Results 1,321-1,340 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: I thank the Senator. He is right that we are trying to deal with this early and that is why, twice a year, we have this review, which is under way at this time. Usually, decisions would be made in November but we will try to get them made in October this year so we can give some clear indications. Part of this is to gather the evidence and to prove we can source this labour locally. As...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: To clarify, I certainly was not saying that everybody on PUP could drive a bus or a lorry. What I meant was that, in general, there are a lot of vacancies across many sectors and we have to work with those who are currently unemployed to try to help them into those jobs. The long-term solution with regard to logistics and lorry drivers and bus drivers is training and qualifications....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am glad I have been able to make it to the House because it is an important topic. We were caught in traffic in Drogheda but we made it in time. It is good to be here. We had a discussion on this last week as well. It is certainly a very relevant issue that has been raised by many colleagues across the board. I have engaged with the various...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: The State operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and 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 system...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: The State operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and 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 system...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: Policy responsibility for the construction, healthcare and hospitality sectors is a matter for my colleagues, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Tourism Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media respectively. Housing For All, the government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Grant Payments (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: Due to commercial sensitivity, Enterprise Ireland is not in a position to release payment information by grant type. The table below details the total payments made to the company referred to in the Deputy’s question, for the period 2016 - 2020 and to date in 2021. Year 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 to date (23.09.21) ...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Process (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: A European Works Council (a “EWC”) is a body that facilitates information and consultation with European employees on transnational issues. EWC are subject to the law of the Member State in which they are located. They derive from Directive 1994/45/EC (the “EWC Directive”) as transposed into Irish law by the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Redundancy Payments (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: Reckonable service is service that is included in the calculation of a redundancy lump sum payment. The existing provisions of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 provide that a period of lay-off within the final three years of employment before redundancy is not allowable as reckonable service. Therefore, as matters stand employees who have been laid-off due to Covid-19 restrictions, and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Redundancy Payments (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: Reckonable service is service that is included in the calculation of a redundancy lump sum payment. The existing provisions of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967 provide that a period of lay-off within the final three years of employment before redundancy is not allowable as reckonable service. Because the necessary Government-enforced lockdowns caused layoff situations which resulted in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (28 Sep 2021)

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. In order to maintain the relevance of these lists of occupations to the needs of the economy...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Labour Market (28 Sep 2021)

Damien English: As previously advised, policy responsibility for food production is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Schemes (23 Sep 2021)

Damien English: The State operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and 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: Work Permits (23 Sep 2021)

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 regime 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. However, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Workplace Discrimination (23 Sep 2021)

Damien English: The ratification of ILO Convention C190 is a matter of priority for Ireland and my Department officials continue to work towards being amongst the first ILO member States to ratify, with plans to progress the ratification this year. The issue of ratification by Ireland of International Labour Organisation Convention 190, Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, is...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Redundancy Payments (23 Sep 2021)

Damien English: In situations where employers are genuinely unable to meet their financial obligations in paying statutory redundancy to their employees, the State can fund statutory redundancy payments from the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) on their behalf. In such situations and in order to support employers, a flexible and discretionary approach will be taken in relation to recovery of the redundancy...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Permits (22 Sep 2021)

Damien English: It is good to be back in this House and see everybody back in their home. I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this important matter, which has been topical over the past couple of months. The matters raised today are directly important for Monaghan and its mushroom and poultry sector. Agribusiness is extremely important for Monaghan, as it is for my county of Meath. The matters raised...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Employment Permits (22 Sep 2021)

Damien English: I again thank the Senator for raising the issue. I assure him that we recognise it is extremely important. An efficient and responsive employment permit system is a critical lever in addressing the economy’s skills needs and in ensuring that talent is attracted to Ireland from non-EEA sources. Its success in this regard is reflected in the flow of skilled non-EEA professionals to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (22 Sep 2021)

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, however, 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. In order to ensure that the employment permits...