Results 35,601-35,620 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I do not want to comment on individual cases but I do not have the file or I do not know the reasons behind it.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Yes.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There will be occasions even when Departments take that approach and there can be good reasons in individual circumstances. The Deputy will know that decisions are not binding. Some countries have binding decisions where they are binding on the union and the employer but it does not work like that in our system. As the Deputy will know, unions very often do not accept a recommendation from...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: No, we do not have a multi-annual plan in that sense. I think the target for 90 related to the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, and a lot has changed since then, including the establishment of the WRC. That target relates to an agreement from quite some time ago. The objective this year is to go from 60 to 70. I intend to seek sanction in the budget next year to have a similar...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The short answer is "Yes". Unless there is some major shock to the economy that we are not expecting, they can be achieved. We are ahead of target when it comes to targets relating to female participation on boards. I work very closely with Balance for Better Business. All the interim targets have been met and, therefore, that would give me confidence that the target can be met this year.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I join the Deputy in noting the favourable number of investments we have secured for Waterford and the south east in the past year or so. It has been really good news and my thanks go to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for that. I think there will be a good pipeline of investment for Waterford and the south east in particular. There was a lot of unused capital last year. Much of it...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Since we met, we ran the Look for Local campaign again, which was very successful. We have not yet decided but are likely to do something similar this year. PIAB falls under the remit of the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, so he is leading reform of PIAB. A general scheme to reform the board is expected to go to Government this month. The aim of that is to facilitate and increase the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I will pass the Chairman's comments on to InterTradeIreland and the others. On the living wage, we have asked the Low Pay Commission to do research on this and advise us. The Chairman rightly pointed out that a group has pointed out what it believes the living wage should be in Ireland but any group can establish itself and come up what it thinks a living wage should be. The appropriate...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I think that it will be sufficient for this year. The idea is to get the new body up and running this year and to get it doing its work. The legislation is done. We need to now actually create the body and ensure it is up and running. We do not have full agreement yet on resourcing from An Garda Síochána, which is really important because we need gardaí seconded to the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is a fair question. It is probably the case across the public service that the concentration on Covid sometimes meant that other work did not get the attention that it would have had there not been Covid. The HSA would tell us that when it carries out an inspection, it does so in a way that is wide and comprehensive. It does not simply narrow in on one thing that might be Covid...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: They are. There are regular meetings between my Department and the authority. I do not have the figures to hand but I will see if I can get them.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The way IDA Ireland would describe it is that in Ireland we try to build an ecosystem for investment. We have done very well in terms of life sciences and tech and data centres are part of that, particularly when it comes to tech investment. That is the argument IDA Ireland would make as to why we should continue to host them in Ireland. If we want to encourage tech investment in Ireland...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is not something on which our Department makes a decision. It is a decision for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. The Deputy will have seen the new policy it produced in the past couple of months recognising that because there are constraints on the system, there will be fewer data centre connections over the next couple of years, particularly in the Dublin region where...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I would not agree.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Yes but if we produce twice as much green electricity we will be able to facilitate a lot more investments.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I want to recognise the Deputy's work in establishing Balance for Better Business, which is working very well. We are pleased with the results we are getting in increasing the number of women on company boards. However, we need to do a bit more on senior leadership teams where the numbers are not as good, albeit they are moving in the right direction. On work permits, we have a real...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Chairman can be sure of that. The vast majority of employers are good and treat their staff well. I know he will agree with that. The fact that one third of inspections throw up an issue does not mean that one third of businesses mistreat their workers because the WRC responds to complaints and targets businesses and sectors where it thinks there could be abuse. It is still a lot and...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Message to Dáil (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is great. I thank the Chairman for the meeting. We are sending a lot of legislation the committee's way at the moment. The report is done on sick pay and we sent the letter yesterday, which the Chairman spoke to my adviser about, on remote working. I appreciate the volume of work the committee is doing, which does not always get noticed, and the efficiency with which the committee,...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy has made a fair point. Being bound by a recommendation is different from engaging. Public bodies and private entities that are funded largely by the State, I think, should engage with the industrial machinery of the State. I do not know whether it can be done but maybe in the future what we should write into contracts and tenders is a requirement that they do so in order that...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Following up on the Deputy's initial comments, I will as officials to follow up on that issue and we will interrogate it. With regard to other health and safety matters, it is possible that other health and safety breaches went undetected and uninspected because of the focus on Covid-19. At the same time, though, I would hope that part of the experience of the pandemic and Covid-19 has...