Results 8,501-8,520 of 8,617 for speaker:Peter Burke

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Information and Communications Technology (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: My Department's ICT Unit has a core team of civil servants whose primary focus is cyber security and who work within a broader ICT team which supports specialist functions such as networks and infrastructure, data and business applications and the provision of IT capabilities to internal customers. The internal cyber security team has been expanded over the recent period and further growth in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Tourist Accommodation (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 958 and 960 together. On 15 April, Government approved the General Scheme for the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill. The General Scheme was submitted to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel on 16 April for drafting and this work is currently underway. It is expected that the STLT Bill will go through the full legislative process in the Oireachtas...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Data (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: An assessment of the annual cost of a new public holiday was conducted by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection as part of a broader report on the ‘Cumulative Impact of Changes to Working Conditions’ published in 2024. As there is limited historical information on the impact of an extra public holiday within an...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: My Department, in common with the Civil Service and public sector generally, provides a wide array of flexible working arrangements including reduced and flexible working time, and this reflects the Civil Service’s commitment to leading by example in relation to providing staff with flexible working options. More broadly, the Government has been taking a series of measures to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Tax Code (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the rate of VAT applied to the hospitality sector, which is currently applied at 13.5%. My Department has not commissioned an independent assessment on the impact of a VAT reduction in the manner suggested. My Department does, however, maintain regular engagement with a range of stakeholders through a variety of fora. It is clear to me that this is...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: The Government is committed to a safe working environment, fair treatment and fair wages for all workers. I am aware that a large proportion of minimum wage workers are employed in the hospitality sector. The National Minimum Wage increased to €13.50 per hour on 1st January 2025, an increase of over 6% which is ahead of projected wage growth across the economy. This followed an...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Tax Code (29 Jul 2025)

Peter Burke: I understand that the Deputy is referring to the rate of VAT applicable to the hospitality sector, which is currently applied at 13.5%, and is requesting information with regards to the effect of reducing the applicable VAT rate to 9%. Officials in my Department do not have access to the specific data requested, but I and my officials have endeavoured to provide a response based on the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Middle East (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 240 and 241 together. My Department has not acquired any product or service from an Occupied Palestinian Territory or from Israel or the Occupied Territories in the past two years. My Department operates a devolved procurement function whereby each business unit and Office of the Department is responsible for the procurement of their own goods, services...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: Policy commitments regarding the employment of people with disabilities are now part of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025 - 2030, which was launched on 3 September. Under this new strategy, my Department forms part of the Employment Pillar, together with the Department of Social Protection and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Medicinal Products (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The relationship between competitiveness and broader societal well-being has been clearly articulate by the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council with the latter emphasising that improving the quality of life for the whole community is the ultimate objective of the competitiveness agenda. Timely access to effective medicines has an important role to play here. This actively...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I acknowledge the challenges facing employers in the hairdressing and barber sector in tackling the rising costs of doing business in Ireland. My Department is implementing measures to support enterprise, protect jobs, and foster a competitive, sustainable business environment. As a matter of priority, the Government accelerated the publication of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) scheme opened for applications on 14th March 2024 and closed on 29th May 2024 following an extension to the original deadline to allow those who missed the first closing date a second chance to register. The local authorities contacted businesses at that time with information on how to apply. The scheme is now closed and it is not possible at this point...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: No formal assessment of compliance with public sector duty was undertaken for the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity. However, the principles underpinning the duty are inherent to my Department’s broader approach to policy development, which routinely applies an equality, inclusiveness and rights-based lens to its work. The Action Plan was therefore developed in a way...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: Under the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, the Department of Defence has committed to continuing to progress the interests of Irish SME’s to facilitate growth and ensure deeper engagement in the commercial dual use area - both nationally and at an EU level. I understand from my colleague the Minister of Defence that while his Department will look to develop a more...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: Ireland has a strong start-up ecosystem, but scaling remains a challenge due to limited access to finance. In July 2025, I published the Report ‘Market Demand for and Supply of Scaling Finance in Ireland’, which identified a €1.1 billion funding gap for deals starting from €3 million and Series A+ rounds over the next 3–5 years. To address these and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: Both the second payment of the Increased Cost of Business scheme and the Power Up grant were aimed at businesses in the retail, hospitality and beauty sector. In order to qualify, the primary activity of a business must have been in those sectors. The Increased Cost of Business scheme and the Power Up grant are now closed. In terms of broader Government supports for business, I'd like to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: EU Presidency (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 and 257 together. I propose to take PQs 50339/25 and 50351/25 together. Over the last 18 months my Department’s Officials have been putting in place the structures for a successful Presidency and have been working through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Interdepartmental Groups on Presidency Policy Priorities and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I launched Silicon Island: Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy in May 2025 to position Ireland as a leading player in the global semiconductor sector and to deliver on commitments under the European Chips Act. The strategy marks the beginning of ongoing efforts to navigate the complexities of the global semiconductor ecosystem and optimise its potential for all sectors of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I launched Silicon Island: Ireland’s National Semiconductor Strategy in May 2025 to position Ireland as a leading player in the global semiconductor sector and to deliver on commitments under the European Chips Act. The strategy marks the beginning of ongoing efforts to navigate the complexities of the global semiconductor ecosystem and optimise its potential for all sectors of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Expenditure (23 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: My Department retains an off-site file storage facility which was sourced by competitive tender for the storage of Departmental records only. My Department does not retain off-site storage solutions for equipment, vehicles, or IT Hardware. Certain Offices of my Department maintain their own off-site file storage facilities. It has not been possible to capture this data in the time frame...