Results 1-20 of 1,152,430 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Joe Flaherty OR speaker:Seán Fleming OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne OR speaker:Bríd Smith OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Dessie Ellis OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Richard O'Donoghue OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe)

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank members and witnesses for participating in today's meeting. Anyone joining remotely needs to do so from within the Leinster House complex, as they know. We will now proceed with our consideration of the 2024 Supplementary Estimate for Vote 32. To discuss the matter today, I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank the committee for the opportunity to present our Department’s Supplementary Estimate to the members of the select committee this evening. As the Cathaoirleach did, I would like to use this opportunity to express the Minister's apologies for not being able to attend the committee today due to a family bereavement and to let him know his is in our thoughts and prayers. I know...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins. I invite members to contribute as per the speaking rota. First, is Deputy Louise O'Reilly who has 14 minutes.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: Yes, the Estimate includes the power up grant. This grant is being provided by the jobs and enterprise programme. The finer details of it are being worked out at the moment. The ambition is that we will have €4,000 straight into the accounts of SMEs in the retail and hospitality sector over the next couple of months between now and the end of this year. That is subject to the same...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: PRSI is a matter for the Department of Social Protection but having said that, this is something which we are working closely with the Department on. Earlier this year, my Department, in collaboration with the Department of Social Protection, produced a report on the increased cost of doing business and PRSI was one of the things that was flagged in that. It is something on which there is...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: They are savings for Enterprise Ireland and IDA. The Enterprise Ireland savings relate to two programmes, namely, the capital investment scheme for agriculture, which is something on which we work in collaboration with the Department of agriculture and the other one is the smart regions funding. I assure everybody we fully intend to fully draw down the EU ERDF funding for that scheme. We...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: Correct.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: It was due to the evaluation of the projects. We had so many applications that the evaluations took a little bit longer than expected.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: Then the IDA savings relate to delays regarding property transactions which were not completing as expected. Obviously, we had budgeted for them to happen in the hope that they would.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: The reason for that is it is in areas in which we do not have expertise; for example, in AI and where we want to make sure we are getting the best advice and the best expertise in the development of our offshore wind strategy.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: I agree with the Deputy. It is certainly not going to be a flash in the pan. This is something we have to prepare for, both as a Department and a Government and also as an economy and a society. We have a dedicated unit within Enterprise Ireland that is doing exactly that. It is providing upskilling and investing in it for that exact reason.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: It is also coming from within our Department as well. We are also doing it within the Department. We have worked with the Department of Finance to produce a report on AI and that was also part of what the consultancy fees are for.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: That is no problem at all. We will provide that.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: That is purely pensions. The Department does not pay the staff itself but we pay the pensions and obviously with the public service pay agreement there has been adjustments.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: Yes.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: Call number seven on this was announced as a rolling call. That means applications can come in at any stage up until the closing date of April of next year. We did that for the reason of developing a pipeline of applications that would allow companies more time to meet with possible partners to explore the potential for submitting projects. There is a lot of work involved in this from...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: I welcome the Minister of State and her officials. I, too, associate myself with the condolences to the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, on the recent passing of his mum, which is not easy. Looking through what we have been presented with, I am struck by the huge amount of work by officials going on in the Department. A huge amount of positive stuff is going on and businesses are being...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Deputy, especially for his positive remarks on the assistance that the Government and the Department provided to his constituents in Midleton, and to SMEs throughout the country, this year. I thank him for his leadership and vision on the shared island enterprise scheme. It is working very well. I am very glad we are seeking additional funding for it. It is very interesting...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: When does the Minister of State expect it to start?

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Emer Higgins: We are keen for it to start quickly. We are still waiting to hear back from the Department of Justice about how quickly we will be able to collaborate with it on that.