Results 721-740 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

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

Damien English: Regional enterprise development is a key policy priority of mine and this Government. Throughout 2021, my Department oversaw the development of nine new Regional Enterprise Plans to 2024, including for the South-West which covers counties Cork and Kerry. A key feature and strength of the Regional Enterprise Plans is that they are developed using a ‘bottom-up’ approach,...

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

Damien English: Balanced regional development is a key policy priority of mine and this Government. My Department contributes to this agenda in a number of ways, including through the work of the enterprise agencies and through our national enterprise policy, ‘Enterprise 2025 renewed’. A forthcoming White Paper on enterprise policy, will further this commitment to balanced economic development....

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

Damien English: My Department has set out in its statement of strategy its intention to make Ireland the best place to succeed in business across all regions of our country, with vibrant enterprises, more high-quality employment, growing trade, fair workplaces, and higher productivity. We are supporting our local business communities through the ongoing work of our enterprise agencies, the IDA,...

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

Damien English: Enterprise Centres and working hubs provide affordable physical workspace for businesses across the country and deliver training and soft supports to their tenants and other companies in their locality and regional area while providing facilities for remote working, helping start-ups to scale internationally and attracting small scale FDI. To date, my Department has provided funding of...

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

Damien English: Ireland is one of a very few locations with a proven record of accomplishment in the financial services and technology arena and is viewed as a strategic hub for innovation in fintech. Many of the world’s leading companies have a significant presence in Ireland, with activity spread right across the sector including Online Payments & Processing, Digital Banking, Cross Border...

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

Damien English: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) recorded inspections according to the NACE sector in which they took place. The relevant NACE sub sectors in this case are those relating to the “processing and preserving of meat and production of meat products”. The number of inspections for 2017 – May 2020 are as follows: - ...

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

Damien English: My Department, through our enterprise agencies, provides our small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a comprehensive suite of direct financial and soft supports. The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) can offer direct grant aid to microenterprises (10 employees or fewer) in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors which, over time, have the potential to develop...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (18 May 2022)

Damien English: The Department experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year, impacting 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 itself represented an 11 year high in applications....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (18 May 2022)

Damien English: My officials have agreed with the officials of the Department of Transport to propose an amendment to the Workplace Relations Act 2015 that will grant the WRC the jurisdiction to hear complaints of breaches of the Working Time at Sea Directive. As this is a matter that exceeds the minimum measures contained in the Directive, primary legislation is required. The amendment will be brought...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (18 May 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s employment permits system 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 but this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one. The system is...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Workplace Relations Commission (18 May 2022)

Damien English: The WRC provides two distinct forms of mediation: pre-adjudication mediation and workplace mediation. WRC pre-adjudication mediation is available for any complaint referred to the Adjudication Service where both parties have agreed to participate, and the Director General is of the view that the matter is capable of being resolved through mediation When parties participate in the mediation...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (18 May 2022)

Damien English: As an International Labour Organisation (ILO) Member State, Ireland is committed to ratifying Convention C190. Ratification is being considered in the context of our standard approach to the ratification of international instruments. Ireland does not ratify international conventions until it has been determined that national law is in line with the provisions of the international instrument....

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (17 May 2022)

Damien English: The tables attached show the number of employment permits that have been granted to Chefs in each of the years from 2016 to 11 May 2022 inclusive, and the number of employment permits that have been granted to the other areas of the hospitality sector during the same period of time.

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (17 May 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of my Department inform me that, on 10 December 2021, a Critical Skills Employment Permit application for the person concerned (in the details supplied) was received. On 19 April 2022 the application was refused as the annual remuneration on offer was less than €64,000 for a 39 hour working week when the job on offer is not listed on the Critical Skills...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (17 May 2022)

Damien English: 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 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 critical skills...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (17 May 2022)

Damien English: 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 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 critical skills...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (12 May 2022)

Damien English: Ireland operates a managed employment permits system which maximises the benefits of economic migration while minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The system is intended to act as a conduit for key skills which are required to develop enterprise in the State for the benefit of our economy, while simultaneously protecting the balance of the labour market. The...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (12 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 & 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...

Living Wage Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (11 May 2022)

Damien English: I begin by thanking the Deputies for contributing to this Private Members' Bill on a living wage. I have been present for some of the debate and was following online before that. I thank Deputies for their contributions. The Bill the Labour Party has brought forward is timely in light of where we are with our own plans under the programme for Government. The Government, like many people...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (11 May 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the Contract Cleaning Sector came into effect in December 2020. The ERO fixes minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment for workers in the contract cleaning sector 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...