Results 34,201-34,220 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: On antigen testing for international travel, we all know there are different views. NPHET and the Chief Medical Officer do not like it, while the chief scientific officer, Professor Ferguson, is a big fan. The Government is not ruling it out but for now, we have PCR testing for international travel. We are not ruling out a move to antigen testing but, without rehearsing the arguments,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Senator is absolutely right about the content moderators. Whoever the employer is they have a duty of care whether it is Covalen, Facebook or anyone else. Under the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012, if one is taking on agency workers, one has to give them the same protections as the people who are directly employed by one. The same basic working conditions...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As regards non-disclosure agreements, I am strongly of the view that anyone who signs a non-disclosure agreement should be allowed to keep a copy of the agreement. I cannot imagine why anyone would be expected to sign any sort of agreement yet not have it. How do you know you are actually adhering to the agreement yourself if you only get to read the thing once? If they are not giving a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Let us see if they cannot get staff. We are in a very different place now than we were when we did the reopening last summer. I remember hearing last summer lots of anecdotal evidence from employers saying they could not get people back to work because the difference in what they were getting from the pandemic unemployment payment and what they would get for working 30 or 40 hours a week....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There is a process as to how they can be established. That is all set out in law. They are being challenged in the Supreme Court and we will have to see the outcome of that case. I hope it will be that these stand up constitutionally and legally. In that case, we can have more of them. I would like to see them exist in the meat sector, for example, which is an area of ongoing concern....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There are a lot of things there that I could talk about at length but time is limited. There can be no doubt that the pandemic has affected different people in different ways. It has affected men differently to women and younger people differently to older people. Older people have borne the brunt in terms of death and illness from the pandemic. Young people have borne the brunt in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I understand that IDA Ireland has hired a consultant to assist with its work in Israel. That is not a political decision. It is not one that crossed my desk or I signed off on. IDA Ireland has its own legal authority in these areas. It was done for good reasons because we have a significant trading relationship with Israel. My general approach to these things is that we should continue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The workers who have signed the NDAs should be given copies of them. As they are agreements the workers have signed, it would then be up to them to decide whether they want to publish details of them. I would like to see it. There are reasons NDAs exist. They are often good reasons relating to protecting people's privacy and confidentiality. I have worked in jobs in the area of medicine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Not necessarily. It is quite common in business and in the public sector to have core-flex arrangements, with core workers who are needed all the time, then you can flex up or down depending on needs that arise. That is often done through agencies or outsourcing arrangements. That should be their purpose. Their purpose should not be to deny people doing the same work the same standards of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Where did the Deputy check?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Word of honour says otherwise but we can check it out. Everyone counts statistics differently, as the Deputy knows.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We record them all. The Deputy will understand that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will understand that in a country such as India, where my father comes from, people who die from Covid do not get €200 Covid tests.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will do that. I have met the company in the past couple of weeks. I will get involved again as Minister with responsibility for enterprise. It is part of my responsibility, in my mind, to make sure that we have good business connectivity from the mid-west to Britain, Europe and America. The same goes for Cork and other airports. I will get involved in this aviation issue and am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know how the LA route was lost. Deputy O'Reilly might fill me in privately some time. I imagine there is a story to tell there. I do know how it was regained because it was regained when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. It was a mixture of the travel tax, route incentives, a growing economy, a marketing budget for Tourism Ireland and fifth freedom rights. I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I think perhaps we will have some employment legislation coming through in this session to deal with some issues the Deputy will be familiar with on the Zalewski judgment. Perhaps there is an opportunity to make an amendment to employment law in the coming months or this year to make sure employees are entitled to a copy of any agreement they have signed. I do not see who in the House could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am sorry but what guideline is the Deputy talking about?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Unfortunately, I cannot confirm or deny anything about July at this stage, but it is certainly our hope and intention to allow indoor dining to resume, we hope in early July, and some mass events as well. As always, there are four factors. It is not just the vaccines but also case numbers, which seem to be rising a bit again, the situation in hospitals, which is continuing to improve, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I reiterate that the Minister for Transport is meeting representatives from Aer Lingus today and I cannot pre-empt the outcome of that meeting. It is fair to say that while the Minister is very aware of the impact aviation has on the environment in terms of emissions, he is also aware of the essential nature of aviation for an island nation. He is certainly not anti-airline or anything like...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Online Content Moderation and Reactivation of Economy: Discussion (19 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We are encouraging workplaces to adopt antigen testing and many workplaces are doing so, such as in retail, construction and manufacturing. Many employers are using it. We issued new guidance on the issue on Friday last to give employers the strength of a Government document, with the harp on it, that gives them guidance on what or what not to do. We always say it should be voluntary and...