Results 5,721-5,740 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I have heard of the practice of ghost brokering. It is illegal but it is often difficult to enforce the law against an Internet entity that may not be based in the State. I will take up the Deputy's suggestion of an information campaign to warn consumers about this scam so they might be able to avoid being ripped off in this way. I will speak to the Competition and Consumer Protection...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is a matter of opinion but my opinion is that nobody should be shouted at, shouted down or shouted over in their workplace. It constitutes workplace bullying in pretty much any other scenario and when the Deputy does it, he should apologise for it. Perhaps he does not think so and perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle does not think so but I do. The standards we uphold in this House are...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the Deputy's question, which I am trying to answer as he interrupts me again, we will have information on the revised roll-out of the vaccine programme in the next couple of days. That work is being done by the HSE at the moment.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The pandemic is unfair, as are viruses and, sometimes, science. Older people have borne the brunt of the pandemic by quite a distance with regard to illness, hospitalisation and deaths. Younger people have borne the brunt economically with regard to the impact on their incomes and on their freedoms. At the start of this pandemic, we told older people that they were the most vulnerable and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: With regard to the digital Covid certificate, we will give consideration to the testing option for the exact reasons the Deputy has mentioned. However, in giving that consideration, we also need to be honest with people. Nobody will ever say that any test, whether a PCR test or an antigen test, is as good as vaccination or immunity from exposure. We could do that in order to address the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is welcome that works are to be carried out on the runway of Cork Airport. This is a necessary investment in the airport. For obvious reasons, it is probably the right time to do it given that the level of air travel has reduced so much because of the pandemic. It is welcome that this work is taking place. As the Deputy pointed out, the aviation sector has received a lot of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: All of us in this House appreciate that the aviation sector is facing a very difficult period. It was booming before the pandemic but that has fundamentally changed. The pandemic has led to a dramatic reduction in air travel. It may be a very long time before it recovers because this pandemic will affect parts of the world for years. That will have an impact on air travel. I also believe...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I apologise to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle that she had to endure that display, ring her bell and be shouted over and shouted down by Deputy Doherty again. Deputy Doherty said that I need to get real. He needs to calm down. The constant display every Thursday of aggression, nastiness, fury and anger is all preplanned and done for his social media video he will put out in a few minutes or...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Let us not have this display of histrionics and anxiety every Thursday.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is just done for social media; you do not really care.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The modelling presented by NPHET to the Cabinet on Tuesday did not take account of the changes that NIAC has now permitted in relation to vaccines, nor could it have. We still do not know for sure what the changes that NIAC is now permitting will do in terms of the vaccination programme. We knew that the vaccination programme would slow down in July because we could not use the AstraZeneca...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (1 Jul 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is important, once again, to be aware of the facts. We know from the most recent statistics produced that approximately 10% of new homes in Ireland were bought by investment funds. Some 20% were bought by the State, through local authorities and affordable housing bodies. I have said previously we also need to take into account that first-time buyers, and people who want to upgrade or...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the committee for taking my Department’s 2021 FRE this morning. I appreciate that it has a busy agenda. My officials provided the secretariat with a detailed briefing on the elements of the FRE, which I hope was of assistance to members. The 2021 Estimate, which I present this morning, provides my Department with a gross allocation of €1.142 billion. This is broken...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy was right to say some of the capital funding both from the regional enterprise development fund, REDF, and the Border fund was unspent last year. We set up a Border fund exactly for that reason. My predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, felt the Border area was not getting its fair share of funding and was able to produce evidence to prove that. Much of the funding was not...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We are expecting an interim report in July. I have not seen it yet so I do not know what will be in it. It probably has not been written yet but I would hope the working group would complete its work in the autumn or certainly before the end of the year. It is a complicated area, as the Deputy will be aware. I have brought together the employers, the unions and the Government to review...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy asked about the code of practice on remote working. That is a ministerial code but, as she rightly said, is not contained in statute. However, the Organisation of Working Time Act is enforceable by law. The interplay of the Act and the code of practice is important because as people increasingly work remotely via the devices we all know and love, working hours are no longer...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: In reply to the Deputy's earlier question, we sometimes appoint external adjudicators to the WRC for a period of a year to speed up cases. Sixteen such adjudicators were appointed recently. There are many different Government-backed loans available at the moment. It is hard to keep track of them sometimes. They are available in all areas, even beyond business. The Microfinance Ireland...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am not going to comment on the individual case. I know the Deputy is not asking me to do so but I just want to make that clear for the record. We will make sure the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement has enough resources to carry out its functions. One area on which we are in discussions with the Department of Justice relates to gardaí. We want to make sure that when...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I will try to cover as many of his questions as I can. As regards the Delta variant, we anticipate that we will review the situation again in the run-up to 19 July. The key question on which we do not yet have full answers is that of transmissibility and how much more transmissible is it relative to the Alpha variant or the original Wuhan or wild strain. They will say...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Further Revised) (30 Jun 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am very much aware of the issue of the CT scanner in WIT. The Deputy raised the matter with me on a few occasions and I know he will not give up until it is purchased. I spoke to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science about it. The way I understand it works is that there is an approved list of things Science Foundation Ireland has but it must work...