Results 10,561-10,580 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: All of them are - sons, daughters, nieces and nephews.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Schools Building Projects (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: There are. The two at the end play with your family, Acting Chair.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Educational Disadvantage (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. The Minister for Education sends her apologies that she cannot make it to the debate because she is in Cavan today, but she would like to have been part of the discussion. In March, she announced a major expansion of the DEIS programme, for the first time since 2017, which means eligible schools will now gain access to targeted supports...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Job Creation (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I thank Senator Crowe for raising this issue. It is important that we have this discussion given the importance of pubs and restaurants in the hospitality sector, and all they do for this country. The pub trade has been very much affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. I thank all involved in both representative bodies for their work in assisting the Government. I am conscious that Padraig...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Job Creation (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I thank Senator Crowe for raising this issue. I will close by reminding the House of the importance the Government has placed on supporting business, including publicans, during the pandemic. Most businesses recognise that too. We want to support businesses and jobs, but we also recognise the pressures on the SME community when its trade was restricted. We are aware of the importance of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Passport Services (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I am glad to take this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, who is at a Cabinet meeting and could not be here. The Senator raises an important area because there has been a significant focus on passports in the past four or five months, with much pressure on the system. All online applications are processed in the same way. This includes all applications from...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Passport Services (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I certainly will. I will bring them back to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Brophy. The point the Senator raises about extra resources and access to the hub for our political colleagues is fair. I will raise that because it would make sense for when applications are processing. The arrangements in the South with members of the Garda as witnesses can...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Damien English: As amendments Nos. 1 and 2 are grouped, I will speak to both amendments. Amendment No. 1 makes a minor but useful change to the Minister’s power to set the number of sick leave days by order. As originally formulated, it would have required the Minister to specify the number of additional days to which employees will be entitled. The amendment means that an order can now simply...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Damien English: On Report Stage in the Dáil, the Tánaiste accepted an amendment that removed the power of the Minister to reduce the number of statutory sick leave days by regulation. These are consequential, technical amendments made in the Seanad and they reflect the change in policy, in that the number of sick days can only be increased. This formed part of the debate in this House and the...

Sick Leave Bill 2022: From the Seanad (13 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I thank Opposition Members and all the parties for their co-operation on all stages of the Bill in both Houses over the past 18 months. While there were different amendments and slight disagreements, generally we were all supportive of the Bill and how important it is for Ireland to have a statutory sick pay scheme. I thank Members for their help and support and the Tánaiste for his...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Schemes (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: The Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers a voucher of up to €2,500 (with 50% co-funding by the applicant) to help businesses develop their online trading capability and includes training sessions that cover various topics, including developing a website, digital marketing, social media for business and search engine optimisation. The information provided will assist applicants in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s employment permits system is designed to accommodate the arrival of non-EEA nationals to fill skills and labour gaps for the benefit of our economy, in the short to medium term, but this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I wish to assure the deputy that the Government is very conscious of what the rise in global energy costs means for Irish businesses. Energy costs are one of the prime factors in the increase in business costs to which the deputy refers, and we have already implemented several measures to help ease the impact on enterprises of energy price increases including reductions in VAT and excise on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: A Public Consultation Process on retired workers access to industrial relations mechanisms for pension related issues was recently conducted by my Department and concluded a number of weeks ago. The purpose of this was to seek views on the proposals arising from the Private Members Bill and to establish whether there is the potential for new or enhanced methods of consultation through the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: The company in question has not received any mitigating aid towards carbon emission off-setting from Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland offers a number of measures to help businesses on their sustainability and carbon reduction journey. The Government recently launched the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund which provides a capital investment for decarbonisation processes...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Intellectual Property (13 Jul 2022)

Damien English: Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are one of the principal means through which companies, creators and inventors generate returns on their investment in research, innovation and creativity. IPRs are a crucial incentive for the development of new and innovative medicinal products, enabling the research and development necessary for the creation of many of today’s medicines and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Energy Prices (14 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 173, 174 and 190 together. I wish to assure the deputy that the Government is very conscious of what the rise in global energy costs means for Irish businesses, particularly small enterprises and those with tight margins, including those in the hospitality sector. While electricity policy nationally is broadly the remit of the Minister for the Environment,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (14 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 175 and 193 together. The Government is very aware of the impact of rising prices on Irish businesses. As Chair of the Retail Forum, I have heard first-hand about the challenges which retail businesses, including food retailers, are facing. Energy costs are one of the prime factors in the increase in business costs. Given that Ireland is a price taker on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Workplace Relations Commission (14 Jul 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature. The role of the State has been to underpin a voluntarist system through the provision of a framework and institutions through which good industrial relations can prosper. This system has served us well over the decades. Adjudications carried out in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) under the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Wage-setting Mechanisms (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: From the outset I would like to inform the House that I am restricted on what I can say on this particular matter at this moment. This is because on 24 August I received notification that the High Court had granted a stay and an injunction expressly prohibiting me from signing the statutory instrument on 29 August, as announced. This injunction has not been lifted. Proposals for an ERO are...