Results 4,161-4,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Broadband Infrastructure (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is true and a very good example of this is Apple, which has a major facility on the north side of Cork but 20% of its staff work remotely from all parts of Ireland and Munster. It is a very good model. In the world we operate in, where we are competing internationally for investment, it is largely them telling us what they want. They will go elsewhere if we tell them what they should want.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Smith for his question. Enterprise centres provide space and training for entrepreneurs, allowing them to work remotely, access training and network with other business leaders, helping them to scale internationally and attract small-scale foreign direct investment. There is a wide range of funding mechanisms available for these centres. To date my Department has provided...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I accept the Deputy's point that for some local authorities, particularly those on a low rates base, it can be difficult to find the co-funding that might be available. It is perhaps something we can examine under the regional enterprise development funds. We will have over €100 million over the next couple of years from that for regional enterprise development. Approximately...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: When it comes to property solutions, what has worked really well is IDA Ireland's regional property programme. It is involved with building advance factories and office blocks and we can then take investors to see them, getting investment and jobs in much more quickly. There is a programme of them across the country. The Deputy is familiar with them in Cavan and Monaghan, with advance...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Broadband Infrastructure (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Digital infrastructure is one of the four dimensions of the Government's national digital strategy, which I launched in February of this year. The new strategy sets out specific targets, including: 75% enterprise take-up of cloud, big data, and artificial intelligence, AI, by 2030; and 90% of small and medium enterprises at a basic level of digital intensity by 2030. A robust broadband...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Labour Market (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The period from early 2020 was a difficult one for many businesses. Some sectors were more severely affected by public health restrictions than others and for a more prolonged period. Throughout this time, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and its enterprise agencies engaged with businesses and put in place a range of financial assistance to help protect as many jobs and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Labour Market (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: A great deal of analysis has been carried out. We have an analysis unit in my Department on the labour market and future skills. There is also the future skills needs working group. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, does some work on this as well, as does the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, which falls under my Department's remit. As the Deputy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Labour Market (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. This is an interesting debate, and one that we should give more time to. I echo Deputy Durkan's comments. It is only 20 years - it is not that long ago - since there were 3.5 million in the country and 1 million people at work. We now have 5.1 million or 5.2 million people in the country - a 50% increase in population in 20 years or so - and 2.3 million or 2.4...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 30 together. I believe we can achieve a record number of 2.5 million people at work in Ireland by 2024. That means full employment and a job for everyone who wants one. It also means ensuring job opportunities in all parts of Ireland in order to achieve balanced regional development. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and its...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: In Project Ireland 2040 and the national spatial strategy, we took the view that we needed to make sure that the major development centres were not just the five major cities. We identified Athlone, Letterkenny with Derry, Sligo and Drogheda-Dundalk as potential growth centres. It makes enormous sense that Athlone should be one of those, given its location in the middle of the country in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their remarks. We have some very good IDA lands and a very good IDA site in Ballinasloe. The priority there would be to get it developed and get jobs into it. I do not know whether we need to expand it or not to include the old St. Brigid’s Hospital lands but I will certainly speak to the IDA about that. Decisions on property transactions are not made by...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Under the new Enterprise Ireland strategy, the traditional ten employees or fewer rule has been relaxed. Increasingly, we are supporting companies financially with loans and grants that are in that space of having more than ten employees but are not IDA or Enterprise Ireland clients. Therefore, we have moved beyond that. However, EU state aid rules apply. EU state aid rules allow...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Despite economic and social upheaval across the globe, Ireland has continued to attract foreign direct investment at record levels. Last year, the number of people directly employed in the multinational sector reached 275,000 - the highest level of employment from foreign direct investment ever and well over 10% of total employment in the State. In 2021, more than 29,000 new jobs were...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I know he will acknowledge that our offering or attractiveness to foreign direct investment has always been about more than our low and stable corporation profit tax rate. It is about our talent pool, the availability of qualified staff, our track record in terms of political and economic stability, our infrastructure and our position in the eurozone. We have always...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure I picked up exactly what the Deputy said there but he can be assured that we will continue to promote Kildare as a place to invest. It has enormous potential, given the assets and infrastructure there and its proximity to Dublin and Dublin Airport. We will continue to press for more investment and jobs in the county.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department and I are aware of the need to decarbonise our economy and society. It is my view that we will need to exploit all opportunities and means of carbon abatement available to us as we seek to achieve very ambitious decarbonisation before 2030 and transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2050. Officials in my Department have met representatives of Liquid Gas Ireland, a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Biofuels definitely have a role to play. My Department very much acknowledges that. That we have biofuel obligations for petrol and diesel is evidence of that. However, it is important to state all fuels are not equally green. Wind energy and solar energy are 100% green. If green hydrogen can be produced, it would be 100% green too. Biofuels are often made from...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Action Plan (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I was not aware that the committee did not agree to the meeting. I do not know the details behind it, so I would prefer not to comment on it. However, my Department officials have met representatives of Liquid Gas Ireland and are certainly willing to hear what they have to say. Pretty much everyone in Ireland has electricity. The best alternative is electricity. Electricity produced from...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am glad that journalists are armed with cameras, as, increasingly, are citizens by means of their smartphones. We would not know as much about what is happening in Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea, were it not for the fact that we have journalists and cameras. They are not weapons in any military sense, but the fact that journalists are armed with cameras is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There is no IDA Ireland office in Israel. A part-time business consultant represents IDA Ireland in Israel, which is quite different. There are no plans to have an IDA Ireland office or permanent staff member in Israel. We have part-time consultants in many countries in order that we have some representation on the ground. The settlement policy in Israel is wrong and we condemn it. We...