Results 36,081-36,100 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is not the most elegant language.

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am sympathetic to the point the Deputies are making. Deputy Bruton from my party spoke in favour of this change earlier as well. In particular, when we are saying that it has to be certified, there is an argument for saying that the right should kick in at an earlier stage. At the same time, I am sensitive to the fact that there are employers who take people on seasonally, perhaps for...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 6: In page 5, line 30, to delete “An employee’s entitlement” and substitute “Subject to subsection (7), an employee’s entitlement”. We have covered the intention behind amendments Nos. 6 and 7 as well.

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 7: In page 5, between lines 35 and 36, to insert the following: “(7) For the purposes of this section, where an employee ceases to be the employee of an employer and, not more than 26 weeks after the date of cesser, the employee again becomes the employee of the employer, the period of service of that employee with that employer before the date of cesser shall...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Amendments Nos. 11, 13 and 14 would disrupt the balance in the Bill that protects the rights and obligations of both employers and employees. This is a progressive Bill and will ensure that all employees will have financial protection from day one of a medically certified absence. However, the Government does not want to jeopardise jobs by placing an unsustainable cost and administrative...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Section 6 provides that the first ministerial order made under the Bill will not reduce the number of statutory sick leave days. Subsection (2)(a)(i) provides that no ministerial order will reduce the number of statutory sick leave days below three. This means that once the Bill is enacted and commenced, the number of statutory sick leave days can never go below three. The effect of the...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Section 6 provides that the Minister will not make an order adjusting the number of statutory sick leave days under the Bill until 12 months after its enactment, and that a period of 12 months must pass between each subsequent adjustment. This amendment would remove that provision and place no restrictions on how often the number of sick leave days could be changed. Limiting adjustments to...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is not agreed.

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. I know some stakeholders believe the rate of payment and an earnings cap should be set in the Bill itself. I do not agree with that. Setting the rates by ministerial order allows for greater flexibility and will allow the rate to be revised as necessary in line with inflation, changing incomes and, indeed, changing politics. For example, the national minimum wage is...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendments Nos. 30 and 32-----

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: You would think I would know by now, being here as long as I have. My apologies.

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 30: In page 11, line 22, to delete “20 weeks’” and substitute “4 weeks’”. These amendments amend the maximum penalty the Workplace Relations Commission or Labour Court may award if an employer breaches obligations under the Bill. That now moves from 20 weeks' remuneration to four weeks' remuneration. This will bring the...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: These things amount to a judgment call. My original view was the same as the Deputies in that it should be 20 weeks' remuneration but having taken advice, in particular legal advice, and heard the views of many others, we had to try to make sure the penalty was proportionate to the offence. When we looked across other legislation, for example, paternity leave, when the entitlement was two...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: To be clear, it is not that the legal advice is that the provision is not constitutional or we could not do it. It is that when we are drafting legislation, we should try to make sure that penalties are proportionate to the offence. That is a basic principle of justice. A more severe offence has a bigger penalty. As things stand, it is two weeks' entitlement and two weeks' penalty in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Regional development is at the centre of IDA Ireland's current strategy “Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021-2024”. Under this Strategy, which seeks to further enhance FDI’s place at the centre of a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive Irish economy, the IDA is targeting half of all investments to regional locations. As the Deputy may be aware, IDA Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: On February 9th, the Minister for Finance and I announced the launch of the Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme which has a strategic emphasis on attracting new fund managers to the Irish equity ecosystem and opening new pipelines for finance. This programme is a fund of funds, which is an indirect form of equity financing for SMEs. SMEs will not directly apply for funding through this...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Low Pay Commission (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: 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". In 2021, I formally requested that the Low Pay Commission examine this commitment. To inform its considerations, the Low Pay...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of the study and have asked officials to consider the findings in the context of the national remote work strategy. The study was conducted earlier this year by a multinational company. It included more than 600 workers based in Ireland as part of a wider survey that encompassed the views of 31,000 technology and healthcare workers in 31 countries. Although the study indicated...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The issue with regard to being always on or finding it difficult to disconnect is not just a matter for remote and hybrid workers. It can be a matter for anybody whose work is not of a physical nature. If one does work that is largely of a physical nature, such as in construction or hospitality, when one goes home, one goes home. Anyone who has an office-based job, however, now goes home...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I certainly do not rule out the possibility of placing the code of practice on a statutory footing in the future. I have written to the WRC to ask it for its view on how the code has been working. It has been in place for more than a year. I have written to the WRC to ask for views and opinions as to whether it is working, to what extent it has been effective and how we could improve...