Results 4,221-4,240 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Data Centres (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There has been ongoing and regular engagement with many stakeholders including the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC), Department of An Taoiseach, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Eirgrid, ESB Networks, Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU), IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, as we revise the Government’s statement on the role of data...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Job Creation (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Ireland’s coast has considerable offshore renewable energy potential. A cross-Departmental/agency Offshore Wind Delivery Taskforce, chaired by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, has recently been established to drive delivery and capture wider and longer term economic and business opportunities in the sector. My Department is participating on that Taskforce to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is determined that Irish businesses can receive the assistance they need to reduce their emissions and transition to a new, low carbon future. To this end, my Department is integrating climate action into all aspects of the Department enterprise policy and the mandates of its enterprise development agencies. Under the National Recovery and Resilience Fund (NRRF), my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Living Wage (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I have spoken previously about how the pandemic has caused many of us to reconsider and re-evaluate what an essential worker is. We now understand it is a much broader group of workers than people would have originally described, many of whom are on low pay and in the private sector. The Government has been clear that a legacy of the pandemic should be better pay, terms and conditions for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Labour Market (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The period from early 2020 was a difficult one for many businesses, and some sectors were more severely impacted by public health restrictions and for a more prolonged period. Throughout this period my Department and its enterprise agencies engaged with and supported businesses, and as we have emerged from the pandemic there has been a recovery in employment across the economy. In its ongoing...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: At the LEEF subgroup meeting on December 13th, I proposed setting up a Working Group to closely examine the issue of determination of employment status. This follows on from my engagement with delivery riders and other stakeholders. The Working Group will identify the problem, get reliable data and put all options on the table in an effort to bring the matter forward. There was a good and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Properties (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department and its Offices are tenants in eleven buildings provided by the Office of Public Works (OPW) given their responsibility for management of the property portfolio for central Government. The buildings are either State owned or leased by the OPW. Typically the Department is a tenant in shared accommodation, either with other Government Departments, public bodies or the private...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (19 May 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. The potential benefits of increased remote working include improved work-life balance and fewer emissions from commuting. Remote...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government’s Economic Recovery Plan (ERP), published on 1 June 2021, set out renewed supports, investments and policies to underpin economic recovery and transition, to support the full resumption of economic activity, and get people back to work as quickly as possible. The Plan includes the overarching ambition of having 2.5 million people in work by 2024, a target which has...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: My Department and I are aware that it is essential that Irish enterprise has access to high quality, adaptable and flexible talent, and that workers have the opportunity to upskill or reskill in areas of identified skills needs for the Irish economy. This is critical at a time when the digital and green transitions, and their associated behavioural changes, are altering the economy and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Job Creation (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Economic Recovery Plan (ERP) published in June 2021 sets out the Government’s medium-term economic plan to rebuild Ireland’s economy. As well as committing to a package of supports and investments to assist enterprise recovery, the Plan outlines a medium-term policy framework to rebuild sustainable enterprises, encourage job creation and sustainable and balanced post...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: IDA Ireland is responsible for the attraction and retention of foreign direct investment in Ireland. IDA Ireland’s performance is mainly measured by the number of greenfield investments it wins and the jobs created. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment continues to work alongside IDA Ireland to support the agency’s performance and to monitor the level of inward...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Labour Market (19 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Recent CSO data indicates an increase in employment in the Mid-East region of 28,600 for the year to the final quarter of 2021. The employment recovery nationally coincided with the easing of public health restrictions and the roll out of Ireland’s vaccination programmes, highlighting the importance of the Government’s efforts to assist workers and businesses, especially...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendments Nos. 30 and 32-----

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: You would think I would know by now, being here as long as I have. My apologies.

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 30: In page 11, line 22, to delete “20 weeks’” and substitute “4 weeks’”. These amendments amend the maximum penalty the Workplace Relations Commission or Labour Court may award if an employer breaches obligations under the Bill. That now moves from 20 weeks' remuneration to four weeks' remuneration. This will bring the...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: These things amount to a judgment call. My original view was the same as the Deputies in that it should be 20 weeks' remuneration but having taken advice, in particular legal advice, and heard the views of many others, we had to try to make sure the penalty was proportionate to the offence. When we looked across other legislation, for example, paternity leave, when the entitlement was two...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: To be clear, it is not that the legal advice is that the provision is not constitutional or we could not do it. It is that when we are drafting legislation, we should try to make sure that penalties are proportionate to the offence. That is a basic principle of justice. A more severe offence has a bigger penalty. As things stand, it is two weeks' entitlement and two weeks' penalty in...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies. I know some stakeholders believe the rate of payment and an earnings cap should be set in the Bill itself. I do not agree with that. Setting the rates by ministerial order allows for greater flexibility and will allow the rate to be revised as necessary in line with inflation, changing incomes and, indeed, changing politics. For example, the national minimum wage is...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (18 May 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Section 6 provides that the first ministerial order made under the Bill will not reduce the number of statutory sick leave days. Subsection (2)(a)(i) provides that no ministerial order will reduce the number of statutory sick leave days below three. This means that once the Bill is enacted and commenced, the number of statutory sick leave days can never go below three. The effect of the...