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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has addressed the criticism levelled at him over comments he made in relation to the care referendum during an interview on the Six O’Clock Show, dismissing it as “classic social media”.
When asked by The Journal what his response was to the negative online comments, the Taoiseach said:
“I think it’s just classic social media. You can say something in 40 seconds and somebody can take 10 seconds of the 40 seconds and totally misrepresent it.”
Varadkar has received significant online criticism after he appeared on the Virgin Media programme last Friday to discuss the referendums.
A short clip of his comments about his own experience of being raised by his parents and his view on the State’s responsibilities in relation to care has been widely shared on social media.
In the clip he says: “Very often, the State will step in if somebody doesn’t have a family to look after them or if they need particular, very high-care needs.”
He continued: “My experience of life, and I’m sure it’s most people’s experience of life, my parents brought me up. They cared for me. When they’re old, I’m going to make sure they’re looked after. God forbid if something happened to either of my sisters, I’ll make sure that my nephews and nieces are looked after, that they’ve a home, they’ve an education.
“I don’t actually think that’s the State’s responsibility, to be honest. I do think that is very much a family responsibility, but families deserve the support of the State, and that’s really what this article will say, this new part of the Constitution.”
The Taoiseach told reporters in Bucharest that he has a “very firm view that people have responsibilities and the state has responsibilities too”.
On Tuesday, he defended his comments in the Dáil after Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said they illustrated why “cares have been so badly treated” in Ireland.
He said: “As always, the Deputy has misrepresented what I said.”
The Taoiseach stressed again that he felt his comments have been misrepresented and said: “The argument that’s being made by some No campaigners that the amendment somehow forces responsibility of care on family solely, that’s been debunked. And that’s just not true.
“That’s the misinformation that I think should be corrected in my view. I have a very firm view that people have responsibilities and the state has responsibilities too. And that’s the case when it comes to care.”
Tomorrow, voters will go to the polls to decide whether to amend the Constitution in relation to the definition of family and on adding a provision on care.
He told reporters that the outcome of the referendums will be dependent on turnout and said “that’s why I’m encouraging people to get out and vote”.
“Unfortunately, I think a No result would be a setback for a country that has made such progress in terms of making our country our constitution more modern, and that’s why I would encourage people to feel the same as I do to make sure to come out and vote,” he said.
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That wouldn’t be too hard when you see some of the carry on on our roads
No way! I love driving :)
Cars don’t cause crashes and deaths, idiots behind the wheel do! I for one can’t wait for this!
They could now if the system is faulty? Remember in the U.S. where cars had no steering or breaks because of a faulty chip?
What if it goes mental and tries to kill you like the Johnnie Cab in Total Recall?
@ Brian Boulter….methinks you need to watch Total Recall again. It was the human can driver who was the villain. Poor oul jonny cab just didn’t move quick enough for Doug Quaid. Things could have been so different if Cohaagen would just ‘give deez people ehyer’.
My current car is a better driver than most women drivers, and that’s just with a brick on the accelerator and left to its own devices!
Eggsellent
Think I’ve seen your car on the M50 few times.
Your right .. Driving can be difficult for women when they’re on the phone and doing they’re makeup . With this it’s less things to worry about
Self driving cars are already better drivers than humans, trouble is when the two mix, the car will ALWAYS follow the rules of the road, the human usually does what HE thinks is best (which is also different from all the other humans doing their idea of the same thing).
Van in ,or SHE.
Sorry Rory, my bad :(
Saudi Arabia can no longer ban their women from driving if these self driving cars become available.
Until their system is hacked? That is the fear now with the more technology being put into cars then hackers could hack cars but all this technology means is the chance of people putting their life into the hands of a chip that should not go wrong?
+1
My car has the ability to connect to the internet via 3G. No SIM card has or ever will be put into it. Call me paranoid but I’m not taking the chance with my family’s lives. You see how frequently you have to update Windows, PDF Reader, Java, Flash, browsers, etc. imagine that being your car, and if you are a little late patching your car gets infected by ransomware. Instead of encrypting all your files unless you pay a ransom it could stop your brakes working. I deal with this stuff on computers and networks daily, I will never connect my car to a network. Ever.
Good point.
Personally speaking I think cars are getting too complicated. My Dad used to spend hours devoted to working on our old yellow mini. Replacing filters, oil, plugs etc. Happy days.
With the cars out now I’d say he would need a hand from Henry Ford just to check the oil
@Barry, there are other avenues of attack.
Wireless tyre pressure sensors were one such example.
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/08/11/cars-hacked-by-researchers-through-wireless-tire-pressire-monito/
That’s interesting, Tom. No thought of security goes into the design of so many systems. From car tyre pressure monitors to ICS used in things like nuclear power plants. Finally industry is focusing on ICS but what about other monitoring and control systems?
So you are saying that in the near future people will not be able to start their cars unless they pay for a yearly subscription for the software of the car?
Well we have:
SaaS: Software as a Service,
PaaS: Platform as a Service,
IaaS: Infrastructure as a Service,
who’s to say car manufacturers won’t implement;
VaaS: Vehicle as a Service.
Subscription licences are hot right now for companies.
What if the car becomes self-aware one morning and decides to do a bunk?
The Jihadists dream machine..
… Just cos you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re. … not out to get you !!
really good idea. any idea of the price id say they would be expensive
I’d say so too pal.
If I was drunk inside one of these self driving cars would I be breaking the law…
Hurtling along at 100kph on a national road and a deer runs out in front of your self driving car , you’ll be pulling antlers out of your face for month because it won’t be able to swerve quick enough.
These things are fine in Hollywood but won’t cut it in the real potholed world .
I’d say it would react a lot quicker than a human.
Zero deaths, fully self driving roads- bring it on. It will be a reality quicker than most would think.
Seen any flying cars lately , they said we would have them in the future back in 1950 , these cars are another pipe dream for Utopian urban dreamers , they’ll never take off just like electric cars never did , maybe if we demolished every city and town and remodelled all the roads with no curves or hidden dips or pedestrians they might work , but not today .
At least KITT wouldn’t attempt a swerve going 100kmph. Just let him drive ffs
We will never have zero deaths on roads. Non human error crashes can never be avoided.
I want to paint a big S on the roof of my car so people on the m50 can say “look at that S-Cargo
I don’t think the problem is self-driving cars. More so the mixing with other drivers on the road.
I always hoped this age of very advanced technology and AI would come after my time. Unfortunately it is not looking likely.
Just move down to Leitrim, most advanced technology down there is the cassette player, and an internet exists only on fishing boats. You’ll be in your element!
I’d just like to say that it’s purely a coincidence that this article is accompanied by a picture of a female driver reading a book with HUGE letters. This does not in any way reflect on a woman’s ability-or lack thereof-to safely drive a car.
James, the woman reading the book in the picture is in a self-driving car.
No shit, Sherlock. Well I’ll be hogtied, whadd’ll they thinka next?
I want to be in control of the car , I don’t want the car to be in control of me . Rubbish idea it will never take off cause people don’t like to be controlled .
I don’t know but I don’t get what your original point was now.
Me neither, that was ages ago. There’s been a lot of water under the fridge since then.
If left hand drive vehicle from mainland euro is on motorway won’t we have a lot of undertaking? Like to know what the RSA have to say about this.
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