Results 81-100 of 8,617 for speaker:Peter Burke

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The Government's commitment is to defer the decision to 2029. We will publish the data behind that shortly. It should be noted what the commission actually said on subminimum rates. It is not exactly what the Deputy quoted. It stated: The Low Pay Commission recommends that sub-minimum wage rates for employees who are 18 and 19 years of age should be abolished no sooner than 1 January...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I am proud of the role the Government has played in improving the rights of employees. The Deputy spoke about rhetoric. Every decision he puts across to us is binary. He does not consider the potential impact such decisions would have on education pathways for young people and the unintended consequences. He does not consider training. He referred to 19-year-olds and 18-year-olds. I can...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: That is what the Deputy's proposal will do. Let us be clear about it. He would close down every small business in the country if he had his way and he was running the country.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Wage-setting Mechanisms (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The Deputy does not have any balance. He does not know what it means to keep good high-value jobs in our economy.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for her question. I am happy to inform the Deputy that my Department is making significant progress in simplifying the application process for enterprise grants, particularly those administered through the local enterprise offices and Enterprise Ireland. Following instruction from my Department through the recently established small business unit, the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: We are not really talking about regulation here but about the administrative procedures for small businesses to get the funding they need to develop online platforms, to become more sustainable and to meet their objectives. What we want to do is to make that process easier. This is not a significant risk to the taxpayer. Many of these grants are particularly small and many genuine...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh for this very important question. I firmly commit to ensuring that small- and medium-sized businesses have access to affordable credit. My Department has developed several loan guarantee schemes, the first in 2012, that have enabled participating lenders to offer loans at interest rates below their standard commercial terms. The scheme currently open to SMEs...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: To go back to the evidence, if we look at the first scheme I referenced, which was the growth and stability loan scheme, we have at this point in time almost used up the €500 million allocation. This demonstrates that SMEs are using it and drawing it down. We also increased the Microfinance Ireland loan scheme for our smaller SMEs, up to €50,000 from €25,000, and it is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I am very happy to work in this regard. The critical thing I am trying to do is make these supports available to our SMEs and family businesses, which employ two thirds of the people throughout our economy. I am very aware that the average SME does not have a finance director or a HR director. A lot of the great work is done around the kitchen table. This is why we are working with the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Strategies (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The life sciences sector is one of the strongest drivers of our economy, fuelling both growth and exports. It combines a thriving indigenous enterprise base with some of the world's largest multinational companies, underpinned by a continually advancing world-class research ecosystem. Today, the sector employs over 100,000 people across the length and breadth of the country. With this...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: Increasing our competitiveness and productivity is essential to securing Ireland’s economic future. The whole-of-Government Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity addresses current challenges and drives the reforms needed for our businesses and people to thrive. The Action Plan recognises that success depends oncollaboration across Departments, agencies, industry,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Industrial Development (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: IDA Ireland has continued its strong commitment to regional development as one of four key strategic objectives of its 2025–2029 strategy, Adapt Intelligently. This ambitious strategy aims to secure 550 investment projects outside Dublin, accounting for 55% of all planned investments and has set ambitious targets for every region in Ireland, including 100 in the West. There are...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 27 together. I thank the Deputy for this question. I was pleased to launch the National Enterprise Hub in July last year. This all of government initiative is staffed by expertly trained advisors. The Hub was designed to help businesses navigate and access a wide range of government supports. At launch, the NEH provided guidance on 180...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The establishment of Start-up Ireland is a key priority under the Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity. Delivered by Enterprise Ireland, on behalf of my Department, it aims to support 1,000 new startups between 2025 and 2029 by helping founders to start, connect, and scale. The initiative will address the challenges, identified by a recent OECD report on the Irish start-up...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Wage-setting Mechanisms (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The Government is of course aware of the very real concerns about the cost of living. At the same time, we have seen very significant increases in the national minimum wage in recent years (6% this year and 12% the year before). Minimum wage employees work in a range of important jobs across Ireland, and I am committed to ensuring that they receive fair and sustainable wages. Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Tourism Industry (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: On 15 April, Government approved the General Scheme for the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill. This Bill when enacted will provide the statutory basis for the introduction of a register for all Short Term Lettings (STLs) in Ireland, to be implemented and managed by Fáilte Ireland from 20 May 2026, ensuring compliance with the new EU Short Term Rental Regulation, which was...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: National Development Plan (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: The review of the National Development Plan allocates a total of €3.68 billion in funding to support the capital programmes of my Department over the period of the NDP from 2026 out to 2030. The Plan provides for incremental increases in our annual core capital allocation from €680 million in 2026 to €790 million in 2030. Overall, exchequer funding for DETE’s...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: I want to assure the Deputy that I, along with the Government and my Department, fully recognise the vital role SMEs play in the Irish economy. In the Programme for Government, we have identified our intention to continue to support these businesses that are the lifeblood of our towns and communities. I have the pleasure of attending the official opening of the Thrive Centre of Business...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Human Rights (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: As the Deputy is aware the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and my Department established a dedicated Business and Human Rights Stakeholder Forum with the participation of individuals with relevant expertise and responsibilities from key organisations across business, civil society, trade unions and academia to assist with the development of the second National Action Plan on Business...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Flexible Work Practices (25 Sep 2025)

Peter Burke: Officials in my Department engage regularly with their counterparts in Northern Ireland to discuss a range of employment rights policy matters, including remote and flexible work. I have also engaged across Government and with stakeholders on the North-South labour market through the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF). During our plenary meeting in April we discussed the potential to...