Results 35,621-35,640 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: It is not so much the percentage but whether we have enough electricity.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Contracts (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: In May 2020, my Department worked with the National Public Health Emergency Team on a survey of business readiness for physical changes to the work environment as a result of COVID-19. As part of this, the Department engaged an external consultancy company to carry out online and telephone surveys of businesses. The total cost of these surveys was €26,730. In 2021, the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Reckonable service is service that is included in the calculation of a redundancy lump sum payment. A period of lay-off is not allowable as reckonable service if it occurred within the final 3 years of employment before redundancy. As the necessary Government-enforced lockdowns caused lay-off situations which resulted in a loss of opportunity for some employees to accrue reckonable...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: State Bodies (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The tables below set out the vacancies by job title in the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission and the length of time each post has been vacant for: Labour Court Job Title Number Length of time post is vacant Expected to be filled on Average cost to fill all vacant positions Executive Officer 1 1...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Official Travel (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is in the process of finalising the programme to mark St. Patrick’s Day around the world. This will include a programme of visits by Ministers approved by the Government and which will be made public soon.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: IDA Ireland actively promotes available buildings and land in IDA Business Parks and high-quality buildings in private ownership through their network of overseas offices. The IDA is actively encouraging investors to locate in regional areas, whether through marketing potential investment sites outside of the main cities or working to develop recognised industry clusters. The table below...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The timely provision of appropriate, innovative, and cost-effective property and infrastructure solutions that meets the needs of MNCs remains essential to winning FDI. IDA Ireland’s regional property programme aims to ensure availability of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations for current and prospective clients of both IDA and Enterprise Ireland. Over the last 5...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: IDA Ireland staff across the globe are conscious of the importance and impact of winning investments to locations such as Kerry and other regional locations. The Agency has been operating in a very challenging environment over the past 20 months with little or no international travel globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IDA has been operating virtually and hosting companies on virtual site...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Regional development is at the centre of IDA’s strategy to 2024. The strategy includes a target that half of all investments (400) from 2021- 2024 will be in regional locations. Its results for 2021 showed that 133 out of 249 – or 53% - of investments went to counties other than Dublin. The table below shows the number of IDA supported jobs by county in each of the years 2010 to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (8 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As part of the current IDA Strategy, Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021 – 2024, the Agency has set out clear objectives in respect of sustainability, which include promoting and enhancing sustainable growth across all areas of job creation, innovation, living standards, regional development and the environment. I understand that the objectives of this strategy are...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (9 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I was happy to see that IDA Ireland won 249 investments during 2021, with 104 new name investments showing the confidence of investors in Ireland remains strong. The number of people directly employed in multinational companies in Ireland grew to 275,384, this is the highest level of foreign direct investment employment ever reached. The creation of more than 29,000 new jobs during the year...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Low Pay Commission (9 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government includes a commitment to "request the Low Pay Commission to examine universal basic income, informed by a review of previous international pilots, and resulting in a universal basic income pilot in the lifetime of the Government". Last year, I formally requested that the Low Pay Commission examine this issue. To inform its...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (9 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My department actively pursues opportunities for decarbonisation across the enterprise base and integrates climate action into all aspects of the Department and its agencies’ activities. We aim to foster strong, resilient businesses, that are successful and sustainable, while meeting our sector’s climate targets. Climate Toolkit for Business My department, in conjunction with...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: State Bodies (9 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The appointment of a Regional Manager for the South-East Region is an operational matter for IDA Ireland, though I understand the recruitment process for the position of IDA Regional Manager for the South East Region is currently underway. I am also informed that the IDA Team in the South-East Region is, on a temporary basis, reporting to the Department Manager- Regional Development.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (10 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Ireland became a member of the International Labour Organization, ILO, in 1923. It was the first international organisation the new State joined. We have been an active member ever since and in June 2021 we completed our first ever term as a titulaire, or full member, of the governing body of the ILO. Ireland is committed to being among the first ILO member states to ratify convention No....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (10 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As I mentioned earlier, ten countries have signed the convention and three have it in force. Different countries adopt different approaches to these things. Some countries sign things and spend ten or 20 years actually bringing them into force. We try to bring everything into force and then ratify, which I think is a better approach in the round. What we are doing at the moment is seeing...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (10 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure if we have to bring in that formal leave as a requirement of the convention. I would have to double-check that. Regardless, I think it is accepted across the House that it is a good idea and it has been done in some other countries. We need to engage with the Deputy on that, as well as with employer bodies, the unions and the office of the Minister for Children, Equality,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (10 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We certainly had prolonged restrictions in Ireland, perhaps longer than in many other countries, including other countries in Europe. It does depend on how you define restrictions. Some people define it as working from home and other people define it as business closures and so on. It is worth pointing out that Ireland is now one of the most open countries in the world. Most European...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (10 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Tóibín is correct; a €40 billion rescue for the economy is huge. It is probably the second biggest intervention in the history of the State and the biggest after the banking crisis. We all agree it is a much better one in terms of the number of jobs and livelihoods that were protected, but we do now have a national debt approaching a quarter of a trillion euro, which...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (10 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Even before the pandemic, there was a churn in businesses and, in any given year, some businesses close and new businesses are established. In fact, businesses that would have closed anyway perhaps survived because of the measures that we took in regard to the wage subsidy scheme and so on. We expect that when the wage subsidy scheme and the other financial supports are withdrawn, and they...