Results 32,681-32,700 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Wage Subsidy Scheme (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), which is administered by the Revenue Commissioners, was introduced under the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (No. 2) Act 2020. I would encourage the Deputy to raise this issue with my colleague, the Minister for Finance, who has the EWSS under his remit.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I am pleased to present my Department’s further Revised Estimate for 2020 to the committee. I express my appreciation to the committee for taking our Revised Estimate this evening. The further Revised Estimate presented today seeks to incorporate into our Department’s Vote the €1.969 million in funding arising from the transfer of certain functions to my Department;...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Covid-19 life sciences products scheme gives IE and the IDA money, essentially, to either encourage foreign direct investment to develop in Ireland and make products that will be helpful when it comes to Covid-19, or for EI to do the reverse with indigenous products. It was always envisaged there would be a pipeline. The money was only announced in the past few months. It is really...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is correct; they definitely need more funding and staff. Any time we launch a new scheme to provide money to business, somebody must administer it; that is the staff in EI, LEOs and InterTradeIreland. This Estimate, therefore, provides additional current funding for staff costs in those agencies. There will be more money next year. We will see how it goes. In the budget for...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, I am. Some €3 million additional current funding is approved for this year, which I hope the committee will approve this evening. There is more money for 2021 and there is a possibility to dip into that fund for more funding for staff if needed. We will keep that under review. I would be dishonest if I said I could guarantee that every agency will say it is adequately staffed....

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The scheme is run by the Revenue Commissioners through the Department of Finance rather than my Department but I am across it as I must be because it impacts on business a great deal. While it is a tax credit, and it is taxable, businesses will only end up paying it back if they start making profits so in many cases it will not be paid back. If companies return to profit in the years ahead,...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I would be happy to see that. I am doing that myself, and trying to collect examples of companies that have fallen between schemes.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy should bear in mind that the EWSS is there to help with wages, whereas the CRSS is there to help with the fixed cost where a premises is closed.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: It would have to be a very different scheme to help those firms without a premises. We still want them to survive, obviously.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The disruptive technologies innovation fund that was launched as part of Project Ireland 2040 is, essentially, a competitive fund like the urban fund, the rural fund, and the climate action fund. Businesses and higher education institutes get together and bid for funding for a particular project they may have. It is the Government taking a punt and supporting a project that might turn out...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to get some information on it. I am not an expert on it. I know it exists as one of the Enterprise Ireland schemes. It allows business to tap into the lean six sigma concept and have somebody review their systems and procedures with a view to becoming more efficient and more productive. It is very much in the management consultancy world that I read about but do not fully...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: On the restrictions and moving out of level 5, the Government should be in a position towards the end of next week to tell the country where we are going to be on 1 December. There will be a meeting of the Cabinet Covid sub-committee and a Cabinet meeting and we will have advice and up-to-date data from NPHET. We will be giving Ireland a few days notice as to what 1 December is going to...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: What is the name of the facility?

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to come back to the Deputy on the matter. I am aware of the facility but I do not have any information on it.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The funding is for additional inspectors in the main so that the HSA can step up its existing work around health and safety, which it has been doing for a long time, and its Covid-related inspections as well to make sure that workplaces are up to code when it comes to the Return to Work Safely Protocol, which we will be updating in the next couple of days. In terms of the numbers, I do not...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I am told there are 116 inspectors in place already so there will be an increase on that number.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I have had a good engagement with the HSA and the Workplace Relations Commission on meat plants to find out how many complaints were made, how many inspections were carried out and what the outcome of those inspections was. By and large, the outcome of the inspections has been that businesses, including meat plants, have been broadly compliant. The impression may exist that all or most meat...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: On the broader picture, the HSA does announced and unannounced inspections and most of its inspections are either unannounced or at short notice. Sometimes it has to give short notice because it is going into a particular workplace where it is not possible to just arrive with a bunch of health and safety inspectors because that would create safety issues in itself. Most of the inspections...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: It is well resourced but we should think about the different sides of our economy and the number of people at work. There are 2 million people at work in tens of thousands of workplaces across the country. Any agency can only be so well resourced. In a perfect world, it would carry out an inspection of every workplace every week but the Deputy and I both know that would not be practical to...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2020
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (18 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: It might take a couple of weeks to find a date in the diary that suits all sides but Deputy O'Reilly raised this already and I said I would be willing to meet a delegation of them or their representatives. It is tough work and somebody has to do it. Artificial intelligence can only do so much and I would be interested to hear from them about their experiences. One of the issues was that...