Results 3,401-3,420 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is another populist promise it wants to con people with. I used to think it would take two years for Sinn Féin to wreck our economy. I now think only one budget by Kwasi Doherty would do all damage.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy knows, today is the last day to establish an Executive in Northern Ireland and to give effect to the outcome of last May's assembly election. If the Executive is not formed, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is required by law to call an election. However, we believe Northern Ireland does not need a new election. It had an election 24 weeks ago and the results were...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Our plan is to engage as part of the European Union with the British Government to seek an agreement on the protocol, not just on the issues relating to trade but also to ensure issues relating to human rights and the non-diminution of the rights of people in Northern Ireland are fully protected. This is something we are very keen to do with Prime Minister Sunak and his Cabinet. If the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am conscious of the fact we have not had any announcement yet from the ECB on interest rates, but it is anticipated, or widely reported at least, that the ECB will raise interest rates by 0.75 of a percentage point today. I have to emphasise that, as we in this House all know, the European Central Bank is independent in its functions, does not take directions from this Government or any...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I would love to bring back mortgage interest relief for people who have tracker mortgages - I would benefit from it myself, by the way, as would a huge number of my constituents in Dublin 15, but I cannot make those kinds of promises. We had mortgage interest relief in the past when interest rates were much higher than they are now. We now have a prolonged period of very low interest rates...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Now Sinn Féin has another set of populist promises to make to take advantage of people who have tracker mortgages. When is Deputy Doherty going to learn from what has happened across the water?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: White Papers (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department continues to progress its work on the White Paper on enterprise, which is scheduled for publication in December this year. We undertook an extensive consultation with the public, stakeholders, academia and other interested parties over the summer. We also held a symposium on the project earlier this month. The White Paper will seek to articulate what needs to be done...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: White Papers (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: With regard to making a submission it is not too late. It is a non-statutory process and if the Deputy or any other Oireachtas Member wants to make a submission even at this late stage they are very welcome to do so. Our industrial policy down the years has served us very well. We have done well in our economic success, full employment, high levels of prosperity and high living standards...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy O'Dowd for raising this matter again. He has a keen interest in ensuring that we get more employment and investment into Drogheda. The new IDA Ireland land bank at the Mell in Drogheda forms part of IDA Ireland's long-term strategic plans to position Drogheda and the wider mid-east region to compete for FDI. I have been advised that since acquiring this land bank last year,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I agree. The acquisition of the extra seven acres by IDA Ireland from Louth County Council makes the entire parcel of land much more attractive to investment. The Deputy knows the geography of the area better than I do, but I know where the site is. The purchase has not just increased the footprint from 39 acres to 46 acres but has also made this a better-shaped site, if this makes any...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is fair to say that when we were in the teeth of the pandemic, we intervened and intervened at scale to save as many businesses and jobs as possible because it was not just about businesses, it was also about saving the jobs of the people who worked in them. However, there are constraints - much more so than would have been the case during the pandemic. Now that the cost of Government...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. There is room for bio-renewables as part of the new energy mix. One company in Cork, whose representatives I met recently makes boilers. It was explained to me how you could move away from using oil for those boilers to a blend or bio-renewables. I do not know enough about the matter to comment too much, but I take the Deputy's point that we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Energy Prices (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 12 and 19 together. I thank the Deputies for their questions. Understandably, a lot of businesses are very worried heading into the winter. The cost of energy and the cost of doing business more broadly is rising. Interest rates are going up and consumer confidence is waning. Businesses need help with their energy bills so the Government has...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Industrial Relations (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I join with the Deputy in thanking Patricia King for her service on the group and her general service in the past couple of decades. I interacted with her in many ways and on many levels in the past ten years or so. She is a very impressive person and I wish her the best in her future. As the Deputy is aware, Ms King will continue to be a member of the commission on housing and to bring...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Industrial Relations (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I know she will agree, however, that it is important that we get this right. That is why it will require further engagement with unions and employers. We also need to have particular regard to small business and how this would operate at the level of a company that might only have one or two employees. There is a lot to be worked out at this stage. It is not intended...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Understandably, many businesses are very worried heading into the winter period. The cost of energy, and the cost of doing business generally, is rising, interest rates are going up and consumer confidence is waning, so businesses need help with their energy bills. The Government has introduced a significant package in the budget to help them in the coming months. This morning, along...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. The scheme announced this morning is now open for applications through the agencies. I will have to double check to be certain, but I think food processing should be covered under the scheme because it is the manufacture of food products and most of our food is exported, so I anticipate that the companies to which the Deputy refers could apply under the scheme. They...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Prices (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: To clarify, the Ukraine enterprise crisis scheme announced this morning is now open for applications. The temporary business energy support scheme requires legislation. The Finance Bill has to get through this House and the Seanad before that scheme can be up and running. It will be administered by the Revenue Commissioners. Presuming we get the Finance Bill through the Houses, and I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Industrial Relations (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Collective bargaining is an important element of ensuring good industrial relations in Ireland. Industrial relations stability comes from a voluntarist system where the State does not seek to impose a solution on the parties to a dispute but will assist them at arriving at one. This approach has served us well in resolving many complex and protracted disputes. However, our laws are very...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Trade Data (27 Oct 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I congratulate Rishi Sunak on becoming Conservative Party Leader and Prime Minister. I look forward to working with him. The UK is our nearest and closest neighbour and we need to have a good relationship with it both in terms of our economy but also in terms of making progress in Northern Ireland. These are challenging times of war, inflation and global uncertainty and so it makes sense...