Results 1,321-1,340 of 4,783 for speaker:Neale Richmond

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (22 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: In November 2022 the Government agreed to extend the mandate of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) to provide grant aid to firms in manufacturing and internationally traded services employing more than 10 but no more than 50 full time employees. The extension of the mandate will ensure a continuation of support for enterprises that have grown to ten or more employees, as appropriate to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (22 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: Both the Business Continuity Voucher and the Micro Enterprise Assistance Fund were introduced as temporary emergency supports in 2020 to help businesses in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 and therefore only received a budget allocation in 2020. The primary aim of the Business Continuity Voucher scheme was to support companies to make informed decisions on the immediate measures...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Funding (22 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: Ireland has significantly grown its investment in the European Space Agency (ESA) in recent years in line with the National Strategy for Space Enterprise 2019 – 2025, which seeks to build an economically sustainable and expanding space-active industry, delivering quality jobs for the economy of tomorrow. The supplementary estimate referred to in the Deputy’s question is...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (22 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Restart Grant Scheme and its successor Restart Grant Plus Scheme were operational in 2020. It was launched in May 2020 and closed for applications on 31stOctober 2020. The 31 local authorities who operated the scheme received a total of 123,185 applications, of which 108,489 were successful. Overall Scheme cost was €632.4m, provided from the Department’s 2020 Vote. Of this...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Health and Safety (21 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: The availability of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) in public areas throughout the Country has increased in recent years with many local authorities and sports facilities taking the lead in installing these potentially life saving pieces of equipment. The provision of such equipment on a construction site, or any other place of work, would be categorised under the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (21 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: Under the Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme which was launched in October 2022, the total number of completed applications received to date is nineteen. Fourteen of those applications were approved by Enterprise Ireland's Investment Committee. The following table provides data on numbers of approved applications per County and the value of funding approved per County. County ...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Business Supports (21 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: Under Stream 2 of the Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme which was launched in October 2022, of the total number of 76 application packs issued by Enterprise Ireland, to date one application has been returned. The response to Stream 2 reflects that a significant number of companies requested application packs, but they have not yet been converted into application forms mainly due to companies...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (21 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: The Table below provides the relevant data sought on the number of senior principal scientific officers and senior executives in global procurement working for Enterprise Ireland in 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023 - As at 1st July 2021 As at 1st July 2022 Current Senior Principal Scientific Officers 0 0 0 ...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Company Closures (21 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: Where Enterprise Ireland's assessment of the value of investments is nil, due to insolvency or otherwise, those investments are written off. Over the last five years Enterprise Ireland has had to write off €47,013,327.16 of equity investments in 257 of their clients due to those businesses being dissolved, entering receivership or being liquidated. The following Table provides the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (21 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 145 together. I have not had any engagement or received any correspondence on this matter, but I appreciate that this is a difficult situation for those workers affected. Statutory and contractual employment terms apply in relation to the payment of wages. Failure to pay all or part of the wages due to an employee is considered an unlawful deduction...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (15 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: The applications submitted in respect of the Employment Permits in the details supplied were returned to the applicant following an initial pre-check, as discrepancies were identified in the Labour Market Needs Test and the application form. As the applications concerned were not formally accepted for processing, the returns are not considered to be refusals. The applicant has been advised to...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (15 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: The role of horticultural worker is subject to a quota of 1,000 permits. There are currently 73 permits remaining in this quota. Once the quota for horticulture workers has been filled, no new permits will issue in respect of this role. A checklist document has been prepared to assist applicants when applying for a General Employment Permit specifically for the role of a horticultural worker...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (15 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: My Department officials have consulted with Enterprise Ireland and I can confirm that no data centres have been granted assistance under the Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme. To date no data centres have applied for assistance under the Scheme.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Covid-19 Pandemic (14 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I can confirm that my Departmental colleague, Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, recently received correspondence from the Minister for Social Protection concerning a communication from the EU Commission about the addition of COVID-19 to the list of reportable occupational diseases. A reply issued to the Minister for Social Protection in early February. In...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Health Services Staff (9 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: The State's employment permit system is designed to supplement Ireland's skills and labour supply over the short to medium term by allowing the recruitment of 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 critical skills and ineligible occupation...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Arts Policy (8 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I am taken by some of the Deputy's comments. It is important to assure the House that the Government is committed to youth arts, particularly in the context of Creative Youth, which is one of five pillars of the Creative Ireland programme. Creative Youth is being implemented by, and is focused through, the Department of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. She is the Minister putting her...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Arts Policy (8 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am responding on behalf of his party colleague and my constituency colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin. I was very touched by the Deputy's contribution and I am very well aware that this is a personal passion of his as well as something he is bringing forward on behalf of his...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Payments (8 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister. I genuinely thank the Deputy for raising this matter. At the outset, I will take the opportunity to set out the context for what is an extremely important issue which many people have become familiar with over recent days and weeks. The disabled persons maintenance allowance constituted a weekly allowance paid by health boards to...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Social Welfare Payments (8 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I go back to the Deputy's initial contribution. It is important to note, as the Attorney General points out in his report, that it is sometimes tempting to resort to generic stereotypes about the State being in some way unfair to its citizens when they are deprived of a benefit and bring legal proceedings challenging this deprivation, and that the logic behind such a perspective suggests...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Defence Forces (8 Feb 2023)

Neale Richmond: I thank both Senator Joe O'Reilly and the Acting Chair for their welcome. This is the fourth or fifth time I have been back in the Seanad in recent weeks, but it is always a pleasure and I hope to be here many more times to engage with Senator Joe O'Reilly and the Acting Chair, and Senator Gavan, who is awaiting the next Commencement matter. We all soldiered here together for a good four...