Results 6,081-6,100 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: To be very clear, it is always open and should always be open to states to change their rules and regulations if they believe it is in the public interest to do so. I have been a member of three governments and have done that regularly. Notwithstanding that, a policy certainty is good for business. If a business is making a long-term investment, it wants to be aware of that, so any time we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Often the value of detailed scrutiny of issues like this is that whenever everything gets teased out, we get to a point where we have a fundamental difference of opinion and we disagree. That is when we put it to a vote. My view is the best strategic position for Ireland to take is to be early adopters of international agreements to which we have signed up and that we believe to be in our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: As I might have said before, the joint interpretive instrument was included specifically to set out the right to regulate in social and environmental areas. It is always the case that states and companies can end up in court. I believe I know the example the Deputy is thinking about. That has nothing to do with any international treaties but it is always the case that companies and states...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I accept that the Deputy is an internationalist but there are different ways in which people define themselves when they use the term "internationalist". While I do not know about the Deputy, her party has certainly voted and campaigned against every single EU treaty, including the Single European Act, the Maastricht treaty, the Lisbon treaty and the fiscal treaty. To me, the European Union...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There can always be bias, so the answer is "Yes".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I withdraw my "Yes" because I am not exactly sure what she means by “overconfidence bias” in this context. Of course people can always be biased. I can and everyone can, and anyone doing the analysis could also be biased.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know. I have not read the legal advice from the Attorney General on that matter. I have only read the memorandum brought to Cabinet by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. The best thing to do is take it up with him. The issues around LNG and the Energy Charter Treaty are matters for him, as Minister. The Energy Charter Treaty, which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: That may well be the case, but-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It has also not been deemed unconstitutional but the Senator may be correct that it was never challenged. She may wish to challenge it but maybe it is too late.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: We did not try to do it. We would have been happy to have two days' debate at the time if that had been adequate for people. We agreed to this process. I am happy that we have debate and scrutiny of any issue like this but I do not think debate and scrutiny should be used to filibuster a decision being made. At a certain point, the Dáil has the right to have a vote and make a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I always welcome the Senator's contributions. It has been a long time since we have debated legislation in the Seanad but I enjoyed it when we did. It is hard to keep up with the number of issues raised sometimes, so my apologies if I missed them. On this treaty being scrutinised, it was the Government that agreed that the treaty should receive more scrutiny. It was a proposal from the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My advice is it is no easier or harder for SMEs. It is always more difficult for an SME to take a case than a big company, for obvious reasons. It is more difficult for an SME to engage in a legal challenge. This does not change that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Not that I am aware of, but I can come back to the Senator on that. On climate goals, there is always a potential conflict between trade and climate. Trade, by its nature, means transporting things across seas and oceans. That can increase emissions but one has to look at these things in the round. There could be major advantages in terms of achieving our climate goals from increased...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (26 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the committee members for a very interesting engagement and discussion. At the outset of this process, when we said we would go to the committees and not have a vote in the Dáil, I predicted that it was likely that people would not change their minds. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It means that all the issues have been aired and at least we know the items on which we...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (25 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Given the impact this pandemic and the consequential public health restrictions has had on all aspects of our lives and in particular international travel, it is likely that businesses dependent on international travel, such as travel agents, will take longer to recover than those engaged in other sectors of the economy. The recovery of businesses involved in this sector is dependent on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Schemes (25 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am acutely aware of the difficulties that the necessary ongoing Covid-19 restrictions are putting on businesses right across the country, including travel agents. With this in mind the Government has put in place a comprehensive package to help businesses and workers during the pandemic, including the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Trade Agreements (25 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will recall that this particular Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment consists of two important and complementary components, namely a comprehensive analysis of the potential economic benefits as well as a robust sustainability impact assessment including social, human rights and environmental impacts that the trade Agreement could have in Ireland and the Mercosur...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Proposed Legislation (25 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Content moderators carry out really important work to protect us all and we need to ensure they are protected properly in their work. I have met with content moderators and their representatives recently and corresponded with one of the social media companies concerned. There is already, in Ireland, a strong legislative regime to protect all workers in terms of their working conditions,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Data (25 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has a policy of data back-up. All of the agencies under the remit of my Department have also confirmed that they have back-up processes in place. For operational and security reasons, we are advised by the National Cyber Security Centre not to disclose details of systems and processes which could in any way compromise the cyber security efforts of public bodies. In...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Legal Services (25 May 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My Department spent a total of €3,810,021.86 on external professional legal services in the years requested by the Deputy as follows (also included in the attached table): - 2014 - €434,804.15 - 2019 - €1,679,625.46 - 2020 - €1,695,592.25