Results 7,101-7,120 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have any information on the vaccine programme, either in the Mater or in Beacon Hospital. I will ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to reply to the Deputy, if he can.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: First, with regard to memorialisation, the Government has taken a decision to develop a national repository for all archives relating to institutions, and I know the Deputy welcomes that. There are different suggestions as to where it should be located but we intend to press ahead with it, not just so people can have access to records but also in order that the records can be studied. We...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I obviously cannot make any commitments on behalf of KPMG. It is a court-sponsored liquidation process and the Deputy will appreciate why I cannot intervene. There will be workers' rights legislation, including legislation on sick pay. We might not have it in this session, but I anticipate we will have it in the first half of the year. I hope I will have the co-operation of the House...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is absolutely right to raise the issue of nursing homes. In the first and second waves of the infection the majority of deaths that occurred in Ireland as a consequence of Covid-19 involved people who were residents of nursing homes. There has been a similar pattern across the developed world. It is mainly due to fact that the people who are living in nursing homes tend to be...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Under the new rules, any person entering the State through our ports or airports will have to have had a PCR test with a negative result within 72 hours of their arrival. The only exception that is being made is for people who are transport workers in that supply chain, such as hauliers, cabin crew and pilots, for obvious reasons. Some exceptions are made on compassionate grounds where...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: For now, the only exceptions to having to have a negative PCR test result on coming into the country are if one is under six years of age, if one is part of the transport supply chain such as the pilot, cabin crew or haulier or for compassionate grounds where someone needs to race back to the country in an emergency. We can consider further exceptions into the future and I will take up what...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I am really glad the Deputy brought this up because it has been on my mind as well. I am conscious that a large number of volunteers are helping out in the testing centres and swabbing centres. Not only are these people giving up their time, they are also willing to put themselves at a certain degree of risk of contracting the virus. That needs to be recognised properly, so we are giving...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: To answer the Deputy's question, it is okay to ask questions and, yes, it is okay to have doubts and to seek reassurance and information. That is entirely reasonable. During my time practising as a doctor - as a GP - I worked in vaccine clinics. People had questions and concerns and it was my job to answer their questions, give them accurate information and assuage their concerns. The...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: It is always okay to ask questions, particularly if the purpose of asking the question is to seek information. It is different when people ask questions for rhetorical reasons, namely, when they are trying to make a point rather than seeking information. We all recognise that. As to what is happening in terms of our hospitals, there have been issues from time to time in individual...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy asked about Be On Call for Ireland. As I mentioned earlier, that was something we launched last March. I launched it as Taoiseach with the Minister for Health at the time, Deputy Harris. We had a significant level of interest in it but it did not turn out to be what we thought it would be because we found that a significant number of people were not available. Some were not...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Berry - Dr. Berry - for his contribution and for the work I know he has been doing on the front line in respect of the vaccination programme. The programme is well under way. We are doing better than people think. There are approximately 200 countries in the world but only 40 have started a vaccination programme and we are among those. We are now in the top ten or 12 in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. First, the situation in our hospitals remains very precarious and, unfortunately, it is continuing to deteriorate. The very best way we can support the staff working in our acute hospitals is to continue to abide by the restrictions, to social distance and to do all the things that are being asked of us. That is what we need to do to decrease the number of people...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: On 6 January the Government announced new measures to help control the spread of Covid-19 including the decision to close most construction with effect from 6pm on Friday 8 January. Government agreed to a limited number of exemptions to this new restriction, including for certain large projects in the Exporting/FDI sector. To implement the new measures S.I. No. 4 of 2021 Health Act...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The €2 billion COVID Credit Guarantee Scheme (CCGS) is the largest such scheme in the history of the state. Its purpose is to facilitate additional liquidity to SMEs, primary producers and Small Mid-Caps. The Scheme operates in accordance with the European Commission’s Temporary Framework for State Aid. This Framework has relaxed the levels of state aid permissible to Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Health and Safety Inspections (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Between the 1January 2020 and 31December 2020 the Health and Safety Authority carried out nine thousand one hundred and twenty five (9,125) workplace inspections across a range of sectors including 5,164 inspections to assess compliance with the Work Safely Protocol.  During 2020 the Health and Safety Authority took on a number of new roles in relation to the management of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Illness Benefit (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My colleague the Minister for Social Protection who has responsibility for the enhanced illness benefit payment informs me that under the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act 2020 (No. 1), the Government, having regard to the manifest and grave risk to human life and public health posed by the spread of Covid-19, extended the Social...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: The National Framework Living with COVID-19 recognises the need for an overall incremental approach which take account of the societal and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the varying responses required at different times. The Framework sets out how businesses should operate at five different levels. In the first instance, an employer is responsible for determining what work can...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Action Plan for Jobs (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: Action Plan for Jobs (APJ), 2018, was the seventh and final in an annual series outlining the Government’s joined-up approach to maximising employment across Ireland ensuring that all parts of the country achieve their potential in terms of job creation.  Employment grew by over 300,000 over the lifetime of the Action Plans for Jobs, 2012 to 2018, with job creation in all eight...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Regional Development (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: There are 120 IDA supported companies in the West Region, employing 27,695 people in total.  There are 17 IDA supported companies in County Mayo, employing 4,955 people. Regional development is at the centre of IDA’s new strategy, Driving Recovery & Sustainable Growth 2021-2024. IDA is committed to the pursuit of more balanced, compact regional development which can...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Strategies (14 Jan 2021)

Leo Varadkar: My Department’s focus is on achieving a strong recovery and sustainable economic development through business growth and jobs growth, resilience and innovation. We will continue to strengthen employment rights and champion the principles of responsible free enterprise and fair competition. Future proofing our economy and society for the twin transition to a sustainable low carbon...