Results 3,141-3,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Low Pay (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of the report on low-paid older workers in Ireland. It is useful research and I thank Dr. Micheál Collins of UCD and Dr. Catherine Elliott O'Dare of TCD for their work. It was funded by the Low Pay Commission, an independent body under the aegis of my Department. The report provides comprehensive information on both the commonalities and the differences between older and...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This motion of confidence was triggered by a motion of no confidence from People Before Profit. The People Before Profit Members know that their motion had no chance of being passed and would not build a single house or house a single other family. Its purpose was to embarrass and to personalise what is a deeply important political and societal issue. The time could have been used to...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This vote will only serve to demonstrate that the Government has a clear working majority. We will move on in the next hour or so and get back to the important work of Government; taming inflation, helping families with the cost of living, building homes, creating jobs and investment, taking climate action and providing equal opportunities for all our nation's children. For a moment we...

Confidence in Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage: Motion (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: People Before Profit's policy states that it is critical that we break immediately from the failed living-with-Covid strategy and implement a strategy based on elimination - the Chinese approach. This would have our economy in shutdown for a third Christmas. Construction sites would be abandoned and we would deprive people of their basic liberties for far too long. Fewer houses would have...

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy. (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As Tánaiste and leader of Fine Gael, I extend my deepest sympathy to Bobby's wife Helena, his children Bob, Mark and Triona, and his family and friends. Bobby dedicated his life to public service. Today his constituents in Carlow-Kilkenny are grateful for his service to their community, a community that is much better because of him. Mar Thánaiste agus mar cheannaire Fhine Gael,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Roughly 10,000 businesses availed of the Covid loan scheme and the Brexit loan scheme. The Ukraine loan scheme is essentially-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: -----a version of those for the current challenge. We do not know yet what the take-up will be like. The first of the main banks will be offering it in the next few weeks. We will have a better idea in six weeks or six months. What I can say for sure, though, is that the growth and stability loan scheme will be very popular. It is the follow-up to the future growth loan scheme, which was...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: On the planning certainty, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, will be up and running very soon. We need to make sure we do the seabed mapping as well because it will not be possible to grant consents unless that is done. If we need to find innovative ways to do that, we should.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is true. When it comes to grid certainty, the Deputy is absolutely right. We need to invest a lot in the grid in the year ahead. I had not heard the point about demand certainty before.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Even though it is 1 a.m., it was interesting to hear something new of that nature. At the moment, we have so much demand and not enough generation. I can see how that could flip very quickly and we would then be wondering why we did not see it coming. We cannot say that now because the Deputy raised it in the Dáil. We have to be prepared for demand certainty. The best way we can...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We will need a supergrid. I have heard some interesting ideas around the supergrid and how it could be done. We will also needs battery storage, for example, so that we can store energy and then use it at other times.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy may be aware, IDA Ireland released annual results yesterday. More than 24,000 net new jobs were created – the highest year on record. More than half of new investments went to locations outside of Dublin. Employment was up in every part of the country, including the mid-west, where it grew by 3.6%. Total employment in IDA Ireland client companies now stands at more...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am glad to hear the draft strategy is now a strategy. I know the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is very enthusiastic about metropolitan rail, particularly around Limerick and Cork. I have been to Raheen industrial park through Regeneron. I hope to see the Eli Lilly plant under way very soon now that the planning permission has been secured. I do not know the exact geography...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Transport (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate the Deputy’s kind words. I have enjoyed being the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the past two and a half years and working with IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices, LEOs, to create jobs around the country and improve workers' rights. I have enjoyed working with the three Ministers of State who have served with me in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am very conscious business owners and managers are worried heading into the new year. The invasion of Ukraine has had massive consequences for the whole of Europe and not just Ireland. Indeed, we are now facing a global inflation crisis exacerbated by the war. Energy and other input costs have risen considerably. Interest rates are rising and consumer confidence is waning. It is fair to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Minimum Wage (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We want to reward work and ensure that work pays more. Minimum wage workers are among the hardest working people in Ireland and deserve to paid appropriately, particularly at a time of rising prices. In September, the Government agreed to accept the Low Pay Commission’s recommendation to increase the national minimum wage by 80 cent to €11.30 from 1 January 2023. At least...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Minimum Wage (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for her remarks. I hope that in times to come people will look back on this Government as one that has made a lot of strides forward in improving terms and conditions for workers. At a time when employers find it hard to recruit and retain staff, I believe that better terms and conditions and better pay must be part of the solution. We are moving towards a living wage....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Minimum Wage (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I think the fact that people pay the highest marginal tax rate at such modest incomes is very unfair. That improves next year when people will be able to earn up to €40,000 without paying that highest rate of income tax and will only pay the highest rate on income earned above €40,000. If we look across the OECD and across Europe, Irish workers pay much...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Violence and harassment in the workplace are unacceptable and undermine the principles of human rights. We have comprehensive legislation in Ireland to protect against this and the International Labour Organization, ILO, convention sends a clear signal to workers and employers that every workplace must be free from harassment and violence. I was committed to Ireland being an early...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (13 Dec 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The convention is a legal instrument that recognises the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment as well. It acknowledges that gender-based violence and harassment disproportionately affects women and girls. The convention calls for states to recognise and address this as far as is possible and to minimise the...