Results 521-540 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Relations (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I was very pleased to accept proposals for the Employment Regulation Orders submitted for the Early Years’ Services Sector. The proposals are a result of lengthy and detailed negotiations before a Joint Labour Committee consisting of representatives from both the employee and employer side, and their commitment to improved workplace relations is to be acknowledged. This recognition...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s employment permits system is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills and Ineligible Occupations Lists which determine roles that are either professional occupations in critical short supply or those ineligible for an employment permit. The regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Programme for Government committed to examining the role of the Local Enterprise Offices in these specific areas: - Expand the role of the Local Enterprise Offices, so they can go further in supporting local job creation and allow them to provide direct grant support to businesses with more than 10 employees. - Put in place the structures to enable a seamless transition from the Local...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The employment permits system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages, in circumstances where there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The system is managed through the use of lists designating highly skilled and ineligible...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Cost of Living Issues (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Government worked hard with the business community in Ireland on the difficulties they faced in trading over the last few years - especially with supports made available related to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions they faced. We will continue to work with and support businesses, including those in the retail sector, as they look to get through the next challenges they face,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide act as a ‘first-stop-shop’ providing advice and guidance, financial assistance, and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own business. Their business advisors and mentors offer signposting to the programmes and supports that will help and encourage new entrepreneurs start and successfully run their own businesses. The...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 73, 74, 75 and 83 together. The Government is acutely aware of the difficulties businesses have faced over the past number of years with the necessary COVID-19 restrictions and now with the increased cost of living and in particular energy costs. The Government is fully committed to helping business particularly over coming months but also into...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: On 3 August 2022, I announced my intention to issue an Order to give effect to a statutory recommendation of the Labour Court concerning minimum rates of remuneration and other terms and conditions in the Security Sector. The Order was to apply from 29 August 2022. On 24 August 2022 my Department was informed that the High Court had granted an Injunction prohibiting the commencement of the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The European Commission wrote to the Irish Government with a letter of formal notice on the 19 May 2022. Having consulted with the Attorney General’s Office, my Department responded to the Commission on the 19 July 2022. A European Works Council (a “EWC”) is a body that facilitates information and consultation with European employees on transnational issues. EWCs are...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Ireland operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The regime 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. As part of a cross-Departmental response to the crisis in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent statutory office under the aegis of my Department. The WRC’s primary functions include the inspection of employment law compliance, the provision of information on employment law, mediation, adjudication, conciliation, facilitation, and advisory services. I understand that Section 2(1) of the Organisation of Working Time...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Department of Justice led a cross-departmental group to Review the Atypical Working Scheme and my Department has taken an active part in this process. The Group consulted extensively with stakeholders in relation to their views and experiences of the scheme. Officials of my Department met with representatives of the sector including fishing vessel owners organisations on 22nd July last...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year and a half, which impacted on processing times. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 78 together. My Department experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year and a half, which impacted on processing times. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Ireland is committed to ratifying ILO Convention No.190. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is currently undertaking a stakeholder consultation which is open to interested parties to make submissions. Following the conclusion of the consultation, the views of the Attorney General will then be sought, followed by the formal approval of the Government for ratification. I...

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...

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...