Results 1-20 of 8,196 for speaker:Peter Burke

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I am happy to provide the clarity. First, I agree with her on the harmonised approach to civil liability. That would be important. We want to be careful about member states having very different responses, which could present a very significant challenge. We have made our view on this known in the co-legislative process that is under way. There is a lot of territory to be covered in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank the Deputy and appreciate her concern about this issue. We are happy to engage and work with her as the directive is amended through the omnibus measures. I am in favour of the thinking on in-scope companies. It is critical that a risk-based analysis be conducted, particularly regarding human rights, the environment and areas critical to the companies’ supply chains, and to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank Deputy Gibney for her very important question. Ireland supports the simplification and burden reduction agenda at EU level. Specifically, in relation to the Omnibus on sustainability, the proposals are intended to address disproportionate burdens on businesses, in particular on SMEs, whilst retaining key aspects in relation to corporate responsibility. In relation to the necessity...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: Absolutely. Retail is the biggest employer in the economy. It is so important to our vision for enterprise. There are significant supports already in place. One key example I always give is the energy efficiency grant. At the moment, one of the key ways we have to reduce business costs is not to take money off businesses in the first place. Front and centre of that is the energy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank the Deputy for mentioning those important areas. I turn first to simplification. I have met Enterprise Ireland and our LEO sector, and we are keen to drive the message home that we need conditions that are simple for family businesses to get those supports, critically in the transition to digitalisation and sustainability. If we do not support our businesses, it will not be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 ,10 and 16 together. I thank the Deputies for these important questions on the SME sector. Ireland's SME sector has faced a number of economic shocks in recent years and these have resulted in very significant cost increases. While most of these have been international in nature, with energy price inflation the most significant, there have been costs...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Business Regulation (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: The CCPC is a very important independent agency. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, is working very closely with the organisation on inflation in grocery prices. With regard to vacancies, there has been a challenge with recruitment. The budget is there. There has been a significant increase in budgetary capabilities for the CCPC but it is a very competitive landscape and the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Strategies (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: No Government has done as much for workers' rights as the previous Government, of which I was a member, did in terms of banning zero-hour contracts, bringing in tips legislation, introducing more agile practices in the workplace, the fruits of which we have seen and bringing in a statutory sick pay scheme. We turned the dial on a number of areas that had been neglected for years. It is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Strategies (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: Let me bust the myth to which the Deputy referred. Our indigenous economy is at record levels. Currently, Enterprise Ireland is supporting 234,000 jobs in our country. Our exports, at €36 billion, are at record levels. Enterprise Ireland companies spend €39 billion in our wider economy. The Deputy referred to the FDI sector. There are some very significant FDI companies in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Business Regulation (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I convened the inaugural meeting of the cost of business advisory forum on 11 June 2025. In my opening remarks, I shared my vision and expectation that the forum would "create a space where businesses can speak directly to decision-makers about the real-world impact of rules and charges, and identify areas where practical changes can be made". The establishment of the forum delivers on a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Business Regulation (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: The key area on which the forum will focus is the cost of regulation and trying to make things more efficient and easier for our small family businesses. I always point out that many of these businesses do not have a HR director or finance director; all their work is done around the kitchen table, trying to vindicate all the efforts they put towards employing two thirds of workers right...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Relations (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I am sure the Deputy is aware that in the case she referenced at the International Court of Justice, Ireland was one of the countries that intervened in that determination to ensure Israeli settlements were deemed to be illegal from the point of view of international law. Our Attorney General went to the Hague to take part in that case. That was one of a number of actions taken by Ireland...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Relations (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: Ireland has been a lighthouse internationally in supporting the Palestinian people. We have, as I pointed out, intervened in the case to ensure that Israeli occupation has been deemed illegal through a resolution of the court. We intervened in the South Africa case and supported that very firmly, as requested by the Dáil and my own parliamentary party. We have supported UNRWA and are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Strategies (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank the Deputy for this very important question in an area that we are really moving the dial on. Ireland currently holds a strong competitive position globally, ranked seventh overall, and first in the eurozone, in the annual IMD world competitiveness rankings for 2025. However, we cannot be complacent and work remains to be done in many areas. We are aware that there are significant...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Relations (19 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank the Deputy for the question. The Government’s position and, indeed, that of the EU is clear: settlements are illegal under international law and undermine the realisation of a two-state solution. While decisions regarding the operations of individual companies rest with those companies, a corporate decision to engage in economic and financial activities in settlements...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (17 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: Regional development is a key element of Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the Programme for Government and the White Paper on Enterprise, and is a key focus of the work of my Department and IDA Ireland. In this respect, IDA Ireland recently launched its new five-year strategy 2025–2029 Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation, which seeks to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (17 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: Regional development is a key element of Government's enterprise policy, as set out in the Programme for Government and in the White Paper on Enterprise, and is a key focus of the work of my Department and IDA Ireland. In this respect, IDA Ireland recently launched its new five-year strategy 2025–2029 Adapt Intelligently: A Strategy for Sustainable Growth and Innovation, which seeks...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Company Takeovers (17 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: Wellman International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Indorama Ventures PCL, one of the world’s leading petrochemical producers and a leading global manufacturer of wool yarns. The broader Indorama Group is based in Bangkok, Thailand. As the Deputy will be aware, Wellman International Ltd, Mullagh, County Cavan produces polyester staple fibres, made primarily from recycled...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (17 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 352, 349 and 350 together. There has been a significant long-term shift in attitudes to remote work, and flexible working arrangements more broadly, amongst both employers and workers throughout the country since the pandemic. Acceptance of remote, hybrid and flexible working is high, and the evidence suggests that they are here to stay. The Work Life...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (17 Jun 2025)

Peter Burke: The sudden onset of widespread remote working during the pandemic has led to a broader acceptance by employers and workers of remote working as a viable long-term option with remote and hybrid working arrangements having become a new normal for many workers. The Government is committed to facilitating remote working in a way which maximises its economic, social and environmental benefits. The...