Results 1-20 of 551 for drugs speaker:Leo Varadkar

Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) (17 Apr 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...would not have arisen had we implemented this scheme 25 years ago. If we had done so, they would have had a pension. If this measure had been introduced back then, all the people who now work in drugs task forces and local development companies, home helps, people working in voluntary bodies and security guards would have pensions now. In many cases, the contribution to their pensions...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Mar 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...teams and community support teams are now in place and are providing care closer to home. We are also making healthcare more affordable, at a time when the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone, through the removal of hospital inpatient charges, widened eligibility for the GP card and a reduced drug payment scheme threshold, among other things. Tá níos mó ná...

Ceisteanna - Questions: National Security (20 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I want to put on the record that the Irish authorities have been very successful in recent months in stopping drugs being smuggled into the country. I want to recognise the contribution of An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners, which work in consort with counterparts in other parts of Europe and around the...

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

Leo Varadkar: ...- for new medicines. It was not specifically for rare diseases but for new medicines generally. That means the HSE can approve new medicines out of the dedicated fund and from savings in the drugs budget more widely. I agree with the Deputy that it is important, when it comes to the strategies we produce, that we provide the funding to implement them. I know it has been a source of a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...them myself but as every case is different, it is difficult to comment without knowing the circumstances. I know the Deputy appreciates that. A number of Deputies raised the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use which was discussed at Cabinet today. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, brought a memo to Cabinet establishing a dedicated committee, which will be made up, if I remember...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Citizens' Assembly (13 Feb 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...Future committed to establishing four citizens’ assemblies on the following topics: biodiversity loss; the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin; drugs use; and the future of education. Three of those four citizens’ assemblies have now concluded their work and submitted their reports to the Oireachtas. The Dublin Citizens'...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...than we had in 2020 and there are 3,000 more doctors and dentists. The HSE can hire an additional 2,000 staff but it needs to be done in a proper way. Deputies Moynihan and Murphy asked about drugs policy. I met the chairman of the Citizens' Assembly on Drug Use last week. There were three takeaways for me from what he said. The first is that we need an Irish model; we should not...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (30 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...in the interim. At a time when the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone, we are making healthcare more affordable through the removal of hospital charges, widened eligibility for the GP card and a reduced drug payment scheme threshold, among other measures. We have allocated more than €22.8 billion for health services in 2024. That will facilitate the continued provision...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens' Assembly (30 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: ...to establishing four Citizens’ Assemblies, on the topics of Biodiversity Loss; the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin; Matters relating to Drugs Use; and the Future of Education. With the publication last week of the Citizens’ Assembly report on Matters relating to Drugs Use, three of the four Citizens’ Assemblies...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2024)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his interest and knowledge on this matter. It goes without saying that the greatest drug of use and misuse in this State is alcohol and it is legal. It is associated with public order offences, child abuse and violence against women. It is associated with acute disease and chronic disease. It makes mental health worse. It is associated with suicide, public order...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: .... These are real increases. We allocated an additional €92 million today in the REV. While the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Stephen Donnelly, have to work out exactly how that will be allocated, some will be for new drugs in 2024 because they are needed, and some will be for the nursing home support scheme to make sure we do not see an increase in waiting times for the fair...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: On the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, I have not received the report yet. The practice would be to present it to the Cabinet and the Oireachtas and then refer it to an Oireachtas joint committee for further consideration. I am not sure whether that would be the committee on health or on justice, or both in the circumstances, but we will make that decision once the report is received. I...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...the issue of health funding. The Cabinet approved a Revised Estimate for the health Vote earlier today. We are allocating an additional €92 million to health, which will include funding for new drugs in 2024 and for the fair deal scheme to make sure we do not see an increase in delayed transfers of care within our hospitals. That is in addition to the Supplementary Estimate...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Policies (12 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...a comprehensive Cost-of-Living package to help families; · comprehensive programme of dialogues and research by the Shared Island Unit underpinned by the Shared Island Fund; · the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use and the Final Report which is due by the end of the year and continued cross-Government focus on integrating the Well-being Framework into policymaking and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Policies (6 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...providing a comprehensive Cost-of-Living package to help families; · comprehensive programme of dialogues and research by the Shared Island Unit underpinned by the Shared Island Fund; · the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use and the Final Report which is due by the end of the year; · advancing Ireland’s role in Europe and the world, with continued engagement at...

Estimates for Public Services 2023: Programme for Government (5 Dec 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...the digital transition across the economy and society, with a first progress report in December 2022; progressing four citizens’ assemblies on a Dublin directly elected mayor and local government structures, biodiversity loss, drugs use, and the future of education; and finally, the establishment of the child poverty and well-being programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I will need to double-check on the high-tech drugs. My understanding is that anybody who is receiving them will continue to do so. I will double-check on that. We have a serious issue with medicine shortages across the world at the moment; production just has not kept up with demand. It is not unique to Ireland; it is very much a European and international problem. It has always been a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: I commend the Deputy on his ongoing and consistent interest in rare diseases and orphan drugs. He always makes sure these matters do not slip off the agenda. He asked some very specific questions to which I do not have answers but I will make sure he gets the information he needs in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Citizens' Assembly (7 Nov 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...to establishing four Citizens’ Assemblies, on the topics of Biodiversity Loss; the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited for Dublin; Matters relating to Drugs Use; and the Future of Education. The Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use is scheduled to complete its work by the end of 2023. The Dublin Citizen’s Assembly and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (18 Oct 2023)

Leo Varadkar: ...crisis is affecting everyone. This is being done through the removal of hospital inpatient charges, wider eligibility for the GP card, which has now been extended to more than half the population, and a reduced drug payment scheme threshold, among other things. Last week, the Government announced a €22.5 billion health budget that will facilitate the continued delivery and...