mar 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...ten pages that were leaked and published. Those particular ten pages showed that the term "strive", in the Attorney General's view and in mine, was a strong term, was judicable, would have led to additional rights for carers and would potentially have left the State open to litigation and costs. If anything, it supported the arguments the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, made in favour of a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Mar 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Referendum or no referendum, I think we need to do more to demonstrate that we value carers and are on their side. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is bringing through legislation that will give pensioners a full State contributory pension, recognising their years of caring as equivalent to PRSI contributions. I think this is very important. There are several sets of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Mar 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...commitment in the programme for Government. Following on from her budget announcement, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has announced that a review of the means test and the system of payments to carers is under way. Those are very meaningful things. As is always the case, the Deputy misrepresented what I said. I said nothing at all about vulnerable people. I said that parents have...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I will certainly look into it and see what can be done. Over the past number of years we have tried to improve the financial position of carers. We have increased the carer support grant which is not means tested. We relaxed the means test for the carer's allowance, increased it and extended free GP care to anyone in receipt of the carer's allowance. We will strive to continue on that...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: It is worth pointing out that the carer's support grant is in place as well. That is not means tested. The carer's allowance is means tested. We have relaxed the means test and are changing the pension rules in order that carers who are in receipt of the allowance can receive the full State pension. We are going in the right direction. The referendum, if passed, will protect all of that...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...purpose, however, of the change we are making is to recognise care in our Constitution. At the moment, care is not recognised. The duty of women in the home is recognised in our Constitution but carers, male and female, within the family do not have recognition and do not have protection. Regardless of the answer to the question in that regard, it is still going to be a positive change...

Confidence in the Minister for Justice: Motion (5 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...in the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD. We will debate a lot of things over the next two hours, but I want to reiterate that our thoughts are first and foremost with the schoolchildren and their carer who were so brutally and senselessly attacked last Thursday week. Two remain in hospital this evening and we hope they make a recovery. I also want to restate my gratitude to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: Last Thursday, we experienced two appalling acts of violence on our streets. First, the stabbing of several children and their carer, two of whom remain in hospital as we speak. They are stable, but critical and we pray for their recovery. Second, an ugly far-right protest on our streets led to a riot, looting and serious criminal damage. These events were shocking and unacceptable. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...the 23,000 hired since this Government came into office. We need to make sure it hires the correct 2,000 and not simply any 2,000. We will be engaging with the CEO of the HSE and his team about that. The carer's means test has been relaxed in the budget for 2024. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will set that out in the social welfare Bill. In response to Deputy Murphy's...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Budget 2024 (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...xb7;A double month of Child Benefit; ·A €100 lump sum for families receiving the Increase for a Qualified Child (IQC) on top of that; ·A €400 lump sum for families receiving the Working Family Payment; ·A €400 Carer's Support Grant; ·A €300 Fuel Allowance Lump Sum; ·A January Social Welfare double-payment; ·An extension of...

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (11 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...measures for the most vulnerable and the squeezed middle. This includes a tax package that rewards work and allows people to keep more of their hard-earned money; a pensions and welfare package so that older people, carers, people on disability payments and lone parents get the help they need with rising costs; a focus on children that involves reducing school, college and childcare costs...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I want to acknowledge that we have a real problem finding home carers across the country at the moment. It is not a matter of money; it is a matter of finding staff and finding people willing to do the work. We have expanded the number of hours very considerably in recent years. We are taking two actions. One is a package of improvements to pay terms and conditions to encourage more...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (4 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of foster carers. The truth is we need more of them given the number of children whose parents are not able to look after them anymore, which has increased quite a lot in recent years. I had a chance to meet some foster carers over the summer break and hear from them their lived experience. I agree that we need a better deal for them. The...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by An Taoiseach (28 Sep 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...announced many times that we will be doing that, but the next thing people will need to see is the heads of Bill. I do not have a timeline for that, but I will try to get it. Senator Conway mentioned the carer's allowance. We have relaxed the means test. It is one of the most relaxed means tests within our system. Perhaps we can relax it some more but we need to bear in mind that it...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (27 Sep 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...we decide what professions and what occupations qualify and they have to make a submission. Every six months we update that list. We have updated it a lot. For example, we have included home carers in recent months and pretty much anyone who works in construction. Therefore, it could be done, but those basic terms and conditions must be met because it is right and proper that we...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...the Deputy. The threatened strike by section 39 and section 56 organisations is a matter of real concern, especially to the people who need those services daily, to their families and to their carers. The Government is very aware of the potential inconvenience that could be caused should the strike go ahead. I hope it will not. Much of the work done by these bodies is in the disability...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (4 Jul 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...Deputy Cairns raised the issue of extending free GP care. This started in 2014 with the under-sixes when I was Minister for Health and Kathleen Lynch was Minister of State. It was extended after that to carers and people over 70. This is a huge further step forward.

Working Group of Committee Chairmen: Engagement with An Taoiseach (22 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...do not want people to work shorter hours or not take up employment for fear of losing their medical card or their free travel pass, which is important too. In terms of income support for carers, we have the carer's support grant, which is not means-tested, although the amount people get is relatively low. It is possible to increase that to recognise the role of carers and the work...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (21 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will know, we have extended free GP care without fees to everyone under six, everyone over 70 and people in receipt of carer's allowance as well as people who qualify under the means test. The next step is six- and seven-year-olds and people who earn less than the median income. That is a very large number of people, hundreds of thousands. Negotiations are under way with the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jun 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ..., I know the State Examinations Commission will want to examine all the papers and see what can be learned for future leaving certificate exams. I thank Deputy Higgins for reminding us this is Carers' Week. This Government has made a lot of important steps forward to help carers in recent years by, for example, increasing the carers' allowance and relaxing the means test. We have also...