Results 4,021-4,040 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

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

Leo Varadkar: That may well still be the case. I will have to check with the Minister.

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

Leo Varadkar: I honestly do not know the answer to that question. I will make inquiries with the Minister in Tusla about it. It seems to be the kind of information that should be collated. It is a relatively new agency, but I would have thought that at least in recent years it would have been able to collect that kind of data. It is important to have it for lots of reasons. I will make some further...

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

Leo Varadkar: I met with the CEO and senior team of Irish Water just in the past two weeks. As the Deputy can imagine, these issues are brought to my attention all the time. Often, smaller towns around the country that need to expand cannot because waste water services are not available. There is industry that cannot be built because water is not available. In some cases, housing developments cannot...

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

Leo Varadkar: This is, as the Deputy said, a very big problem. It is driving homelessness in some cases. What is happening is traditional landlords who might have one or two properties are leaving the market. For every one that comes in, two leave. This is a big problem. The reasons why that is happening may not be all that comfortable for us to absorb fully. What are they saying? They are saying...

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...

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: 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: 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...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (23 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...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (23 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My officials have read and reviewed the "Economic Analysis on the Impact of the Statutory Sick Leave Bill (2022) On Small Business in Ireland" report that was recently published by the Local Jobs Alliance, and I want to extend my thanks for the work that went into compiling the report. We are well aware that there are employers in some sectors who will have to deal with the cost of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Funding (22 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: A total of €43.781 million has been allocated by my Department to support the Local Enterprise Offices for 2022. The table below sets out the estimated cost of increasing funding to the LEOs by 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% respectively. REV Allocation 2022 (€,000) 10% Increase (€,000) 15% Increase (€,000) 20% Increase...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Bodies (22 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: A number of Agencies funded under my Department’s Vote, most notably Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, National Standards Authority of Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices, generate Own Resource Income (ORI) from a range of their activities. The Agencies may retain and expend the ORI that they generate on pursuing their mandates subject to the limits sanctioned by the Minister for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Environmental Schemes (22 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My department is actively pursuing opportunities for decarbonisation across our entire enterprise base and we always aim to foster strong, resilient businesses, that are successful and sustainable, while meeting the enterprise sector’s climate objectives. The Green Transition fund I launched last week has two elements, the "Climate Planning Fund for Business" and the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (22 Jun 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Responsibility for the administration and processing of COVID-19 illness benefit claims falls to my colleague, the Minister for Social Welfare and her Department. Therefore my Department is not in a position to supply any details on the matter. 

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...