Results 3,921-3,940 of 4,720 for speaker:Neale Richmond

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (17 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: An application for an employment permit seeks to secure permission to take up employment in the State on the basis of a job offer to fill a current vacancy in an eligible role from an Irish employer to a suitably qualified or skilled non EEA national. Applications are subject to a range of requirements and criteria set out in the employment permits legislation and are granted to the non EEA...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (18 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The meat processing industry have been provided with access to the General Employment Permit over the last number of years, most recently with an additional quota of 425 permits made available in June last year. All quotas for meat processing operatives have now been filled. These and other agriculture/agrifood quotas were opened with a proviso that a strategic review on labour attraction...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (18 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: As you are aware, the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) was a government grant designed to help businesses with increasing energy costs. The Scheme was designed by the Department of Finance and was administered by the Revenue Commissioners. However, funding for the Scheme was allocated to the Vote of my Department. As of 5th October (the latest stats available from the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (18 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: An additional €9m has been allocated in Budget 2024 to the Local Enterprise Offices to enable them to continue their work assisting business start-ups in local towns and communities across the country. This reflects the ambition this government has for the LEOs and for supporting small businesses throughout the country. Each year, in line with the standard budgetary process, my...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Budget 2024 (18 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: Regional enterprise development is an established core element of the enterprise policy landscape, and the Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) are among the primary tools to progress this policy priority. The REP Programme Managers (PMs) are critical to the successful implementation of the REPs. To date, the REP PMs have been employed on short-term contracts jointly funded by the relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (18 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: As you are aware, the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS) was a government grant designed to help businesses with increasing energy costs. The Scheme was designed by the Department of Finance and was administered by the Revenue Commissioners. However, funding for the Scheme was allocated to the Vote of my Department. As of 5th October (the latest stats available from the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Budget 2024 (18 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: Last week the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney TD, announced a Budget 2024 package which recognises the ongoing challenges businesses are facing across the country, including in Clare. Overall funding allocated to the Department in Budget 2024 increased by 3.7% to €979m, including a €26m increase in capital expenditure to €584m, and a...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Immigration Policy (19 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Review of Economic Migration Policy undertaken in 2018 concluded that while the employment permits system provides a robust framework to supplement skills and labour needs in the State, the current legislation imposes inflexibility in its operation. In order to increase the agility and responsiveness of the system, the Review recommended that new legislation be initiated. The...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Low Pay Commission (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: I am grateful to Senator Warfield for submitting this timely and important Commencement matter. Before I get into the specifics of the sub-minimum wage rate, it is important to lay out the context in which we are discussing it, with regard to the national minimum wage. We all know it has increased as part of the budget to €12.70 per hour. That will come into effect from 1 January....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Low Pay Commission (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Senator briefly on a couple of issues that I could speak for much longer than a minute about. I would appreciate the chance to come back into the House to perhaps have a wider discussion. One thing I would be heartened about, parallel to this, is that in second quarter of this year, we recognised the job rates and decrease in unemployment, and 75% of people returning to work were women....

Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: I move: That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the Dáil of 29th March, 2023, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral answer, following those set down to the Minister for Defence shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence: Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Minister for Finance...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 216 and 217 together. The Employment Permits Section of the Department informs me that they have no record of new employment permit applications having been received in respect of the persons concerned in the details supplied. They also inform me that both of the persons concerned are current holders of general employment permits that are currently valid until...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: Organisations may choose to outsource activities for a number of different reasons. In the recently published Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2023 Report, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council found that the Irish jobs market remains particularly strong. For employers, the challenge to attract and retain the right people is growing in a digitally transforming world....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 221 and 222 together. The Employment Permits Section of the Department informs me that following the receipt of an appeal in respect of the employment permit application referenced in the details supplied, a decision has been made to grant this permit. The permit issued on 18thOctober.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Workplace Relations Commission (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022 amends the Payment of Wages Act 1991. Insofar as tips/gratuities are concerned, the provisions came into force on the 1 December 2022. In this regard, employees may refer a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for adjudication in relation to any unlawful deductions from tips and gratuities; any failure to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Air Quality (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 227 to 229, inclusive, together. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, sets out the responsibilities of employers, the self-employed, employees and various other parties in relation to safety and health at work. The Act applies to all employers and employees in all places of work. Under Section 8 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Protection of Employment Act 1996 sets out different rules for young workers, depending on their age. Workers aged 14 and 15 are classed as ‘children’. Workers aged 16 and 17 are classed as ‘young persons’. Young persons aged 16 and 17 years are not permitted to start work before 6.00 a.m. They must finish work at 10.00 p.m. on days preceding a school day. They...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Employment Permits Bill sets out to consolidate the existing employment permits legislation to create a more accessible statutory basis and greater flexibility for our economic migration system. A key feature of the Bill is the proposed introduction of the Seasonal Employment Permit. The 2018 Review of Economic Migration Policy found that there is a clear role for time limited work...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: The right to request remote working will be available to all employees under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. Under the Act, flexible working arrangements such as adjusted working patterns or reduced hours, will be available to parents and carers. Under the Act, employers will be obliged to have regard to a Code of Practice when considering applications for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Job Losses (24 Oct 2023)

Neale Richmond: Our first concern is for impacted staff (about 542) and their families and the local community and businesses in Limerick. Minister Coveney, officials and Enterprise Ireland met senior management and decision makers from Nestle Switzerland on Friday 20thOctober last. The Minister stressed the importance of the site in the context of the local economy and the wider sector. The company assured...