Results 7,661-7,680 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. S.I. No. 448 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 8) Regulations 2020 clearly sets out the temporary restrictions under Level 5 of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID.  A list of essential services can be found at...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Budget 2021 (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: My Department does not provide any funding towards any element of domestic violence services.

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. S.I. No. 448 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 8) Regulations 2020 clearly sets out the temporary restrictions under Level 5 of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID.  A list of essential services can be found at...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Restart Grant scheme was launched on 15 May with a budget of €250 million. The Restart Plus scheme was launched on 10 August with an additional budget of €300m from the Government’s July Jobs Stimulus as a result of the increasing demand for the scheme. The purpose of the scheme was to help with the cost of reopening or adapting business premises so that...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide are a ‘first-stop-shop’ for providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own business and act as a ‘signposting’ service for all government supports available to the SME sector. The Local Enterprise Offices can offer direct grant aid to microenterprises (up...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: 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 July Jobs Stimulus as a result of the increasing demand for the scheme. The Restart Plus scheme closed as of 31 October and has effectively been superseded as part of Budget 2021...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Domestic Violence Services (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: My Department does not provide any funding towards any element of domestic violence services.

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Restart Grant scheme was launched on 15 May with a budget of €250 million. The Restart Plus scheme was launched on 10 August with an additional budget of €300m from the Government’s July Jobs Stimulus as a result of the increasing demand for the scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to help with the cost of reopening or adapting business premises so that normal...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Retail Sector (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: In reference to the first part of the question, the Deputy is aware that the European Commission launched two antitrust cases against Amazon and its logistics and delivery services earlier this month under article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) on “abuse of dominant position”. The Commission has informed Amazon of its preliminary view that it has breached...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Data Centres (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment does not collect or store the type of detailed information requested but the Deputy may wish to follow this up with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. There may be some scope for different definitions of what could be considered a data centre or multiple data 'halls' on particular sites might be counted. Nonetheless,...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Trade Missions (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Enterprise Ireland is the Government agency responsible for the development and internationalisation of Irish enterprises. Each year, Enterprise Ireland, in consultation with my Department and with other agencies, as appropriate, organises a programme of overseas Ministerial led trade missions focussed on assisting Irish firms target and secure international contracts and overseas partners....

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Departmental Budgets (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: In my Department, contingent liability arises from the Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) and the COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme (CCGS). Both are underpinned by the Credit Guarantee Act 2012. These are important loan schemes which remove the requirement of collateral for businesses in loans which can be used for liquidity and investment purposes. The CGS has operated since 2012 with...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Enterprise Ireland has been engaging with the company in question since 2016, and to date, the agency has paid the company €65,350 in financial support. As part of this engagement the company was also successful in its application for Competitive Start Funding from Enterprise Ireland. Under the Competitive Start Fund, the company received a €50,000 equity investment which is...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Under Level 5 of the Plan for Living with COVID-19, only essential retail outlets will remain open. S.I. No. 448 of 2020 Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (No. 8) Regulations 2020 clearly sets out the temporary restrictions under Level 5 of the Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID. A list of essential services can be found at and the...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I understand this is a difficult time for many businesses, including commercial landlords, and that many companies have had to close their businesses or curtail their activities due to COVID-19 restrictions. I am aware that these closures can have secondary effects impacting landlords and I recognise that many landlords have debt repayment obligations as well as other ongoing costs. ...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: On the issue of the pension age, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, will bring legislation through the Houses before Christmas to retain the State pension age at 66 years. That legislation will be done before Christmas, so nobody need be concerned that the commitment will not be honoured because it will be. Deputy Smyth raised the issue of road funding for counties...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: It sounds like a very good idea. Many patients who use St. Luke's come from Carlow and people who do not have cars need to be facilitated. As taxis are extremely expensive, a bus system would be much better. As the Deputy stated, the matter comes under the remit of the Minister for Transport. As she did not have the opportunity to raise it with him, she has raised with me. That is fine....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy pointed out, we already have legislation on working times, stipulating a maximum number of hours that anyone can work in a given week, although it is averaged over 16 weeks in order to facilitate shift work and so on. There is already a law in place in that sense. Working time also includes any of that time at home, but perhaps it is not enough. We engaged in a public...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We will definitely do that. This is a running sore and a hot issue in the Deputy's constituency and mine, where people have been demanding proper regulation in respect of scramblers and quad bikes for quite some time. On multiple occasions, the Garda has indicated that the laws in place are sufficient, but people on the ground are telling us a very different story. We are determined to do...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (12 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate that this is a real problem. Before the pandemic, we reached the point where the numbers on waiting list for tests were quite low but they are now quite high again. We need to bear in mind that we need to protect the health and safety of driving instructors and testers - I know the Deputy will also want to do that - and this means that there are fewer slots than there used to...