Results 3,841-3,860 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Job Creation (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department compiles official statistics on clients of the enterprise development agencies only. For enterprise agency client companies (Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta clients) there was a net increase of 2,815 jobs in the Financial Services Sector between 2019 and 2021. This represents a percentage increase of 8.3% in the two years to 2021. The total...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is understandable that workers are concerned about the rising costs they are seeing and experiencing currently. The impact of rising prices is not unique to Ireland, and is facing all major economies around the world. The Government has been proactive in limiting the fallout from higher rates of inflation. Budget 2022 contained a large range of measures to protect households from the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Staff (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The number of instances associated with persons within my Department that received special leave with pay for COVID-19, set out in the categories requested by the Deputy is as follows: Numbers up to 1 July 2022 291 Numbers for an extended period of 12 weeks or more 1 Numbers since 1 July 2022 37 Numbers...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Labour Market (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 153 and 159 together. When we launched the Economic Recovery Planlast year, we set a goal of achieving 2.5 million people in employment by 2024. The Plan not only aimed to recover employment lost during the pandemic but to promote new employment opportunities through increased labour market activation and by accelerating the provision of training, reskilling...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is very aware of the economic challenge of escalating prices, in particular energy prices, and has put in place measures to assist businesses, including small and medium enterprises. I and my Department are working with Minister Ryan, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, and across Government, to manage our response to the energy situation as it...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The top competitiveness challenge facing enterprise today is the high inflation environment and rising input prices. Many small and medium businesses around the country are seeing their margins squeezed by the rising costs of doing business, and in particular the significant increases in energy costs. The Wholesale Price Index for energy products rose by almost 78 per cent in the year to July...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The top competitiveness challenge facing enterprise today is the high inflation environment and rising input prices. Many small and medium businesses around the country are seeing their margins squeezed by the rising costs of doing business, and in particular the significant increases in energy costs. The Wholesale Price Index for energy products rose by almost 78 per cent in the year to July...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Ireland’s reputation as an attractive location for FDI has remained strong, as evidenced by IDA Ireland’s 2022 mid-year results. Ireland won 155 investments up to the end of the second quarter this year, exceeding both 2021 and 2019 investment levels by 9% and 10% respectively, with total investments having an associated employment potential of over 18,000 jobs. Despite this...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The international call centre industry is an important sector in Ireland. Customer experience operations have been a significant employer in Ireland since the 1980s, and in 2019 it was estimated that approximately 56,000 people were employed in this sector. In recent years it has evolved from traditional call centres to language and technology-based customer interaction and customer...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (15 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department published the National Remote Work Strategy on January 15th, 2021. The Strategy identified 15 actions to ensure that remote work is a permanent feature in the Irish workplace in a way that maximises its economic, social and environmental benefits. My Department led the implementation of the Strategy’s actions through an Interdepartmental Group. The Interdepartmental Group...

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

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, the EU reached political agreement in their trade negotiations with the Mercosur region in June 2019. The Agreement will cement the close political and economic relations between the EU and Mercosur countries and represents a clear commitment from both regions to rules-based international trade. In 2021, Ireland exported nearly €0.5 billion worth of...

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

Leo Varadkar: My Department’s Blended Working Policy was launched in June 2022. The Policy is informed and guided by the Civil Service Blended Working Policy Framework published in March 2022. Under the Department's Blended Working Policy, all staff are eligible to apply for formal blended working arrangements and each application will be assessed on its own merits taking account of role...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Trade Missions (14 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Each year, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland collaborate on a programme of ministerial led trade missions and events which support the goal of securing high-level market access for companies based in Ireland who are aiming to grow business overseas and increase domestic employment. In recent years the majority of Ministerial-led Trade Missions have taken place to the Eurozone, North...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (14 Sep 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. The Right to Request Remote Working Bill will, for the first time, provide a legal framework around which requesting, approving or refusing a request for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (14 Sep 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. The Right to Request Remote Working Bill will, for the first time, provide a legal framework around which requesting, approving or refusing a request for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (14 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 to 82, inclusive, together. 2021 was a record-breaking year for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) employment, with total employment in IDA client companies now standing at 275,384, up over 29,000 on 2020. Growth outside of Dublin was particularly buoyant with 53%, that is 133 projects of the 249 investments won going to regional locations and employment...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Low Pay (14 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As I advised Deputy Connolly in July, last year I requested the Low Pay Commission to report on the Programme for Government commitment 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.” To inform its considerations, the Low Pay Commission asked the ESRI to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Human Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland's first National Plan on Business and Human Rights was launched by the Department of Foreign Affairs towards the end of 2017. The implementation of this whole-of-Government plan was overseen by a multi-stakeholder implementation group comprised of representatives of Government, civil society and business, including from my own Department. Both the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (14 Jul 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The European patent court has now been established and is a reality. We have signed the treaty but have not yet ratified it and therefore cannot take part. We want to take part but a referendum will be required. We have not yet set a date for that. It will either be next year or concurrent with the local and European elections the year after that. A unit has been established in my...