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Vaughn Ridley

Leo Varadkar gets offered €250,000 "every couple of months" to go to Canada

The Health Minister would earn more in Alberta than in Leinster House.

THE HEALTH MINISTER has revealed that he gets offers to move to Canada and earn more than he does as a government minister.

Speaking today on The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk, Leo Varadkar, who is a qualified doctor, said that many Irish doctors are lured abroad by the promise of high wages.

“Irish doctors have always gone abroad. My own sister is a paediatrician in Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London.

“Every few months, I get a letter offering me a job by the government of Alberta with pay of around a quarter of a million euro.

That leads to Irish doctors believing they should be paid the same. But if I had that money, I’d rather have a nurse, a midwife and two physios.

Varadkar went on to say that he wanted to bring health spending back to pre-2008 levels.

“We need €1.5 billion more in spending. We need to start recruiting people, but it wouldn’t save as much as you might think.”

He added that he felt that free GP care for under-sixes was a step in the direction of universal health care.

“The best way to run our health system is to have universal health care. This is a baby step toward that.”

Read: Nursing home waiting lists are ‘spiralling out of control’

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88 Comments
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    Mute Colette Kearns
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    May 30th 2016, 11:27 AM

    Learning CPR should be compulsory in all school’s!

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    Mute Cal McLaughlin
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    May 30th 2016, 10:40 AM

    Well done those men on the golf course.
    And the brave men in the fire service.

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    Mute Allison Smith
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    May 30th 2016, 11:36 AM

    Utmost respect to the emergency services here. My aunts flat in Nigeria caught fire yesterday, fire service took 90 minutes to arrive. She lost everything

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    Mute Tweety McTweeter
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    May 30th 2016, 1:54 PM

    Jesus, if they are not going to come for 90 minutes, they might as well not come at all

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    Mute Allison Smith
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    May 30th 2016, 2:16 PM

    My aunt said if it wasn’t for the help of neighbours and a nearby hotel they had put the fire out before the fire brigade arrived.

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    Mute Cal McLaughlin
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    May 30th 2016, 2:25 PM

    90 minutes to Nigeria?
    They did very well.
    Took me 10 hours to get to Lagos a few years ago.

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    Mute Richard Griffin
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    May 30th 2016, 1:39 PM

    The car on the blessington roads was there for a day before it was set on fire….where was the council to take it away??

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    Mute Dan O Neill
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    May 30th 2016, 12:27 PM

    Who pays the water charges that the firemen use thats what I would like to know.

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    Mute f m
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    May 30th 2016, 12:50 PM

    There’s a fee per engine i believe. Something like €600 I think ?
    I guess your house or car insurance would pay for it.

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    Mute Mark Tobin
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    May 30th 2016, 7:34 PM

    Superb work from all involved during this tragedy. I’m a huge supporter of DFB but there is no mention that they took 25mins to respond despite being 7 minutes from the swords station.

    Also, shame on Roganstown Hotel and Golf Club for not having a defibrillator on site. Crazy considering there is a golf course, gym and pool. Thank goodness the people on the course reacted quickly.

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