Results 301-320 of 11,049 for speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: National Minimum Wage (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) carries out inspections of employer records with a view to determining compliance with certain employment law statutes. Inspections arise for various reasons including complaints received of alleged non-compliance and by way of compliance campaigns which focus on compliance in specific sectors or with specific employment law statutes. The WRC's aim...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group was established by the Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, in March 2022. The Group was charged with examining strategic workforce challenges in publicly and privately provided front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes and with making recommendations to address these. The Group, which was...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: As stated previously, the European Commission wrote to the Irish Government with a letter of formal notice on the 19 May 2022. Having consulted with the Attorney General’s Office, my Department responded to the Commission on the 19 July 2022. Ireland’s response to the Commission is considered confidential and there are no plans to publish it at this time. My officials met...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

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, and is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

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. Four occupations in the farming sector have been provided with quotas of General Employment Permits including Dairy Farm Assistant (100 GEPs), Horticulture Operative (1000 GEPs), Meat Deboner (500 GEPs), and Meat Processor...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) assist entrepreneurship and business development and are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports for everybody, including people with disabilities, intending to start or grow a business. In that regard, the LEOs provide a ‘signposting’ service in relation to all relevant State...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports for everybody, including people with disabilities, intending to start or grow a business. In that regard, the LEOs provide a ‘signposting’ service in relation to all relevant State supports available through agencies such as the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of the Department inform me that, on 26thSeptember 2022, a General Employment Permit application for the person concerned (in the details supplied) was received. On 18thOctober 2022 the application was refused. The refusal reasons included the following: - The information provided indicated that the foreign national was in the State without a valid current...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The Employment Permits Section of my Department informs me that standard General Employment Permit applications for the persons concerned in the details supplied were only received on 2ndNovember 2022. Applications for employment permits are dealt with in date order. The Employment Permits Section of my Department is currently processing standard applications for General Employment Permits...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

Damien English: The tables below give details of the number of Employment Permit applications received, and the number of Employment Permits issued by Nationality to citizens of the Russian Federation from March 2022 to date, and for the corresponding period in 2021. Russian Federation Applications Received ...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Urban Development (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: I will respond on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who could not be here to address the issue. The National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage administers the community monuments fund, CMF, through the local authorities. It was established in 2020 under the July jobs stimulus package and had an initial fund of just over €1...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Urban Development (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: I have no doubt that Finglas should get the respect it deserves. I am glad that the Deputy recognises that funding has been secured. I did not realise that earlier. Some €115,000 was allocated over the past two years to recognise the importance of the monument on which I have no doubt the Deputy wants to build. The CMF helps to progress heritage projects throughout the country...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Agreements (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: I also have the letter that was addressed to the Taoiseach from the individuals outlining their concerns. We have to reflect on what progress has already been made on access to the vaccine since we discussed this when people raised it previously. The ministerial decision on the TRIPS agreement provides for a waiver of certain obligations of the TRIPS agreement. It includes clarifications...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Agreements (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: It is fair to say a lot of extra public money was put on top of billions of euro of private money for Covid. There is no doubt about this. There was an investment of private money well before this. We have to make sure the intellectual property regime protects both of these investments and enhances the best opportunities. We believe Ireland's role in our negotiations through the EU in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Agreements (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: It is about how we best maximise money for research. I do not have all the figures here today but I ask Deputy Connolly to trust me that the private end has been higher than the public end for a long number of years. Let us be fair about this. It is important that we maximise the opportunity. We differ on the need to have a blend of public and private money in research. To me it is about...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Relations (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: This is an area of priority. Most stakeholders with whom I engage in this sector across the different Departments wanted the review of the atypical working scheme prioritised as soon as possible. To be honest with the Deputies, that is where a lot of our work has gone in. That review is to be completed. The recommendations and the report went to Cabinet a few weeks ago, and we can get on...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Agreements (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: I am taking Questions Nos. 13, 14 and 43 together. Is that okay?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Agreements (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: Responding to the exceptional circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ministers at the WTO Ministerial Conference in June 2022 agreed an outcome in relation to the production and supply of Covid-19 vaccines. The ministerial decision on the TRIPS Agreement provides for a waiver of certain obligations of the agreement and includes clarifications that will allow eligible WTO members to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: International Agreements (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: It is probably fair to say that the ministerial decision was the outcome of extensive, detailed and politically sensitive negotiations which we have discussed here quite a lot over the past year. Ireland has always taken a prominent position on that within the EU. They hold the competency for this and we contribute to that. Our officials in Dublin, Brussels and Geneva are involved in a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Relations (27 Oct 2022)

Damien English: The WRC, under the aegis of my Department, is one of several agencies that monitor the operation of the atypical worker permission scheme for non-EEA fishers employed on certain Irish-registered fishing vessels. I presume this is the scheme the Deputy is mainly referring to. The WRC has particular responsibility for checking compliance insofar as terms of employment, permission to work,...