Results 4,501-4,520 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Consultations (10 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Details of external consultancy reports commissioned by my Department in the years 2019 to 2021 and to date in 2022 are set out in the attached tables. 2019 Title of Report Commissioned Consultancy Company Publication Date Cost Internal Audit Reports on (i) the Workplace Relations Commission; (ii) the Labour Court; (iii) the Employment...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Ukrainian War (10 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The unanimous cross-party Dáil motion adopted last week could not have made clearer Ireland’s strong condemnation of Russia’s unjustified, unprovoked and immoral war. It is a gross violation of international law and the UN Charter. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure; the use of prohibited weapons; and indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks; are...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Funding (9 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF) and Border Enterprise Development Fund (BEDF) are supporting major new initiatives that can significantly assist regional enterprise development. This is being achieved by co-financing the development and implementation of projects that can sustain and add to employment at a national, regional and county level. Applicants must be not-for-profit...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (9 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Government is committed to introducing a statutory sick pay scheme and as such the Sick Leave Bill is being prioritised. Ireland is an outlier among wealthy OECD countries in not providing for any statutory paid sick leave. It is simply not right that people who are sick are often afraid to take time off for fear of a major reduction in their income and it's not good when it comes to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Commemorative Events (8 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The correspondence referred to has been received and a response has issued to the person concerned.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Staff (8 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently a total of 982 staff in my Department with a full time equivalency of which 945.47. As of the 3March 2022 the highest and second highest annual salary associated with staff of my Department are €205,199 and €181,439 respectively.  Remuneration of all the staff of my Department and its Offices is as sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Protected Disclosures (8 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The table attached sets out the number of protected disclosures made to my Department in each of the 2019 to 2021 and to date in 2022.I am informed by my officials that external contractors were not engaged regarding a protected disclosure over that time period, and that none of the protected disclosures remain under review. Year Number 2019 2 ...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am not aware of the practice and neither is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. We were chatting while the Deputy was asking his question. Perhaps the Deputy will send me a short note on this issue, maybe a page or two, and I will ensure the Minister for Finance receives it.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not know. I will make inquiries with the Minister for Health and ask him to respond directly to the Deputy regarding this issue. When it comes to any surgical procedure, there will be adverse events, no matter what the procedure, and they do not all necessarily translate as negligence or harm.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is definitely the case.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I completely understand what the Deputy is saying, as does the Government. The prices of diesel and petrol have soared in recent weeks. We saw increases as a consequence of the pandemic but we are now seeing further increases on top of that, as a result of the war in Ukraine, that had not been anticipated or predicted by anyone. We will have to respond to this. When it comes to business...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. As I mentioned earlier, I had a chance to meet with the six farming organisations yesterday and had a good discussion on this. While most sectors are seeing an increase in the prices farmers are getting, it is pretty much wiped out, if not entirely wiped out, by the increase of input costs, particularly when it comes to energy and fertiliser. The Minister, Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I join her in commending and congratulating the workers involved on taking that case. The outcome from the Labour Court is clear. We are working on amendments to the Bill. I engaged with the Attorney General on it yesterday. The difficulty is that a mandatory service charge is not a gratuity or tip. It is compulsory. If you do not pay it, the restaurateur or...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I join him in utterly and unreservedly condemning the attack on Garda Scott in County Cavan the other day. The House is united in horror and condemnation of that attack. An attack on the Defence Forces or An Garda Síochána is an attack on all of us because it is an attack on the State. In relation to Garda resources, we have more gardaí in Ireland...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: This is a long-running saga and has been going on for far too long. I am a big fan of the ESB as a company but it has not covered itself in glory when it comes to this issue. A decision has to be made by ESB. It has to take a case to the court or demolish and remove the wind farm. It is one or the other. It is a decision for that company but it has to resolve this quickly.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The report was stark, and I would welcome a debate on it in the House if that could be arranged through the Business Committee. The report probably did not get the attention it deserved because of the other world events happening at the moment. It says two things to us as a country. It reminds us not only that we need to press ahead and implement our climate action plan but also, even if...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: We will have to give some thought to that. The shock to our economy and to energy prices as a result of the invasion of Ukraine was not anticipated but it has happened and we have to deal with it. The Government is very aware of the impact this will have on households in the form of higher energy bills for motorists, farmers, business people and the haulage sector. We knew prices would...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I do not have any information on the detail of that appointment, but I will ask my office to liaise with the Department of Health and to provide the Deputy with a written reply. I know that the HSE's national service plan published the other day provides additional funding to help patients with long Covid. I do not know how that translates into particular posts in particular...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I agree that the strategic development zone, SDZ, around Ireland West Airport Knock has real potential. Perhaps we will have a chance to discuss it a little more tomorrow, when I will be in the county. We have seen the success of the zone around Shannon Airport, and I think something similar could be done around Knock. I am told that the preparation of the planning scheme for the SDZ is a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Mar 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is right that we need a whole-of-government response to this issue. There is a real opportunity here for Ireland to move within a generation from being an energy importer to being an energy exporter using offshore wind, onshore wind and solar to produce electricity, while also using offshore wind to produce hydrogen, a dispatchable fuel that we can use to replace gas and petrol...