Results 16,281-16,300 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Staff (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In 2016, my Department established a dedicated Brexit Unit in response to the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union.  The Brexit Unit is responsible for supporting me in my position at the Cabinet Committee dealing with Brexit and with the Management Board in my Department, ensuring a coordinated and coherent approach to Brexit across my Department and its...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Staff (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As part of Budget 2017, the Department secured an additional €3 million Pay allocation to help in responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with Brexit. Enterprise Ireland’s exchequer pay provision this year included an additional €1.7 million to assist the agency in the recruitment of an additional 39 Brexit specific posts to work alongside existing...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Expenditure (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 85 together. The Brexit Loan Scheme announced during Budget 2018 will provide affordable working capital financing to eligible Irish businesses that are either currently impacted by Brexit, or will be in the future. The Scheme will be delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) through commercial lenders to get much needed...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Enterprise Ireland Funding (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Enterprise Ireland’s mission is to help Irish companies achieve global success. Enterprise Ireland’s Mentor Network programme helps companies to grow faster and survive longer. The mentoring programme matches new, early stage and established business owners with experienced business mentors. Mentors are entrepreneurs and senior executives who have experienced the kind of...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: IDA Ireland Site Visits (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: IDA Ireland markets Mullingar and Athlone as part of the Midlands Region, which includes three other counties: Longford, Laois and Offaly. There are 30 multinational companies based in the region, employing 4,280 people across all four counties. County Westmeath has a strong base of foreign direct investment (FDI) with 13 companies employing 2,571 people. The Agency is determined to increase...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Exports Data (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Neither my Department nor its agencies collect data relating to the average profit margins across the variety of sectors that export to the United Kingdom. However I can state that, as set out in my Department’s recently published strategy in response to Brexit entitled “Building Stronger Business”, Enterprise Ireland has been particularly active in supporting firms...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Brexit Staff (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy may be aware, an additional €3 million was secured for my Department in respect of Pay in Budget 2017 and targeted specifically to assist with increased staffing needs for the Department and a number of our Agencies to deal with the evolving Brexit scenario. These funds are enabling the Department and, primarily, our Agencies to recruit additional staff to supplement...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the table. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (2014 to date)* Staff Numbers Grades ** Exchequer Funding No of Staff Full-time Part-Time Chair Member PO AP (Higher) AP ***Case Officer HEO AO SO EO CO Service Officer ****Legal Personnel 2017 90 90 0 1 3 9 4 13 14 21 1 0 21 2 1 4 €12,138,000 2016 89 89 0 1 3 9 1...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Research and Development Funding (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) was launched in 1998, with five cycles of expenditure to date. The Programme is designed to facilitate Ireland’s Higher Education Institutions to produce world class research in key strategic areas including bioscience/biomedical; medical technologies; energy, environment and marine; food and drink; social sciences and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement Staff (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the table: 1. No. of staff1serving in the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) (2010-2017) GRADE 2 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 3 Director 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Corporate Compliance Manager 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Legal Adviser 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 Principal Solicitor 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Digital Forensic Specialist...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Job Creation Targets (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The goal under the 2016 Programme for a Partnership Government was to deliver an extra 200,000 jobs by 2020, of which 135,000 will be outside of Dublin. With a strong focus on job creation and retention, the annual Action Plan for Jobs provides a framework for the collaboration between Government Departments and Agencies to achieve this objective. Since Q2 2016, employment has...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Emigrant Support Services (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: This Government’s goal is to support the creation of an additional 200,000 jobs by 2020 with 135,000 outside Dublin and to attract back at least 70,000 emigrants by 200,000. The whole of Government effort to deliver on these objective is the coordinated by the yearly Action Plans for Jobs. The CSO estimates that between April 2016 and April 2017, 27,400 Irish emigrants returned to...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: State Bodies Funding (29 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The distribution of the 2018 allocations to the State Agencies under my Department will be determined as part of the 2018 Revised Estimates process which is currently being finalised and is expected to be published early next month. The allocations provided to my Department's Agencies for 2016 and 2017 are set out in the Table below: Agency 2016 Allocation (inc Supplementary Estimate)...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have a specific date for the referendum on the eighth amendment. I intend it to be held in May or June. That is a tight timeline to achieve but I want to achieve it. Establishing or meeting this timeline is, of course, not entirely within my control or that of the Government. We are waiting, first, for the all-party Oireachtas committee to produce its report. It has set a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputies for their questions. Initially, it was a personal initiative but I stepped back from it to avoid unnecessary controversy. As I explained last week, decisions relating to the budget and staffing have been left in the purview of the Secretary General of the Department. The unit will not be doing any party political work. I have given that assurance on a number of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The ten-year capital programme will be explained to people in a similar way. None of these things is a party message. It is entirely reasonable for the Government to tell people what the Government does on their behalf with their money, just as any other big organisation does.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In terms of the winter ready campaign-----

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The winter ready campaign is a good example of how it can bring things together and save money in the medium term. We went from a winter ready campaign which was very much the old way of the Government doing things with a booklet having 17 different logos on it and everyone having their logo and identity represented on it to a single identity. This really started in 2016 with the national...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----there is just one. People understand it better when they see a single identity which is telling them what the Government is doing on their behalf, particularly when it is something that brings together 17 different agencies and Departments. Surely there should just be one logo and identity rather than 17. Over time one can see, as was done in Holland and the United Kingdom, for...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Strategic Communications Unit (28 Nov 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----huge numbers of websites being collapsed into a smaller number. Savings obviously arise from that as well. The unit does not have a role in answering parliamentary questions. It does not have a role in dispensing political advice and obviously had no role whatsoever in the political controversy in the past few days. That is simply not its remit. I must disagree with one of the...