Results 34,621-34,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I may have to come back to the Deputy about this in more detail. I only have the guidelines in front of me. There is a risk assessment on page 37 and page 38 of the document on what is done on ventilation and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers ventilation guidance provides additional information. It may be necessary to retain the services of a ventilation engineer to...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That is done based on the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. The commission has examined this on several occasions and has removed some of the sub-minimum rates in recent years. The theory or argument behind it is that having sub-minimum or lower rates ensures that people who have no experience or who have never worked before can have the opportunity to get employment. That is the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of the issue, the seriousness of it and the impact it could have on the food industry and people who work there. It does fall more under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as the Deputy will understand, than under my Department. Anyway, it is important that I am across it too. We are yet to see the full outworking of Brexit, unfortunately, because Britain is...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure we will find all these vets but this has come up in discussions around the Cabinet table and the sub-committee. I know the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is very much aware of it and has plans.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As members know, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is under the aegis of my Department, which is not ideal on a number of fronts. A company law enforcement agency being an office in a Department is quite an old-fashioned structure. Once the legislation is passed, with the agreement of the Oireachtas, the idea is to establish the office as an agency in its own right with a...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I hope to have it published before the recess but it will be the autumn session before we get to debate it.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We have a dedicated climate team headed by a principal officer in the Department. There is a question of whether we should expand it, perhaps rebadge it and develop it into a climate and circular economy unit. I had not thought about it but now the Deputy has said this to me, I will give it some thought and reflect on it. We will have a new climate action plan in the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will pass on the questions with regard to wind energy and carbon capture and storage. I have some knowledge or idea about these areas but the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is much more across them than I am and I do not want to say something that turns out to be wrong as I would then spend the rest of the day trying to correct it. I hope that is okay.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I will pass those questions on to the Minister. On the issue of data centres, they present a real dilemma. There has never been more data in the world. There is going to be more and more data in the world over the coming years and decades and they have to be stored somewhere. It is of real strategic advantage for Ireland to be a place where data are stored. They are a really valuable...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Message to Dáil (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: No. I think that covers it. I thank members for their engagement and their questions. I know there were one or two things that I did not answer or did not answer properly. We have taken a note of them and will revert to the members in correspondence.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Data (6 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The framework contract for banking services negotiated by the Office of Government Procurement specifically provides that all accounts linked to the Paymaster General cash pool are not subject to negative credit interest. Accordingly, as a client of the framework contract the Department’s own bank accounts are, therefore, not subject to negative credit interest. For operational...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (6 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Information on the number of IDA client companies which are Japanese is available in the 2020 Annual Employment Survey. According to the 2020 Employment Survey, there are 43 Japanese Operations in Ireland employing 5,634 people.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 to 101, inclusive, together. In accordance with Section 8 of the FOI Act (Publication of information about FOI bodies), the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment publishes its FOI disclosure log on its website. This disclosure log Details of FOI requests received from April 2016 onwards and was most recently updated on 24 June 2021. Copies of the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Functions (6 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) is the independent, non-statutory body that advises the Government on projected skills requirements across the Irish economy and makes recommendations on how existing education and training systems and delivery mechanisms, as well as other sources of skills supply, can be enhanced. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, as well as...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (6 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Manufacturing is a central pillar of our economy employing over 235,013 people with 85% of that employment outside Dublin. Over the last decade the manufacturing sector has been undergoing a radical transformation through the adoption of a range of digital technology platforms, collectively referred to as Industry 4.0. This includes robotics, additive manufacturing, cyber security, artificial...

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Departmental Schemes (8 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Government recognises that both the travel industry, and businesses connected with it like the one to which the deputy refers, have been very badly effected by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. As you know, the Government has put in place a comprehensive package to help businesses and workers during the pandemic, including the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the Pandemic...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Reviews (13 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: A Social Impact Assessment framework was developed in 2016 by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to examine the impact of budgetary policy decisions on public service users. My Department has not completed any social impact assessments under this framework during the period in question.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Legal Cases (13 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Details of legal cases brought against my Department in the years in question are set out in the table. In addition to those set out in the table, two further legal cases have been brought by staff members against the Department via the Courts Service in the past five years and to date in 2021. These cases are ongoing. ">Table

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Correspondence (13 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I can confirm that I received the correspondence referred to and that a reply has issued to the Deputy.

Health (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2021: Second Stage (14 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021, which enables us to reopen indoor hospitality, pubs, cafés, restaurants and other licensed venues safely, sustainably and in line with public health advice. It is imperfect but it is better than any of the alternatives currently on offer to us. One alternative is opening to all people, against public...