Results 441-460 of 3,478 for speaker:Emer Higgins

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The amendment seeks to delete Chapter 3 of the Bill, which include sections 10 and 11 which deal with approved seasonal employers. Section 10 provides for the application procedures for employers who wish to become approved seasonal employers. Section 11 provides ministerial power to consider an application from an employer to become an approved seasonal employer and outlines the reasons...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: EU Directives (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the European Union was published on 19th October 2022 and must be transposed into Irish law by 15th November 2024. The Directive aims to ensure that workers across the European Union are protected by adequate minimum wages allowing for a decent living wherever they work. Article 4 of the Directive, Promotion of Collective Bargaining on Wage...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Wage-setting Mechanisms (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: On the 25th August 2023, the then Minister for Business Employment and Retail signed the Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the Security Sector which came into force on 4th September 2023. The ERO provided for a wage increase to €12.90 per hour from that date. The full details of the ERO are available here: si-no-424-of-2023-employment-regulation-order-security-indus...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Wage-setting Mechanisms (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: On the 25th August 2023, the then Minister for Business Employment and Retail signed the Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the Security Sector which came into force on 4th September 2023. The ERO provided for a wage increase to €12.90 per hour from that date. The full details of the ERO are available here: si-no-424-of-2023-employment-regulation-order-security-indus...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Schemes (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The latest employment survey results from Enterprise Ireland present a positive outlook for the Irish economy, particularly in the sectors under its remit. According to the Annual Employment Survey 2023, there has been a notable increase in employment levels across industrial and service companies. This growth is not just confined to the capital city but is spread across the country, with...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Trade Promotion (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The Trading Online Voucher (TOV) Scheme helps businesses develop their online trading capability and can cover various areas including developing a website, digital marketing, social media for business and search engine optimisation. The TOVs are administered by the Local Enterprise Offices. In 2023, there were 1,715 Trading Online Vouchers approved, and there was an expenditure of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Wage-setting Mechanisms (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: On the 25th August 2023, the then Minister for Business Employment and Retail signed the Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the Security Sector which came into force on 4th September 2023. The ERO provided for a wage increase to €12.90 per hour from that date. The full details of the ERO are available here: si-no-424-of-2023-employment-regulation-order-security-indus...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (28 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The 2023 Review of the Employment Permits Occupation Lists and Review of Minimum Annual Remuneration (MAR) Reports have delivered comprehensive changes to the employment permits system, with changes to 43 occupations and the introduction of a Roadmap for increasing salary thresholds for employment permits. The first adjustments commenced on 17 January this year, and they affect new permit...

Business Support Package: Statements (Resumed) (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank all Deputies for this useful discussion on the recent set of measures agreed to reduce costs for small and medium businesses. I would like to begin by reiterating the point made earlier by the Minister that small and medium businesses are vital to the success of the Irish economy. As someone with a business background, I understand the importance of supporting small businesses and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Work Permits (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: Ireland operates a managed employment permits system which maximises the benefits of economic migration and minimises disruption to Ireland’s labour market. The State's employment permit system is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the European Economic Area, EEA, where such...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Work Permits (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: In the past year, following a review, my Department has implemented changes to the critical skills occupation list, ineligible list of occupants and current salary thresholds for both the general employment permits and the critical skills employment permits. The employment permit section of my Department is also undertaking a range of activities to improve efficiency. That includes the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Work Permits (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The Deputy is right. Competitiveness is a key issue here. It is important from a business perspective and, in the context of the labour market, it is important that we are paying competitive rates to employees. The Deputy will be aware that one of the things we are piloting is a new seasonal employment permit. That pilot programme was announced and will be happening and we will look at...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Deputy. Her suggestion of supporting workers and businesses at the same time is actually something we are already doing in this Government. Only last week, the Minister, Peter Burke, and our team announced additional measures to support businesses, and under this Government, we placed significant emphasis on workers' rights. We put sick pay on a statutory footing for the first...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: Absolutely not. We are supporting both workers and businesses. We have a legal requirement to have regard to the potential impact of making an order to vary the number of sick days. For that reason, the Minister, Peter Burke, the Minister of State, Dara Calleary, and I have asked the ESRI to provide data so we can make an evidence-based, informed decision because that is what responsible...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: As the Deputy is aware, the Sick Leave Act 2022 introduced employer-paid, medically certified, statutory sick leave for the first time in Ireland. From 1 January 2023, the initial statutory entitlement was up to thee days' sick leave, which increased to five days on 1 January 2024. As the Deputy will be aware, statutory sick leave, and its phased roll-out, was designed in consultation with...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: On the 25th August 2023, the then Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, signed the Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the Security Sector which came into force on 4th September 2023. At that time approximately 16,000 workers benefitted from the ERO, which included a wage increase to €12.90 per hour. In addition to the pay increases, the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) for...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: EU Directives (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: The Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages in the European Union was published on 19th October 2022 and must be transposed into Irish law by 15th November 2024. The Directive aims to ensure that workers across the European Union are protected by adequate minimum wages allowing for a decent living wherever they work. Article 4 of the Directive, Promotion of Collective Bargaining on Wage...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: My Department is responsible for operating Ireland's managed employment permits system, maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. Our system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-European Economic Area nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages in the State required to develop and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: As I have previously outlined, following engagement with the Department of Health - which has policy responsibility for the dental sector - the Interdepartmental Group on Economic Migration Policy concluded that the Irish Dental Association's submission to the 2023 review of the Occupations Lists did not contain sufficient evidence to support a change in the status of Dental Nurse in respect...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (23 May 2024)

Emer Higgins: Balanced regional enterprise development is a key focus for me and this Government as set out in the White Paper on Enterprise. My Department contributes to this agenda in several ways, including through the development, implementation and oversight of nine Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs). The Mid-West REP is implemented at a regional level by a Steering Committee made up of stakeholders...