Results 1,081-1,100 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: Is this about country markets?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: That is a big issue in the Deputy's constituency. There are some very successful markets in towns like Midleton and elsewhere. I am not up to speed on where we are at but will happily revert to the Deputy on it. If the system is not functioning as it should, we will need to look into it, particularly to support local enterprise activity. Anyone who travels to the Midleton market will know...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: Was an attempt made by the committee to get agreement on this issue?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: I will revert to the Deputy on it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: There has been a lot of IDA Ireland activity in and around that site in terms of some of the announcements that have been made. I will be involved this week regarding a site very close by. This relates to a multinational expanding more in east Cork, which includes the area of Little Island, Carrigtwohill, Midleton-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: The Department is looking at this. We will be updating the critical skills list between now and midsummer, so it is actually very current. We do give work permits for skills in construction, but we are reviewing it to see if there are limitations in terms of the critical skills list. We give permits for carpenters, tilers and painters.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: Yes, so if there is a need to change the critical skills list to try to ease the work permit application process, now is the time for us to think about that. We have had consultation with different industry bodies and so on. It is quite a long list already, but I am sure there are categories that need to be on it that are not. There is an opportunity to address that over the next few...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: It is important to put context around some of those comments. Inspections are risk-based. Inspections take place when there is a reasonable concern something is not as it should be. That is a big part of explaining why, in the vast majority of cases where there are inspections a problem emerges, as the WRC is inspecting to find the problem. It is not fair to categorise this as 98% of...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: I agree it is too high. I am just saying it is important to note the context around why inspections take place. Inspections take place, for the most part, because there is a suspicion there is an issue. That partly explains why the 98% figure is so high. I am not saying that is good enough, but it is not reflective of the workplace more generally. As to whether the WRC has sufficient...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: There are a lot of questions and I thank the Deputy. I will answer in reverse. First, on the general scheme of the plan of action on collective redundancies following insolvency Bill, I brought that to Government in the last couple of weeks. We will bring it to committee for prelegislative scrutiny so Deputy Barry can go through it in some detail at that stage. It is important not to sell...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: The note I have says that this issue is under review and once that process concludes I will give a more informed answer of terms of where we will go from here. I am comfortable that we will come back to it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: Getting what pushed along?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: In regard to TBESS, as the Deputy knows, we have effectively changed the thresholds and changed the percentage payout to make it a much more attractive scheme. Companies will now be able to claim 50% of the increase whereas it previously would have been 40%, they qualify on a lower threshold in terms of price increases and the net maximum amount they are able to get per month has also...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: On the development commission, the south-east region is not doing as badly as is sometimes portrayed. If one considers job numbers there and what is happening in terms of university status and-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: There is a time lag between investment and EUROSTAT GDP. Investment and employment in the south east has been a strong story in recent years and that will continue.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: It is not a “No”. I am just saying we need to have a purpose for it and I do not think the south east should be painted as a disadvantaged region. It is not disadvantaged.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: We are in active discussion with the European Commission on this issue to try to get agreement on what to do. That process is under way and I wish to give our officials the time and space to do that. That is where we are. We have a difference of view with the Commission and we are talking to it about finding a resolution. Our legal advice does not agree with that of the Commission. By...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: We have plenty to say but we need to say it to the Commission. We need to get an agreement on this issue. The Senator is correct to raise it. It has also been raised by ICTU. We need to respond to that by ensuring we respond to the concerns that have been raised by the Commission, and we will do so.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: The timeline is when we get agreement with the Commission. I will not provide a timeline in weeks because I do not have that. If I had that figure, I would give it to the Senator. We are in a process and we have to work that through.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Engagement with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (10 May 2023)
Simon Coveney: Sorry, I am not moving on with that being the closing statement on the issue.