Results 6,781-6,800 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Local Enterprise Offices (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide act as a ‘first-stop-shop’ providing advice and guidance, financial assistance, and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own business and do so regardless of the age of the applicant. Their business advisors and mentors offer signposting to the programmes and supports that will help and encourage new entrepreneurs to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Local Enterprise Offices (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My Department and its Agencies will continue our work to enable younger persons to develop the entrepreneurial skills needed to pursue their business ideas. The Local Enterprise Offices in every county are the first stop shop for anyone interested in starting or scaling a business and they provide an extensive range of entrepreneurship promotional, advisory and funding schemes, including...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Foreign Direct Investment (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The international call centre industry, or the Customer Experience industry as is it also known, is an important sector and a significant employer in Ireland. In recent years it has evolved from traditional call centres to language and technology-based customer interaction and customer experience centres. In 2019, it was estimated that approximately 56,000 people were employed in this sector....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Data (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is aware that it is essential that Irish enterprise has access to high-quality, adaptable and flexible talent. In order to meet this demand, the Government is committed to building and retaining a highly skilled workforce to serve the needs of the economy. This goal is set out under the framework of an overarching skills development strategy, Ireland’s National Skills...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (18 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: In March 2020, the Employment Permits Section of my Department implemented a COVID-19 contingency plan to ensure that the employment permit regime could continue to operate throughout the crisis. Since 30th March, the employment permit system has been operating fully remotely and online. Operational practices have been adjusted to replace the paper-based elements of the service to allow...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Trading online is a very important route for retail businesses to grow and improve their business in the current crisis and will be an important element in their recovery over the longer term. The Local Enterprise Offices continue to offer the very successful Trading Online Voucher Scheme which offers financial assistance in the form of a Voucher of up to €2,500 in order to procure...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Trade Relations (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Ireland remains committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda and a ‘whole of Government’ approach to implementation continues, as set out in the ‘Sustainable Development Goals National Implementation Plan 2018-2020’. The Programme for Government was developed with close consideration of Ireland’s responsibilities under the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Brexit Issues (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 10 together. I am acutely aware of the issues that have arisen for the bakery sector as identified by the Deputies. I fully understand that despite making preparations in advance for Brexit, agreeing the full terms of the TCA so close to 1 January 2021 did not allow many sectors, including the bakery sector, to prepare for the implications arising...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. Further information can be found on The decision to move to full scale Level 5 was not taken lightly and all factors were considered. All measures in Level 5 will stay in place until at least March 5 2021. S.I. No. 701 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19)...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the enormous difficulties the wedding industry is facing as the pandemic rolls on. I fully appreciate that it is one of the industries worst affected and for the longest and know that as we enter a second year of restrictions many in the sector must be fearing for their future. I do hope that once the pandemic is over the wedding sector will have a number of good years with so...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am keenly aware that all types of businesses are making a continued massive sacrifice to protect their communities and I am committed to ensuring that the Government will offer as much assistance and support as possible. The €7bn July Stimulus package and Budget 2021 provided a significant range of tax and expenditure measures to build the resilience of the economy and to help...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The employment permits regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages, however, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The employment permits system managed through the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 20 together. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a modern and progressive Free Trade Agreement which provides new market opportunities across many sectors for Irish firms. CETA is a comprehensive, high-standard agreement, underpinned by EU values and principles. It has applied provisionally since September 2017 and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There is no doubt that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary health restrictions have had significant effects on the lives and livelihoods of our people, and the Government has put in place a comprehensive package to help businesses and workers during the pandemic. This includes the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), the COVID-19...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Brexit Issues (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I very much welcome the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the creation of a new framework for the EU-UK relationship. The Agreement which covers market access provisions, tariff-free and quota-free trade as well as provisions aimed at preventing unnecessary technical barriers and requirements, is very welcome although it represents a significant departure from the trading...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Brexit Issues (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: First of all, I very much welcome the conclusion of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement negotiations and the creation of a new framework for the EU-UK relationship. There were several occasions during the long negotiation process where a no deal scenario was a possible outcome, so a deal that includes market access provisions, tariff-free and quota-free trade as well as provisions aimed...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am keenly aware that all types of businesses are making a continued massive sacrifice to protect their communities and I am committed to ensuring that the Government will offer as much assistance and support as possible. The €7bn July Stimulus package and Budget 2021 provided a significant package of tax and expenditure measures to build the resilience of the economy and to help...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the enormous difficulties the wedding industry is facing as the pandemic rolls on. I fully appreciate that it is one of the industries worst affected and for the longest and know that as we enter a second year of restrictions many in the sector must be fearing for their future. I do hope that once the pandemic is over the wedding sector will have a number of good years with so...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: 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 COVID-19 Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), low-cost loans, the deferral and warehousing of tax liabilities and the waiver of commercial rates. Details of the wide range of COVID-19...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Feb 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Restart Grant and Restart Grant Plus schemes were designed to help small and medium sized businesses get back on their feet after what has been an exceptionally difficult time. The Restart Grant scheme was launched on 15 May with a budget of €250 million. The Restart Grant Plus scheme was launched on 10 August with an additional budget of €300m from the Government’s...