Results 701-720 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The Payment of Wages Act 1991 regulates how wages and salaries are paid and what deductions may be made from same. Under this Act, an employer is not permitted to make deductions from an employee's wages unless the deduction is authorised under the contract of employment, required by statute, or is made with the prior written consent of the employee. Special restrictions are placed on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The Tánaiste agreed to convene a consultative working group on the Determination of Employment Status, which I Chair. The first meeting of this group took place on Wednesday 13thof April 2022 and the second meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 21stof June. The group consists of representatives from ICTU, Ibec, the Construction Federation of Ireland and ISME as well as officials...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022 (No 5 of 2022) was published on 24 January 2022. The Bill completed Seanad 2nd Stage on 1st February last, at which session it was undertook to reconsider the treatment of service charges in the Bill. The relevant issues and potential implications including legal matters related to any regulation of service charges are...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Energy Prices (19 May 2022)

Damien English: As the Deputy is aware, Government have responded with up to €2.1 billion in measures to date to mitigate the rising cost of living including a personal income tax package worth €520 million, a social welfare package of €550 million and we have reduced VAT from 13.5% to 9% on gas and electricity bills from the start of the month until the end of October. The Government...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: Following extensive engagement with the social partners, the 'Plan for Action on Collective Redundancies following Insolvency' was published in June 2021. This sets out several commitments to safeguard further the rights of workers in these circumstances including: 1. amendments to company law and employment law, 2. establishing a new Employment Law Review Group, and 3. the provision of an...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (19 May 2022)

Damien English: A new round of the Online Retail Scheme was opened for applications on 05 May and closes on 01 June 2022. I expect that the successful applicants for this Call of the Online Retail Scheme with a total fund size of €9.3m will be announced by early Q3 2022. In 2020, my Department launched the COVID-19 Online Retail Scheme in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the urgent need for retail...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect is a best practice guide and template to remind employers of the statutory obligations around record keeping, the maximum average weekly working hours permitted for employees, and employees statutory rest period entitlements. The Code is also aimed at ensuring employees are aware of their statutory entitlements and how to raise concerns in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Policies (19 May 2022)

Damien English: As the Deputy is aware, Government have responded with up to €2.1 billion in measures to date to mitigate the rising cost of living including a personal income tax package worth €520 million, a social welfare package is €550 million and we have reduced VAT from 13.5% to 9% on gas and electricity bills from the start of the month until the end of October. The...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (19 May 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s employment permit system is designed to supplement the State’s skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time. The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the occupation lists: the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (19 May 2022)

Damien English: To date my Department has provided funding of €250 million administered by Enterprise Ireland to support the establishment of some 270 Enterprise Centres throughout Ireland, of which approximately 40 of these Centres originated from the Regional Enterprise Plans, including from Cavan and Monaghan. Such centres provide space and training for entrepreneurs, allowing them to work...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (19 May 2022)

Damien English: A new round of the Online Retail Scheme was opened for applications on 05 May and closes on 01 June 2022. I expect that the successful applicants for this Call of the Online Retail Scheme with a total fund size of €9.3m will be announced by early Q3 2022. In 2020, my Department launched the COVID-19 Online Retail Scheme in response to the COVID-19 crisis and the urgent need for retail...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Joint Labour Committees (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The conditions of the decision to announce an extension of the 9% Value Added Tax (VAT) rate for the tourism and hospitality industry are as outlined by Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe T.D. who is the Minister with responsibility for VAT. This extension until February 2023 is very welcome and should assist the sector greatly as one of the sectors which was most impacted by public...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The Trading Online Voucher Scheme (TOVs) offers a voucher of up to €2,500 (50% co- funded 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 is impartial and will assist...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (19 May 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: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015 prohibit an employer from discriminating against an employee or prospective employee in relation to access to employment, conditions of employment, training or experience for or in relation to employment, promotion or regrading or classification of posts. Employers are required to operate fair recruitment procedures from the outset that are free...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (19 May 2022)

Damien English: An Employment Regulation Order fixes minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment for workers in certain sectors and employers in those sectors are obliged to pay wage rates and provide conditions of employment not less favourable than those prescribed. An employer of workers to whom an ERO applies must keep records of wages, payments, etc., and must retain these records for three years....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Health and Safety (19 May 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 82 together. AsI outlined in my speech to the Dáil during the Second Stage Debate on the Private Members Bill, the Workplace Ventilation (COVID-19) Bill 2021, there were certain legal and practical aspects to the Bill that required more detailed consideration. I asked the Health and Safety Authority, under section 57 of the Safety Health and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (19 May 2022)

Damien English: At the outset I would encourage any person looking to start, expand or pivot their business to contact their Local Enterprise Office as they continue to provide a ‘first stop shop’ or signposting for all available Government business supports. The Local Enterprise Offices offer supports to all entrepreneurs, provided they meet the general eligibility criteria. Local...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (19 May 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s employment permit system is designed to supplement the State’s skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing enterprises to recruit nationals from outside the EEA, where such skills or expertise cannot be sourced from within the EEA at that time. The system is, by design, vacancy led and managed through the operation of the occupation lists,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Labour Market (19 May 2022)

Damien English: Ireland has a clear division between economic migration and general immigration policies. My Department administers the employment permits legislation and criteria for the granting of employment permit permissions to work in the State. Under the Employment Permits Acts (as amended), in order to work in the State, all non-EEA nationals require a valid employment permit or relevant immigration...