Advanced search
Show most relevant results first | Most recent results are first | Show use by person

Search only Louise O'ReillySearch all speeches

Results 541-560 of 12,393 for speaker:Louise O'Reilly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: We heard it on the radio this morning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: The Minister will intervene where he feels there is an issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: If he does not think it is appropriate now, that is fine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I want to ask the Minister about the substance of the discussion because I am conscious of the time. I want to talk to him about businesses that export. He will be aware, as I am, that they generally perform better across the KPIs, including employment and productivity. It is a bit of a no-brainer that expanding exporting will improve our broad economic performance. In recent years the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I was specifically referring to SMEs. Could the Minister decouple those figures? The figure I have in front of me, of 3.2%, potentially dropping to 2.8%, refers specifically to SMEs. To be fair, it is an area where there is great potential.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: It is just a case of harnessing that potential. Sometimes those figures can become somewhat distorted when we bring the larger players into it. What are the specific figures for SMEs?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: There is scope to increase that, specifically for SMEs. I assume it is the Minister's intention to increase that figure from the current low base that I already put on the record. Is it his intention to set a target or will he wait and see what happens? When we decouple the SMEs from the larger figures, it highlights the scope that exists for growth. Is there a plan to set targets or what...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I thank the Minister very much. I want to talk about SME productivity and growth for a moment. That is at the heart of the potential to increase wages and profitability. We are successful in Ireland at generating and attracting high-growth firms, in particular multinationals but domestic SMEs sometimes lag in terms of productivity. That issue is not related to the workers not working...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: The point about making the administrative capacity a bit leaner is very interesting, in addition to the potential for AI. That is something we have discussed here at the committee at length. It is a subject in which we have taken a particular interest. We recognise, as does the Minister, the potential that exists, which is important, but we also recognise – I am sure he does also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Would the Minister have a concern that there might be difficulty accessing and engaging with the tertiary education sector, particularly for the smaller SMEs that are set up around the table? It might be a little bit daunting for people almost going back to college for the first time but specifically in relation to their business. Does he see that there is an issue there? I hope those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I have a point to make that is not directly related to what has been said, but I just want to mention it because it relates to news breaking in my constituency on the Wavin factory. The factory is moving quite a substantial amount of its production to England, which will come as a huge blow. I intend to correspond with the Minister on this matter. Balbriggan is one of the biggest towns in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I was only flagging it and was not trying to bounce in a question or anything like that. I just wanted to flag that I will be corresponding with the Minister. I mentioned the matter only because it is in the news in my local area. I thank him for indicating he will engage on the matter. Can he confirm that the ERO for security workers has been signed and that pay increases have been put...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: That is fair enough. I am seeking to understand the position on tracking.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: If the Minister could, I would be very grateful. I want to ask a question about the Employment (Restriction of Certain Mandatory Retirement Ages) Bill 2024, which will remove a small portion of mandatory retirement clauses. My view and that of my party is that it does not go far enough. However, even as far as it goes it looks like - as was reported at the weekend - that it will not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: In the autumn. Is the intention that this would be law by Christmas?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Of course. If it cannot be done, it will not be done but the Minister of State is saying that if it can be done, it will be done by Christmas.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: We will see. I want to ask about digitalisation. We had a hearing two weeks ago and I thank Ms Jean Carberry, who is here, for the very useful information that she gave to us relating to the digital economy and the society index. We know that only 66% of SMEs have a basic level of digital intensity. When we look at the various indices, there is scope for improving this. A total of 37% of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: There is a need also to invest in infrastructure. We saw what happened when the HSE was hacked. It exposed just how antiquated and outdated a lot of the hardware was that it was using, which surprised anyone not familiar with the workings of the HSE. While we are having this conversation about the technology, we also need to make sure the agencies such as those referred to by the Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I thank the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment (3 Jul 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: It is a little bit like AI itself.

   Advanced search
Show most relevant results first | Most recent results are first | Show use by person

Search only Louise O'ReillySearch all speeches