Results 33,261-33,280 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The economic disruption wrought by COVID-19 has been widespread across all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country. Using the latest quarterly national accounts data from the CSO, the Arts and Entertainment sector was identified as the sector most affected by COVID-19 related disruption, followed by the Professional, Admin and Support Services Sector and the Construction Sector....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Remote Working (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As our country continues to navigate Covid-19, remote working has become more important than ever before. To date, my Department has had a strong focus on the topic of remote work. Last year as a response to COVID-19, my Department launched a Public Consultation on Remote Work Guidance and created a new guidance webpage for employers and employees. Building on this work, my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: From the outset of Covid-19, many employers have taken the initiative, in line with subsequent requests from the Government, to be as flexible as possible in allowing staff time off to look after their children who are not attending school or crèche. Employers have a general duty of care towards their workers and that care is often expressed in the form of negotiation, compromise and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Redundancy Payments (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Section 12A of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 is the emergency provision which suspends an employee’s entitlement to claim redundancy from their employer following certain periods of lay-off or short time work due to Covid-19. When this emergency provision ceases to have effect, eligible employees will be able to make a claim for redundancy from their employer. The employer can then...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. Further information can be found on S.I. No. 701 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020 and S.I. No. 4 of 2021 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 10) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 () clearly sets...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Haulage Industry (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The State's employment permit system is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time. The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the two occupation lists: critical skills...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Microfinance Loan Fund Scheme (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Microenterprise Loan Fund administered by Microfinance Ireland provides loans to businesses that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by commercial lenders and have less than ten employees. Data on the number of microenterprises that applied for a loan directly from Microfinance Ireland and through the LEO network in each of the past five years and the number of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Under the provisions of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967, it is the employer’s responsibility to pay statutory redundancy payments to eligible employees. However, in situations where an employer cannot sustain the cost of redundancy payments due to financial difficulties, the Department of Social Protection provides a safety net for both employers and employees and can make the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications have advised that the electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within a European Union regulatory regime, wherein electricity and gas markets are commercial, liberalised, and competitive. Operating within this overall EU framework, responsibility for the regulation of the electricity and gas markets, including the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not agree. These are the facts, and I am happy to restate them. It was not actually a contract; it was an agreement about a contract. I gave a copy of that agreement to Dr.Ó Tuathail, who was president of the NAGP at the time. I should not have done this. I accounted to the Dáil for it last November and I apologised for it. I acted on my own judgment and nobody is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: No, that is exactly what I said, or more or less what I said, back in November. Of course I got the document from the Department of Health. Where else would I have got it from? The only people who had it were the Department of Health and the IMO. I hardly got it from the IMO, so of course I got it from the Department of Health, through the Minister, Deputy Harris, and my special adviser....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Just be to clear, on 17 April, the Minister for Health requested the current draft - so a later, more up-to-date draft, presumably - appreciating that there were ongoing tweaks.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There was a third draft and ongoing tweaks. He got it the day he requested it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her questions. The passenger locator form has been in place for many months, as she knows. It has not worked out to be as robust a measure as was needed. That is why the Government made changes in recent weeks in response to the fact that we are now concerned about new variants entering the country from other parts of the world. Now, anybody who is entering the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: People coming in from the United Kingdom or South Africa — there are no direct flights from South Africa but people could come in from other airports — are required to have a negative PCR test before landing in the country. It is mandatory. They are then strongly advised to self-isolate for 14 days; that is not mandatory. On sharing information with Northern Ireland, we...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Obviously, the buck stops with the HSE in this regard. I do not know whether the national outbreak team has been established yet. I will find out for the Deputy. In general, we all appreciate the Covid situation is very serious. We are still seeing more than 2,000 cases per day. More than 200 people are in intensive care, and about 2,000 are in hospital. Case numbers and the number...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will check the position on the national outbreak control team. I am not sure whether it has been established yet, but it is fair to say the settings in question are healthcare settings. Many people in healthcare settings will have Covid and many will have other illnesses. They are very susceptible to Covid, and that is why infection control is so important. Hospitals, nurse managers and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I appreciate the extent to which the ESB and Bord na Móna were the mainstays of employment in the midlands and how important this is to Laois and Offaly in particular and the region as a whole. Where there is a just transition, it has to be not just for workers and former workers, but for the communities as well. Somebody may get a good package to retire or become...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We need to act to stop climate change. If we do not, many more jobs will be lost through the climate chaos that would ensue. We need to think short, medium and long term when it comes to the trade-off between jobs and industry on the one hand and protecting our environment on the other. If we do not stop climate change, the impacts o Ireland could be severe on many of our industries, not...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (21 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I did not have an opportunity to watch that programme but I am going to. I have recorded it and many people have said to me that it is essential viewing for all of us as politicians. I will make a point of doing that. On the local county rule, if you like, it seems to be very unfair that somebody would be turned down for a place and left on the streets because they...