Results 941-960 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (22 Feb 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: Equal Opportunities Employment (22 Feb 2022)

Damien English: Ireland has a comprehensive body of employment legislation, in respect of which the Workplace Relations Commission is mandated to secure compliance. Ireland’s employment rights legislation protects all employees, including migrant workers, who are legally employed on a contract of service basis. This is specifically set out in Section 20 of the Protection of Employees (Part Time...

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

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of my Department inform me that a Critical Skills employment permit application for the person concerned was received on 18 January 2022. However as the occupation stated on the application is not on the Critical Skills occupations list and the annual remuneration on offer is below €64,000, it is expected that this application will be...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (16 Feb 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of my Department inform me that a General Employment Permit application for the employer concerned (in the details supplied) was received on 7 October 2022. Applications for employment permits are dealt with in date order. Applicants can keep track of Employment Permit applications current processing dates at...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (16 Feb 2022)

Damien English: A Review of Economic Migration Policy undertaken in 2018 concluded that while the employment permits system provides a robust framework to supplement skills and labour needs in the State, the current legislation imposes considerable inflexibility in its operation. In order to increase the agility and responsiveness of the system, the Review recommended that new legislation be initiated. ...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (15 Feb 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 employment permits regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages in the State, required to develop and support enterprise for the benefit of...

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

Damien English: An Employment Permit application was submitted by Fáilte Energy Solutions Ltd. T/A Fáilte Solar, for the individual (details supplied ) on the 29/07/2021.  The application for this individual involved engagement with colleagues in the Department of Justice and required clarification regarding the position of employment permit holders being both employees and owners of the...

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

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of my Department inform me that General Employment Permit applications for the persons concerned (details supplied) were received on dates between 11 January 2022 and 20 January 2022. Applications for employment permits are dealt with in date order.  Applicants can keep track of Employment Permit applications current processing dates at...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Schemes (15 Feb 2022)

Damien English: On the 21 December 2021 the Environmental Aid Scheme was renewed, endorsed, and adopted by the European Commission under new ‘Guidelines on State aid for Climate, Environmental Protection and Energy’ and came into force on 1 January 2022. The revision aims to ensure that state aid rules do not impede the European Green Deal goals. This will be integrated into the EU State Aid's...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Schemes (15 Feb 2022)

Damien English: The Environmental Aid Scheme operated by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland is an EU General Block Exemption (GBER) Scheme and has been in place since 2009.  My Department through its agencies administers the scheme in compliance with the conditions of the Environmental Aid scheme for Ireland 2014-2020 which has been renewed to 2023. This Environmental Aid Scheme 2014-2022 sets out the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Work Permits (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I assure Deputy Cowen that every effort will be made by our Department to put enough staff in place and to change the system to make sure we can process these permits. As I have outlined, there has been an increase in staff on these teams. There are more than 50 additional people in the system and many of the existing staff are working overtime and every night they are allowed to work in...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Transfer of Undertakings (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: -----in general, I agree with the Deputy that all of those who are involved in the retail sector and the security sector right throughout Covid-19 stood up and provided a top-class service to this country. They were on the front line as much as anybody else. In most cases that I have seen, that has been properly recognised by their employers. I hope that that would be the case as well. ...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Work Permits (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I thank Deputy Cowen for raising this issue, as well as for putting forward those two cases, which are familiar stories about the system, on the floor of the House. I am happy to take him through what we are doing to address this, as well as to give him some context on it. At the start, however, I want to say that I totally agree with the Deputy that this is not an acceptable timeframe....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Transfer of Undertakings (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. As I am not familiar with the particular situation to which she referred, I will comment generally on the overall situation when companies are taken over or there is a transfer of undertakings. I do not have the details of the case she raised but I certainly will get them and look into the situation. I was not aware of the company to which the...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Transfer of Undertakings (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I disagree with the Deputy on that. There are quite a lot of protections under our employment laws and we expect any company, no matter what it is, to work within those laws. I gave commitments in regard to other situations last year, including that of the Debenhams workers, that we would look to see whether we can strengthen the laws in any situation where a company is being sold or bought...

Planning and Development (Amendment) (Breach of Building Regulations) Bill 2022: First Stage (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: No.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Work Permits (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I am more sorry for the result in Meath then missing Eugene at the match. I hope we will get a chance for revenge. I am also sorry I was not able to meet Senator Murphy on the day he was in Navan. I was supporting Meath against Roscommon and supporting Trim in Dublin. We lost on both occasions. We will recover and get back. We have discussed this issue quite a lot in the House. Most...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Work Permits (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I will keep it short this time. The Senator has identified another area of concern. We made changes in the list last year to reflect demand. The Senator identified the area of construction. We made changes to the scheme last year whereby the majority of jobs in the construction sector are eligible for permits or do not need them at all. The Senator also flagged the retrofitting plan. We...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Driver Licences (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for raising awareness of this issue. I was not aware of the change made in 2006. It was not up in flashing lights, but it has certainly had an impact. It has affected people, mainly of the younger generation, as the Senator said. It is worth examining the matter and the Senator has made a very compelling case for doing so. I will provide some background on this...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Driver Licences (10 Feb 2022)

Damien English: I again thank Senator Ward for raising this issue. I will certainly talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, who is sorry she could not be here today, and to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about it. I might not be in a position to convince her but I have no doubt that, with the arguments he has just put to me, the Senator will be able to if he gets a chance. I will encourage her...