Results 221-240 of 4,764 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:Damien English

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (15 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide act as a ‘first-stop-shop’ providing advice and guidance, financial assistance, and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own business. Their business advisors and mentors offer signposting to the programmes and supports that will help and encourage new entrepreneurs start and successfully run their own businesses. The...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Small and Medium Enterprises (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 61, 73, 74, 75 and 83 together. The Government is acutely aware of the difficulties businesses have faced over the past number of years with the necessary COVID-19 restrictions and now with the increased cost of living and in particular energy costs. The Government is fully committed to helping business particularly over coming months but also into...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: On 3 August 2022, I announced my intention to issue an Order to give effect to a statutory recommendation of the Labour Court concerning minimum rates of remuneration and other terms and conditions in the Security Sector. The Order was to apply from 29 August 2022. On 24 August 2022 my Department was informed that the High Court had granted an Injunction prohibiting the commencement of the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: 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. A European Works Council (a “EWC”) is a body that facilitates information and consultation with European employees on transnational issues. EWCs are...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 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. As part of a cross-Departmental response to the crisis in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent statutory office under the aegis of my Department. The WRC’s primary functions include the inspection of employment law compliance, the provision of information on employment law, mediation, adjudication, conciliation, facilitation, and advisory services. I understand that Section 2(1) of the Organisation of Working Time...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Department of Justice led a cross-departmental group to Review the Atypical Working Scheme and my Department has taken an active part in this process. The Group consulted extensively with stakeholders in relation to their views and experiences of the scheme. Officials of my Department met with representatives of the sector including fishing vessel owners organisations on 22nd July last...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year and a half, which impacted on processing times. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on 2019 (18,811), which...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 78 together. My Department experienced a significant increase in applications for employment permits in the past year and a half, which impacted on processing times. From the start of January to the end of December 2021, some 27,666 applications were received, representing a 69% increase over the same period in 2020 (16,293) and a 47% increase on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Employment Rights (14 Sep 2022)

Damien English: Ireland is committed to ratifying ILO Convention No.190. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is currently undertaking a stakeholder consultation which is open to interested parties to make submissions. Following the conclusion of the consultation, the views of the Attorney General will then be sought, followed by the formal approval of the Government for ratification. I...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Energy Prices (14 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 173, 174 and 190 together. I wish to assure the deputy that the Government is very conscious of what the rise in global energy costs means for Irish businesses, particularly small enterprises and those with tight margins, including those in the hospitality sector. While electricity policy nationally is broadly the remit of the Minister for the Environment,...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Policy (14 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I propose to take Questions Nos. 175 and 193 together. The Government is very aware of the impact of rising prices on Irish businesses. As Chair of the Retail Forum, I have heard first-hand about the challenges which retail businesses, including food retailers, are facing. Energy costs are one of the prime factors in the increase in business costs. Given that Ireland is a price taker on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Workplace Relations Commission (14 Jul 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s system of industrial relations is essentially voluntary in nature. The role of the State has been to underpin a voluntarist system through the provision of a framework and institutions through which good industrial relations can prosper. This system has served us well over the decades. Adjudications carried out in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) under the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Intellectual Property (13 Jul 2022)

Damien English: Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are one of the principal means through which companies, creators and inventors generate returns on their investment in research, innovation and creativity. IPRs are a crucial incentive for the development of new and innovative medicinal products, enabling the research and development necessary for the creation of many of today’s medicines and...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Departmental Schemes (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: The Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers a voucher of up to €2,500 (with 50% co-funding by the applicant) to help businesses develop their online trading capability and includes training sessions that cover various topics, including developing a website, digital marketing, social media for business and search engine optimisation. The information provided will assist applicants in...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: Ireland’s employment permits system 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, but 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. The...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: I wish to assure the deputy that the Government is very conscious of what the rise in global energy costs means for Irish businesses. Energy costs are one of the prime factors in the increase in business costs to which the deputy refers, and we have already implemented several measures to help ease the impact on enterprises of energy price increases including reductions in VAT and excise on...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Legislative Measures (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: A Public Consultation Process on retired workers access to industrial relations mechanisms for pension related issues was recently conducted by my Department and concluded a number of weeks ago. The purpose of this was to seek views on the proposals arising from the Private Members Bill and to establish whether there is the potential for new or enhanced methods of consultation through the...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Enterprise Support Services (12 Jul 2022)

Damien English: The company in question has not received any mitigating aid towards carbon emission off-setting from Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland offers a number of measures to help businesses on their sustainability and carbon reduction journey. The Government recently launched the Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund which provides a capital investment for decarbonisation processes...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Workplace Relations Commission (7 Jul 2022)

Damien English: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body under the aegis of my Department. The WRC’s primary functions include the inspection of employment law compliance, the provision of information on employment law, mediation, adjudication, conciliation, facilitation, and advisory services. The WRC inspectorate subsumed the functions of the former National...