Results 5,361-5,380 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Sinn Féin increased rents in Northern Ireland. It never misses an opportunity to oppose housing here in the South.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It hurts the Deputy more.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I had not heard that Mr. Mervyn Taylor had passed away until I heard it from the Deputy now. I extend my condolences to his family and friends and to the Labour Party. He was a fine man. I met him only once or twice, but he was a democratic revolutionary. He served as the Minister for Equality and Law Reform in the Fine Gael and Labour Party Government headed by Mr. John Bruton. I will...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There were a lot of threads to the Deputy's question. I will, perhaps, focus my reply on the issue of student accommodation in recognition of the fact there will be a student protest today on that issue. Students have suffered a lot during this pandemic. They have seen changes to the leaving certificate cancelled and calculated grades. Many of them have had to experience college from...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister will give consideration to any legislation brought forward by the Opposition. I am very aware that we face a housing crisis and I am also very aware of the many personal stories. The Deputy does not have a monopoly on compassion or understanding. He may think he does but he does not. Every Member of this House has constituents and friends and family. Every Member of the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Data Centres (23 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 191 and 192 together. IDA Ireland has had, over the past 24 months, discussions and ongoing engagement with overseas companies, interested in investing, expanding or establishing in Ireland. These engagements may have included discussions with companies looking to establish a data centre in Ireland. Since 2020, IDA has been advised by clients about two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Chairman. I apologise for not getting the opening statement the committee earlier. I did not have a chance to clear it until last night. As an aside, I mentioned that on previous occasions statements given by Ministers to committees have appeared in the media before they were given and obviously I encourage members, if they receive a statement in advance, to respect the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I know. It happened in others. I wish to clarify that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Chairman and committee members for the opportunity to discuss this important trade agreement for Ireland. As the committee will be aware, the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs debated CETA over several hearings and published its report last Wednesday. I hope we are moving closer to a time when we can take a vote of ratification. Ratifying CETA is Government policy and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am happy to clarify this matter for the Deputy. As I said at the outset, the reason I did not get the statement to the committee was I did not have a chance to clear it until late last night.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I would like to have had it ratified. It was approved by Cabinet last December. There was to be a vote in the Dáil but we decided not to go ahead with it because people wanted more time for more scrutiny. There have been a number of committee hearings. As the Deputy said, the EU committee has produced its report. There is a legal challenge to the agreement but the High Court...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We have not set a date for it. We were not going to push this to a vote while the High Court challenge was ongoing. We are very happy with the court's judgment, which was an unequivocal decision. Obviously, out of respect for this committee and others, we want to allow committees to have their hearings. I have not set a date, however. Like I said, I encourage all Members to allow...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Corporations sue governments all the time. If the Deputy went down to the Four Courts today and looked at the court list, she would see many examples of corporations suing Departments, the Government, Ireland and its agencies and vice versa. The Government sues companies regularly where we feel they have breached a contract or treated us unfairly. It is, therefore, a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We have other international courts, for example, the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Justice, ECJ, and the European Court of First Instance. We have many examples of non-national courts and they do what people who are involved in arbitration and who are judges should do; they take account of the law, listen to the evidence from both sides and make a fair judgment. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There are two things. First, we accept the benefits of provisional ratification but provisional ratification cannot last forever and is open to challenge. It is, therefore, incorrect to say that we can just back the gains of this agreement and not ratify it. The second point is the message it sends out to the world. In Ireland, up until recent years, we have had a political consensus in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: No, that is not correct. It is correct that other countries have not ratified it. Most EU countries have. As a country that is pro-enterprise and pro-trade, we like to be among the first to ratify. We are not; we are laggards in respect of ratification. We are not the last to ratify. That is correct. Most EU countries have; some have not. I would prefer us to be in the advanced group....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I did not say we were the only country not to ratify it. I said we were laggards because most countries have ratified it. Even some of the countries the Deputy mentioned are ahead of us. CETA has been ratified in France by their National Assembly, its equivalent of the Dáil. That was done on 23 July 2019. It now has to go to their Senate. In the Netherlands, the lower house has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I believe they are. Canada, like Europe, is reasonably progressive. In both, we have seen over time an increase in incomes, living standards, workers' rights and environmental protections. I do not believe either the EU or Canada will be motivated to go backwards in that regard. The protections that are there are robust.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The potential is considerable. Post Brexit there is an opportunity for Ireland to become a hub for Canadian investment in the Union. We are English-speaking and have a similar business culture to Canada. There is a similar culture and ethos and many links between Canada and Ireland. There is an opportunity for us to say to Canada, as we say to the US, that this is a place where it should...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (22 Sep 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We have that figure somewhere. Somebody is looking it up so we will come back to the Deputy.