Results 1,841-1,860 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Travel Trade Sector (5 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I thank Senator McGreehan for raising this very important issue. She raised it as a national issue but recognised the importance of the sector to the north east and listed travel agents in County Louth. I am very familiar with the important service that travel agents provide nationally to the industry. They support the corporate sector and service the domestic market and people here who...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Travel Trade Sector (5 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I thank the Senator again for raising this important issue. I will make sure her arguments are conveyed to the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform. We are committed to ensuring we have an appropriate mix of financial help and assistance in place for the businesses most severely impacted by Covid-19. We are continuing to see a strong take-up of the range of supports...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Accommodation (5 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I thank Senator Sherlock for raising these matters. I am here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley, who could not make this morning's discussion. She apologises for that as there was a clash in her diary with other meetings. I am very happy on her behalf to respond on the matter raised by the Senator relating to Clonturk Community College. I am conscious she raised matters relating to...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Accommodation (5 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I am happy to clarify that the Department's aim is to complete the demographic exercise as soon as possible, although I do not have a precise date. It will feed into the capital spending plans for 2021 and beyond. It will also feed into the review of the NDP, in which education features very strongly. I understand that the aim is to have it ready for next year.It will be involved in that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health and Safety Authority (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: The HSA has an ongoing skills development programme. Its inspectors are very highly skilled across a range of functions and it has invested in that ongoing programme and not just for this year. The extra resources it is allocated builds on extra money, and extra places, that would have been allocated in terms of staff sanctioned during 2020. It strengthens our team to be able to deal with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health and Safety Authority (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I am glad the Deputy recognised the skills of the staff involved. He might also recognise their judgment, their work and their reporting to us. In most cases, they are coming across very high compliance rates with the Covid-19 protocol and other issues of their work also. In most cases, 92% are in line with Covid-19 measures. The Deputy might accept that that is the feedback we are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health and Safety Authority (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I will deal with the issue in the question and bring a focus to the resources from the budget. The HSA has a broad remit with responsibility for the enforcement of workplace health and safety legislation as well as chemicals safety, market surveillance of certain products and the national accreditation body. It is vital to prioritise the safety and health of all workers in a way that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: The Deputy's question is targeting an area that is important for us all, probably because of his time as Minister of State with responsibility for social welfare. It is important that, in providing supports through the Departments of Education and Skills, Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and Business, Enterprise and Innovation, we ensure that nobody falls between the cracks. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: The Deputy is touching on something close to my heart. As a young fellow, I spent many days in the car with my father who was a community welfare officer back in the days when such officers could call to a house, get an understanding of what was happening and spend time with a family. Over the years, the volume of activity increased in an effort to reach people with supports through social...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I thank Deputy Harkin for her question and I assure her we are focused on balanced regional development and protecting the viability of businesses and SMEs throughout the country. This was the case generally even before Covid but it is certainly the case in relation to Covid and Brexit, which is coming down the tracks. We have taken a strong regional approach over the past seven or eight...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I agree that we do not need to hear more of the same and I constantly try to put out the view that people in here talk down rural and regional Ireland, though there are many opportunities and supports. The whole design of having the regional enterprise funds and regional plans is to tap in to the entrepreneurial spirit of those regions and get collaboration across State agencies and, more...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Development (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I welcome the involvement of the regional assemblies which have a very active role to play. We engaged with them quite a lot in the development of Project 2040, the national development plan, and the national planning framework around that to guarantee that those regions have long-term plans. I have said before in these Houses that if we are to permanently address an imbalance in regional...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this question and always having his finger on the pulse of where events might lead us. Naturally, we are trying to manage the economy, job creation and sustainability around business and jobs through all levels of this plan. The Tánaiste has been very clear that it is about getting the balance right. That is why, at this time, most of the country is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: The pandemic has caused untold damage to people's lives and livelihoods. We recognise that and the budget is an attempt to respond. Too many businesses have been severely impacted by the restrictions needed to ensure public health safety during the pandemic. The agenda has to be to protect public health while also trying to ensure we can keep our economy alive and open, keeping people in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I am happy to hear suggestions and ideas that the Deputy has because we are still working through the SME growth task force. We will look at all ideas and initiatives. The economic recovery plan will be published in November, for which a €3.4 billion recovery fund has been set aside to fund ideas and new initiatives and to target certain sectors through our agencies. There is also...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: To be clear, our business supports and all the initiatives we have announced, such as the July stimulus package of more than €5 billion, the budget package of close to €18 billion that was just announced and the business supports from the Department, do not discriminate by age and certainly would not do so. We support business and job creation and that is what we are trying to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: I reiterate my point about business supports. If the Deputy wants to bring forward any initiatives or new ideas, we will work with them. We have worked with the events sector and the arts sector to try to respond. Naturally, the budget cannot plug every gap and every hole in the finances-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: -----but we are trying to reach out to the different sectors with the various schemes. Many businesses in the Deputy's county of Tipperary will benefit from the rates waiver. Rates have been cancelled for this year and will be subsidised by local government. There is also a fund for next year. The main asks of us from business were the restart grant, the Covid restrictions support scheme,...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Legislative Measures (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: In a liquidation, a preferential creditor is one whose debts are deemed to be more important than the debts of another creditor. In terms of wage arrears, outstanding holiday pay, and pension scheme contributions, employees are already listed as being preferred creditors. In relation to redundancy entitlements, it is the responsibility of the employer in the first instance to pay statutory...

Written Answers — Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment: Redundancy Payments (15 Oct 2020)

Damien English: This is a very difficult situation that the workers and their families have had to face. I, along with the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister Troy, have met with Debenhams employees and their union, Mandate, on a number of occasions to hear their views and concerns about the liquidation of Debenhams Ireland. The Government wants the best outcome possible for the workers, within the...