Results 7,721-7,740 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Departmental Expenditure (11 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Office of Public Works (OPW) manages and oversees the State's property portfolio. Accordingly accommodation for my Department and its Offices is provided by the OPW in buildings which are either State owned or leased by the OPW on our behalf. The information being sought by the Deputy is therefore a matter for the OPW.

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Programme for Government (11 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Programme for Government sets out a number of commitments under the “A New Social Contract” Mission. This Mission includes initiatives that pertain to the work of the Low Pay Commission: - Progress to a living wage over the lifetime of the Government - Request the Low Pay Commission to examine Universal Basic Income, informed by a review of previous international pilots,...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Departmental Properties (11 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Office of Public Works (OPW) manages and oversees the State's property portfolio. Accordingly accommodation for my Department and its Offices is provided by the OPW in buildings which are either State owned or leased by the OPW on our behalf. Typically, the Department and its Offices are in shared accommodation, either with other Government Departments, public bodies or the private...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Funding (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will abridge the response so I can fit it all in. There have been two grants, the restart grant and the restart grant plus. The first was worth about €250 million and the second about €300 million but we topped it up because there were top-ups along the way. About €100 million or so was transferred from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to my Department...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Local Authority Funding (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, is in charge of that scheme. He is working on it. The scheme is for businesses that are closed as a result of Covid restrictions or that have seen a 75% reduction in turnover, but the businesses have to have a premises. If we open it to all businesses that do not have a premises, it would be a very different scheme and a much more expensive one....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I have regular and ongoing engagement with business representative groups and all relevant stakeholders, particularly in the context of the evolving effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives and livelihoods of our people. I have met a full range of business representative groups since the Government decision on the move to level 5. Specifically, on the evening of 19 October, following the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. We have learned a lot from the different lockdowns. Among the big differences between the first one and the second one is that we kept open the schools and childcare on this occasion and we also kept construction and manufacturing going. While we have seen 100,000 more people end up on the pandemic unemployment payment, which is terrible, as a consequence of level 5, it...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy O'Callaghan makes some very valid points but there is one thing we need to bear in mind. It is not so much the outlet that causes the virus to spread. It is not that shoe shops are higher risk than a newsagent or whatever outlet one wants to pick. The difficulty is that the more we allow to open, the more interactions there will be. It is not that the person may necessarily pick up...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Communications (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is correct. We are trying to ensure that people are aware of these schemes. A local radio campaign will start in the week beginning 19 November for an initial period of two weeks. The campaign will also be activated through the local enterprise offices and local authorities with the support of Enterprise Ireland and local business groups. We particularly want to encourage...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Communications (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I appreciate how difficult it must be for retailers, hairdressers, barbers and any business that has been closed during this period for a second time this year. It is extremely difficult for the people who work in and own these businesses. From the Government’s point of view, we would like to be in a position to give people as much certainty as soon as possible. The problem with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Communications (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: My Department is working with the LEOs on a local media campaign to support the "Shop Local" initiatives that are already active across the country. The purpose of this campaign will be to encourage communities to support businesses in their area by shopping locally and safely. Even while under level 5 Covid-19 restrictions where people cannot physically enter certain stores, they can...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I do not recall seeing that email or a letter. I usually get sight of any replies that issue to Deputies so I will definitely ask my staff to pull that down and we will send the Deputy a proper reply as soon as we can. I do not know personally whether there was prior engagement, so I do not want to say to the Deputy now that there was or was not. However, I will check it out and let him...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will definitely follow up on that and if we can provide help and provide alternative employment in Glaslough, that is certainly what we will do, and that is part of the role of Government and its agencies. Generally, the kind of advice and support that we provide people who have lost their jobs are not just about letting them know their welfare entitlements, but that is important too....

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: On the enterprise hubs, hot desks, digital hubs or whatever people wish to call them, we have a budget for this in the Department and also in the Department of Rural and Community Development. When I was able to get around, I saw a number of them up and running in various parts of the country, including flagship hubs such as Ludgate in Skibbereen. There is also a very good one in...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy for his recent submission to me on this matter. He highlighted some clear challenges that have emerged relating to the imposition of level 5 Covid–19 restrictions, including the prohibition on buyers from accessing sales rings at livestock marts. My colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, and his Department continue to...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Certainly I am happy to examine any proposal in this regard. It is probably more something for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine than for my Department but I am always open to suggestion. It can be difficult to have a scheme that is for a particular business or enterprise and then not face requests to do the same for other businesses. I am certainly...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am very sympathetic to the cases being made to allow marts to reopen with restrictions. I recall that during the first phase of the pandemic, we did exactly that at a certain point and it worked reasonably well. I know that buying and selling livestock online is not the same. It is the same as buying anything online, but in particular looking at a live animal online...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Support Services (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: Covid–19 is having a severe effect on certain business sectors and the food distribution and supply sectors in particular. In the case of BD Foods, the Deputy will be aware that my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, was very actively engaged with the company in trying to preserve as many jobs as possible. I understand BD Foods will retain part of the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Job Losses (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to note that 21,000 people are now employed in IDA Ireland supported firms in the entirety of County Galway. That is a substantial increase on 2010 when there were only just over 11,000 people so employed. The increase in the figure, from just over 11,000 people in 2010 to 21,000 people now, is huge. I appreciate that the vast majority of that employment is probably in...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Job Losses (10 Nov 2020)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy says, Ballinasloe is very well located and has access to a lot of the key infrastructure that is needed. It is a good site. I had intended to do something like that at the time but we ran into other difficulties around Covid, as the Deputy mentioned. I am happy to commit to pulling together the agencies and having a particular focus on Ballinasloe over the next couple of...