Results 36,281-36,300 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Staff (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The tables below set out the number of Departmental staff employed at the Irish Permanent Representation to the European Union, including all counsellors and attachés, in each of the past seven years 2016 to 2022. The tables also set out the function of each of the posts and information on new and discontinued posts. 2016: Grade / Post Number Function /...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Intellectual Property (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The WTO Ministerial Conference is currently underway in Geneva from 12thto 15thJune. This is the major decision-making forum for the WTO and the intention is that the intellectual property related aspects can be agreed as part of the broader WTO trade related response to the pandemic. A draft Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS is under intense discussion by Ministers with the aim of finding...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Intellectual Property (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I attended a meeting at the request of representatives from the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) and Biopharmachem Ireland (BPCI) on 25thJune 2021. This meeting was attended by Paul Reid, who is the President of IPHA and Managing Director of Pfizer Healthcare Ireland. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a range of topics, which included the then WTO TRIPS waiver...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Data (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department does not collect data on work intensity. The most recent available data is from Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) provides a wide-ranging picture of the everyday reality of men and women at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. The Survey asks...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Trade Agreements (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As I have previously outlined, ratifying CETA is Government policy and an objective of mine as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Ireland has benefitted immensely from our export-oriented enterprises trading across the globe. As a small open economy, we support international trade and the EU free trade agreements that seek to underpin this. In that context, I believe that...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Right to Request Remote Working Bill is part of a broader Government vision to make remote working a permanent feature of Ireland’s workforce in a way that can benefit all – economically, socially and environmentally. Through the proposed legislation we will, for the first time, provide a legal framework for requesting remote work. It will also provide clarity to employers...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Intellectual Property (14 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The WTO Ministerial Conference is currently underway in Geneva from 12thto 15thJune. This is the major decision-making forum for the WTO and the intention is that the intellectual property related aspects can be agreed as part of the broader WTO trade related response to the pandemic. A draft Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS is under intense discussion by Ministers with the aim of finding...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Reports (16 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome the findings published in the report, which provide further evidence that remote working will, on balance, change Ireland for the better. The research was conducted in line with the goals set out in Making Remote Work, Ireland’s National Remote Work Strategy, which I launched in January 2021, and the publication of this report is just one of the many actions that have been...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Policies (16 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together. Protecting the health, safety and welfare of all staff and visitors to the premises occupied by the Department is of paramount importance. Depending on the specific circumstances, matters pertaining to assault and/or sexual harassment would likely require the direct involvement of An Garda Síochána. There are various...

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (21 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: In the past two and a half years, we have lost three giants of the civil rights movement in Ireland, namely, Seamus Mallon, John Hume and Austin Currie. They were three of the great pioneers of peace, change and non-violence on our island. Their legacy lives on all around us. Today, it is my honour to pay tribute to someone whom I had the honour of getting to know when I first became...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Intellectual Property (21 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: On the 12 November 2021, the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/790 was completed by way of S.I. No. 567/2021 - European Union (Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market) Regulations 2021. These Regulations strengthen the rights and protections of copyright holders in order to reflect the impact of technological advances and increased digitalisation.   The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I know is causing a lot of angst and worry to families throughout the State, including in my constituency of Dublin West. I have read the Ombudsman's report. The Government accepts the criticisms being made. We are committed to ensuring that every single child with special educational needs has access to education. One child who...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Again, I welcome the offer of co-operation should special or emergency legislation be needed. We will probably be able to find places for the 100 children or so without the need for legislation but if it is required to do it then it should be done. I know from my engagement with the NCSE and the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, that they have revised the way they...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As stated earlier, I have had the chance to read the ombudsman's report. The Government accepts the criticisms that are being made. The report acknowledges some of the changes that have been made in the past two years, especially with regard to future planning. Use of such planning will mean that in future years we will not face the problems we have been facing for the past couple of years...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate both of the Deputies raising this matter and the sincerity of their concerns with regard to it. As already stated, it is something we are committed to improving and resolving as soon as possible in order that children and families who do not have a place for September will know that they have one, as soon as possible. In the context of the various therapy supports which the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: What the Deputy describes is, quite simply, a misrepresentation of the facts that does not describe what is going to happen on 1 July. For those who are interested in the facts - I know most people are genuinely interested in the facts - I am going to set them out. First, this is not a pay increase; it is pay restoration. It is the reversal of pay cuts that happened more than ten years...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the Deputy's question, a pay increase is not a pay increase when in 2022 a person ends up earning the same as he or she did in 2012. It is the reversal of a pay cut. It is pay restoration. The Deputy may choose to misrepresent them, but those are the facts. I heard the Deputy speaking on the radio yesterday. One thing I have to say is that I respect his sincerity. He...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am informed that on 31 May, Iberdrola announced that it would be exiting the market in a controlled exit. I understand that while the company is profitable globally, it was not profitable when it came to its Irish operations. The supplier of last resort protocol was introduced. That is managed by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am probably not across this issue in the detail that I should be. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about it and will ask my office to make contact with the CRU to see if anything can be done. I know that no business or customer can be charged twice for the same unit of electricity. I suspect what the company did on this occasion was try to buy market share by selling...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. It is very hard to find anywhere to rent in Ireland at the moment. There are very few properties available for rent. That is true for people who are on HAP and also for those who are not on HAP. It is very hard to find somewhere to rent even in small rural towns where it would have been very easy in the past. It has become a very serious issue. What can the...