Results 4,741-4,760 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I saw some media reports on the report in question. I have not had a chance to read it, and it would not be fair to comment on it until I have had a chance to do so. When I said in 2018 that Ireland was a climate laggard and our ambition was to be a climate leader, I meant that. At the time, an NGO that scores countries on where they stand in terms of climate action and environmental...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Big investments on which I have worked very hard were nearly lost to Ireland because of the delays caused by judicial reviews. Some were lost. That is a real consequence for real people who lose out on jobs and lose out on investment, and we have to take that into account.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue again today in the House. The Government acknowledges that the cost of living is rising. It is rising very fast at present, faster than it has in 20 or 30 years, and people are feeling the squeeze. Whether it is the shock of looking at your gas bill, whether it is the electricity bill or whether it is the rising cost of filling a...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The right to request remote work is part of the 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 commitment to introduce legislation to underpin employees' right to request remote work was made in the national Remote Work Strategy. On 25 January the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am pleased to discuss my Department’s 2022 Estimate with the committee this morning. I understand that the secretariat has been provided with a briefing relating to the detail of the Estimate, which hopefully has been of assistance to members. Before outlining some of the specifics of our Estimate and plans for this year, I would like to say a few words...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The Covid supports specifically for business are being phased out. The CRSS, which is the weekly grant for businesses that are closed, is effectively gone now because there are no businesses closed. The EWSS is being phased out at the moment for a lot of businesses such as in retail, construction, manufacturing and the services sector. For them it will end at the end of April. For those...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I will make sure what he said at the start of his contribution is passed on to Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and my departmental officials as well. To answer his first question on how we enable SMEs to make high-quality changes in the way the big firms do, we are very aware that the smaller firms will need additional help to make the changes that need to be made. As...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I totally reject that it is turning the clock back. At present, workers do not have a legal right to request remote working. What is happening in practice at workplace level all over Ireland is that people are being very sensible. Even where employees do not have the right to remote working provided for in their contract, employers and employees are being very practical in the workplace...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: That is correct but, as I indicated on the day the heads were published, we intend to strengthen that so it is not just a procedural right. It cannot be the case that an employer just ticks one of 13 boxes or ticks another box. This will be more than a procedural right. If the rejection is manifestly unfair, the WRC will be able to respond to that. However, we have to be realistic as...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The short answer to the question is "Yes". Could the LEOs do more? If we scaled them up and provided them with additional funding and additional staff? Could we be more ambitious in the job creation targets that we set for them? I think that we could. We are increasing resources for LEOs and scaling them up. We probably could do more. One of things, as I mentioned, is the alignment of...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I am looking for the numbers for the WRC. I think I am correct that we are increasing the number of inspectors by ten this year. We plan to expand that service, and expand the WRC, over the next couple of years. With more people at work then there is going to be more work for the commission. We also need to increase the number of labour inspections happening in general in certain parts of...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: It is additional so the number will increase from 60 to 70. The WRC is staffed by 200 civil servants. There has been a 25% increase in staffing since October 2015. Total funding for 2022 is €15.7 million with an additional €500,000 to allow for additional inspectors to be hired. The total number of WRC inspectors will increase, therefore, from the current sanction of 60 to...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: With additional labour rights there is going to be additional work to be done. I would also like to see more inspections being done in particular sectors. That is definitely the plan. Generally, employers should engage with the WRC and the Labour Court. They are government bodies. They exist under the remit of my Department and employers should engage. The Deputy is probably referring...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I do not want to comment on individual cases but I do not have the file or I do not know the reasons behind it.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: Yes.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: There will be occasions even when Departments take that approach and there can be good reasons in individual circumstances. The Deputy will know that decisions are not binding. Some countries have binding decisions where they are binding on the union and the employer but it does not work like that in our system. As the Deputy will know, unions very often do not accept a recommendation from...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: No, we do not have a multi-annual plan in that sense. I think the target for 90 related to the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, and a lot has changed since then, including the establishment of the WRC. That target relates to an agreement from quite some time ago. The objective this year is to go from 60 to 70. I intend to seek sanction in the budget next year to have a similar...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: The short answer is "Yes". Unless there is some major shock to the economy that we are not expecting, they can be achieved. We are ahead of target when it comes to targets relating to female participation on boards. I work very closely with Balance for Better Business. All the interim targets have been met and, therefore, that would give me confidence that the target can be met this year.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Leo Varadkar: I join the Deputy in noting the favourable number of investments we have secured for Waterford and the south east in the past year or so. It has been really good news and my thanks go to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for that. I think there will be a good pipeline of investment for Waterford and the south east in particular. There was a lot of unused capital last year. Much of it...