Results 481-500 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (22 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Ireland has a comprehensive body of employment, equality and industrial relations legislation with which the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is mandated to secure compliance. Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation protects all employees who are legally employed on an employer-employee basis, regardless of what title is given to them. In relation to the issue of trial...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (20 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Ireland has been an outlier to date among wealthy OECD countries in not providing for any statutory sick leave. It is not right that people feel forced to go to work when they are sick, and it is not good for public health.  Following detailed consideration of the issues surrounding the implementation of the statutory sick leave scheme, The Sick Leave Act will commence on 1st January...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Energy Prices (20 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I would like to thank the Deputy for raising the genuine concerns from a local business which highlights the rising energy costs that they face. Government is acutely aware of the difficulties businesses have faced over the past number of years with the necessary COVID-19 restrictions and now in recent times with the increased cost of living and in particular energy costs. While the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (20 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Expressions of interest are received on a regular basis from business entrepreneurs seeking to join the EI Mentor Network. The criteria to be eligible to apply is a person who has built and scaled an organisation on a global basis, or been part of a senior team in doing so. Enterprise Ireland consider the mentor’s experience in the context of requests received from Enterprise Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (20 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of my Department informs me that a request for a review of the refusal to grant an employment permit in this case was received on 19th August. That appeal is currently being considered by the Employment Permits team. I understand that the reviewing officer has been in contact with the applicant and is awaiting additional information before a decision can be made.

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...

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

Damien English: Again I will make it clear to this House when I am in a position to do so and I have no problem with returning here for a second part to this debate at a later date. I re-emphasise that in our view the JLC process sits within the context of Ireland's volunteerism system of industrial relations and has worked extremely well for very important sectors.The advantage of the JLCs is that they see...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I am glad to inform the House that following the completion of the recruitment process, IDA Ireland appointed Brian McGee as the new south-east regional manager in July 2022. This appointment will enable IDA Ireland to promote regional development in the south east, which is at the centre of IDA Ireland's 2021 to 2024 strategy, Driving Recovery and Sustainable Growth. IDA Ireland will seek...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Yes, Brian McGee was appointed in July.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I hope he is at his desk working because he was appointed in July.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I will absolutely make sure that Carlow is not forgotten. We could not possibly forget it with the Deputy here. As the Deputy knows, in IDA Ireland's strategy there is a target to complete an advanced building solution in Carlow in 2022. It could end up being early in 2023 but it is a commitment and it will happen. There is also a commitment to bring additional investment to the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I thank Deputy O'Reilly for raising this issue. It is important to ensure that workers are correctly classified in a way that matches the reality of the relationship between the worker and the business. Therefore, we take very seriously any bogus employment. The Tánaiste is very clear on that and has set up a working group on the matter. In Ireland, mechanisms exist for the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: -----but we are absolutely clear that, regardless of whether public money is involved or not, the rules of the State must be followed.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I have no doubt but that the Deputy is well plugged into that group. It is representative of all parts of society. It is important we continue to focus on the area to see if we can enhance and strengthen our legislation and our regime. Part of the work of that group over recent months has been to assess the situation at the moment and the numbers that we believe are in this sector and to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: To be very clear, the State does not facilitate it. The State expects anybody who is in employment to have the full protection of our employment legislation, and we are very clear on that. There are two agencies, Revenue and the Department of Social Protection, that do a well-recognised good job in this area. Our regime in Ireland is well recognised for protection of employees. It is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Work Permits (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: In response to Deputy Carey, first of all, the permit regime change we made for the healthcare assistant is of major assistance to nursing homes and we work closely with them around that. Close to 2,000 permits have been issued. We have streamlined our process and we focus in, whether it be on home-care assistants or chefs, at different times of the year when there is a high priority. I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Work Permits (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which is at the forefront of our minds as Deputies in each area trying to support those who need care in the home. Ireland's employment permits system is managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists, which determine roles that are either in critically short supply or are ineligible for an employment permit....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Work Permits (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Deputy raised two important issues. The first is the reform of the overall system. In recent years, especially in working closely with the Tánaiste and the Department over the past year, we put extra resources and staffing into that area. The number of staff available to work through the backlog in permits has nearly trebled. Thankfully, the processing time has been reduced. We...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: We are trying to reach all of these companies through our various agencies. A lot of effort has gone in but our focus through the Department in the past couple of years is how we can fix relationships with Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices to capture all of those companies. Very often, the gap that is presented to us and, no doubt, to the Deputy, is that when companies go...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Again, the ambition and the focus has to be to work with companies and to encourage more and more companies to take on international markets. That is the win-win for Ireland and that is where we can create more sustainable jobs. In any of our policy interventions, and I think most businesses get this, we have to also recognise there is a displacement issue. If there are four or five...