Results 221-240 of 1,019,649 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív) in 'Committee meetings'

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Business Supports (18 Apr 2024)

Robert Troy: I do not doubt the Minister of State's commitment or the Minister's, but businesses need help now. The cold, hard facts are this money was announced in the budget six months ago and it only opened for applications in the past number of weeks. Businesses are suffering now. They need help now and they need a dedicated focus on how they can be supported. The number of businesses closing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Export Controls (18 Apr 2024)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas don Teachta as an ceist. Our Department is the national competent authority with responsibility for export controls, including controls on defence-related exports and exports of dual-use goods. Controls on the export of dual-use items are administered by my Department, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2021/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council, which...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Export Controls (18 Apr 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: My follow-up relates to the criteria and how stringent the assessment and the tests are. Is the Minister of State particularly happy? He mentioned consultations with technical experts. We are talking about computer software and whatever and, as he said, dual-use goods. Some of these can be used for normal necessary regular civilian operations but others can also be used in weapons of mass...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Export Controls (18 Apr 2024)

Dara Calleary: I absolutely share the Deputy's views on this space and can assure him that applications for dual-use licences in respect of exports to Israel are assessed pretty rigorously on a case-by-case basis in line with the assessment criteria I outlined. There are eight criteria, but the two specific criteria to which I referred are important in this context. We also seek real-time geopolitical...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Export Controls (18 Apr 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I welcome what the Minister of States said in the sense that what we are talking about is a rigorous assessment and that the geopolitical situation and all updated information at the time is taken into account. If information were to arise at any point in time that an end-user ended up using something in a weapons system where it had stated previously that this would not be the case, that...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Export Controls (18 Apr 2024)

Dara Calleary: If there is any issue in terms of a licence not being followed through and the conditions of a licence being breached, we will bring those to the attention of the authorities within the export licensing section of the Department. If there is any question of the conditions of a licence being breached, that will be investigated.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (18 Apr 2024)

Enterprise Support Services

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (18 Apr 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: 67. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment what action is being taken to strengthen the resilience, productivity and innovation of SMEs to ensure that they remain key drivers of employment nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17027/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (18 Apr 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: Almost 1.2 million people worked in SMEs across the country last year and many of those were in smaller enterprises with less than ten people. I refer to small businesses, shops, pubs and high-street enterprises that have weathered a range of different storms over the years but are now really struggling and under pressure. I want to get an understanding of the support that would be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (18 Apr 2024)

Dara Calleary: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. The Government recognises those challenges referred to that are being faced by SMEs. That is why we have, since our inception as a government, put a range of supports in place to deal with Covid-19, supply change disruption, rising energy costs and Brexit. The Government's White Paper on Enterprise, which we published in 2022, outlines how we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (18 Apr 2024)

Aindrias Moynihan: The cumulative cost impact report has been published. Through that report, Government acknowledges the range of different pressures on various enterprises, but also that certain sectors are under more pressure than others. Hospitality and retail, for example, are seeing a close to 7% increase in their costs in 2024 and that is projected to be up to 20% by 2026. It is clear there are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (18 Apr 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I congratulate the new Minister and Minister of State, and the renewed Minister of State as well, and wish them every good fortune and support in their tenure. I wish to ask a simple question. There appears to be strong evidence to the effect that many businesses are affected by a multiplicity of regulations imposed upon them and are having difficulty. Recently, a small business brought...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (18 Apr 2024)

Peter Burke: I thank the Deputies for their questions. In my comparisons, I am talking about Northern Ireland as well. Hopefully, we do not see that as Brexit Britain. We are working hard to formulate a cost-of-doing-business package for the SME sector. I hope we will see that in the weeks ahead. We know the acute pressure the sector is under. Every time businesses came under pressure, including...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

EU Directives

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

Gerald Nash: 65. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an update on his plans to transpose the EU directive on adequate minimum wages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17054/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

Gerald Nash: Will the Minister of State provide an update on the plans to transpose the EU minimum wages directive by the end of the year?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

Emer Higgins: The directive on adequate minimum wages in the EU was published on 19 October 2022 and must be transposed by 15 November 2024. The directive aims to ensure that workers across the EU are protected by adequate minimum wages, allowing for a decent living wherever they work. The directive includes three sets of measures. One of its goals is to increase the number of workers covered by...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Minister of State for her response and I noted the engagement earlier with another Deputy on this matter. I spoke about the importance of the national minimum wage, moves to a living wage and setting a higher floor of minimum wage adequacy below which no decent society should allow workers to fall. More important still is the transposition of the collective bargaining element of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

Emer Higgins: Let me be clear that Ireland is fully supportive of the principles of this directive. It will increase the number of workers covered by collective bargaining, and that is something with which we agree. It is important to remember that, even without this directive, Ireland has one of the highest minimum wage rates in the EU. Article 4 of the directive is specific to collective bargaining in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Directives (18 Apr 2024)

Gerald Nash: I advise the Minister of State not to rely disproportionately on the efficacy and utility of the JLC system, good and all as it is, for enabling Ireland to reach its obligations under the minimum wages directive, specifically Article 4. The system is important, and I am proud of the role I played in re-establishing its mechanisms, which are important for low-paid workers, but there are...