Results 35,901-35,920 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Agreements (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Of course we do not pursue a trade-at-any-cost policy. Part of my job and the job of the Minister for Finance is to sign off on sanctions. Regularly on my desk are statutory instruments that impose trade sanctions and investment sanctions on various countries. The Deputy would not always have been the most supportive of them, quite frankly, such as those we introduced against Russia in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the inflationary pressures that Ireland and other economies were already experiencing in the wake of the supply chain disruptions brought about as a result of the pandemic. The war and the necessary introduction of sanctions against Russia is also disrupting supply chains and leading to large rises in international prices for energy, food and other...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is true that energy costs have greater impacts on business in Ireland. That is partly as a result of our geography. We are an island on the edge of Europe and things have to be brought here by boat and by plane before being put on trucks and trains to be transported further. It is also partly down to the way our population is distributed. Responsibility for the area of data centres...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My understanding of the operation of the PSO levy is that it is there to subsidise renewable energy and energy produced from peat. Given that the price of producing energy is now so high, it is no longer necessary. That is why it will be got rid of or become a negative levy towards the end of the year. I do not know how the timing of that works. I would have to talk to the Minister,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Unions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I have a very clear view on this. I believe there should be pay rises. I do not say that lightly. I say that as somebody who signed off on a 3% increase in the minimum wage only a few months ago. The Minister of State, Deputy English, has also signed off on pay increases in various different sectors. Indeed, the Government has a pay deal with our own employees,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Unions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is referring to a particular EU directive relating to both the minimum wage and collective bargaining. She was a bit selective in the countries she mentioned. The Deputy is correct to state that Austria and Hungary signed it, but so did most of the Nordic countries. Those countries are, in many ways, the exemplars in terms of labour rights, at least for people on the left, but...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Unions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: If we can get agreement on the report and its recommendations from the unions and the major employers, I would not feel the need to wait for the directive. If we cannot get agreement, it probably makes sense to wait on the directive. I should say that we are introducing five new workers' rights this year, including the new public holiday which has now been passed into law. We are going to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Economic Policy (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The circular economy has never been more relevant as we deal with the consequences of a war in Ukraine that is giving rise to uncertainty in respect of energy supplies and prices, food supplies, inflation and the cost of living. It has also highlighted the inherent vulnerability of allowing our economies to become dependent on fossil...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Economic Policy (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy makes a very good suggestion. I, along with my Secretary General and officials, will certainly take it on board. We are trying to develop sectoral plans in respect of the climate action plan in order to bring down our emissions. We have responsibility to bring down emissions from industry by approximately 50% between now and 2031, especially in areas such as cement. Perhaps, it...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Economic Policy (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am certainly happy to consider the amendment, if the Deputy has a draft in mind and wishes to pass it on to me later. I would be happy to take a look at it, run it past my officials and to talk to the Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about it. As is always the case with such an amendment, there is a desire to avoid creating additional...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy O'Dowd for raising this question and for his ongoing advocacy for the town of Drogheda. As he is aware, it and Dundalk have been designated as growth centres on the Dublin-Belfast corridor in Project Ireland 2040. The IDA is targeting 40 investments for the mid-east region from 2021 to 2024. Louth is already home to 35 IDA Ireland client companies directly employing more...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. There are quite a lot of data centres in my constituency too. They are a very important part of the modern economy but in reality the amount of employment they produce is quite small. The number of people actually working in them is quite low. There are a lot of people working on them during construction, but not when they are actually up and running. The spin-off...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I hear the demands and I hear the call for increased investment in Drogheda and more good job opportunities in the town in addition to the ones that are there already. That is why IDA Ireland has secured that 40-acre site. We need to get it serviced and get it ready and promote it to potential investors. These things can have a long pipeline. IDA Ireland bought that site because it and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Flexible Work Practices (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The right to request remote working Bill is part of a broader Government programme to make remote working a permanent feature of Ireland's workforce in a way that can benefit all - economically, socially and environmentally. Throughout the pandemic, many employers went to great lengths to give their employees as much flexibility around where they work as possible. The world of work has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Flexible Work Practices (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The legislation is just in draft form, as the Deputy knows. There are heads of Bill. The general scheme is currently with the committee. It is carried out hearings involving the relevant stakeholders and its members will meet my officials again on 4 May. I will make a decision once I get the report back from the committee on what it recommends by way of improvements or changes. I am a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Flexible Work Practices (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Currently, there is no legal right to request remote working. Somebody can request it, of course, but there is no legal mechanism by which it can be done. That is what the legislation tries to achieve. I am open to strengthening it. There are already some guidelines on remote working. I believe they were published a year or so ago. The new public sector policy on remote working was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As the House will be aware, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures that came out today indicate that the annual inflation rate is now at 6.9%. It is estimated it will rise to approximately 8% later in the year, before falling off towards the end of the year and into next year. That will come as no surprise to anyone in this House, nor will it come as any surprise to people who have...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: No matter what response I gave to Deputy Doherty just now, his answer was going to be what he said. It is his catch cry-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----and his standard line. No matter what anybody says to him, he is going to say they are out of touch and do not get it. Of course we get it. As I speak, €200 is coming off people's electricity bills because we understand the burden people face from increased energy costs, albeit ones caused by factors outside of our control. This is why we have had the biggest cut in excise...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Apr 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----with 20 cent taken off petrol and 15 cent taken off diesel.