In this week’s public policy bulletin, read about the Irish Minister for Finance’s comments about companies which issued dividends in addition to receiving Government support. Also covered is the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s response to the Institute’s request regarding the introduction of Statutory Sick Pay; a new Scheme to regularise the status of long-term undocumented migrants residing in the Irish State; Northern Ireland’s new 22-point Action Plan for the Path to Net Zero Energy; and a report from Manufacturing NI which shows that availability of people and labour is the manufacturing economy’s key concern.
Companies no longer needing State support encouraged to ‘consider their position’, Minister tells Committee
The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, TD, has encouraged companies to return State support to Revenue if it is no longer required. Minister Donohue further expressed the view that it would be important that any changes to the Government’s support schemes should be proportionate and not undermine the overarching policy rationale underpinning the scheme, which is to maintain employment.
Speaking to the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, Minister Donohoe this week defended the State’s administration of the Wage Subsidy Schemes which were introduced by the Government to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, pointing to the rigorous checks carried out by Revenue to ensure the eligibility of businesses, and the high degree of compliance by beneficiary firms.
Specifically addressing the issue of companies which had received support and subsequently paid dividends to their shareholders, the Minister stated while it is not appropriate for him “to comment on the affairs of an individual taxpayer” and the “question of what dividends a company may or not be in position to pay to shareholders is a matter outside the current legislative remit of the scheme”, that the matter will be kept under review to assess the appropriateness of introducing any further conditionality into the scheme. He also stressed that the overwhelming majority of participants in the scheme had a genuine need for support when it had been received.
The Minister further stated that that some companies subsequently had a strong financial year and ultimately considered that the State support was not required by them and returned the support received to Revenue, and he strongly encouraged other companies who are in a similar situation to consider their position.
Government responds to Institute’s request regarding timeline for introduction of Statutory Sick Pay Scheme
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has issued a response to the Institute’s letter to Government on 12 November regarding thetimeline for introducing statutory sick pay. In our letter we called on the Government to examine its ambitious timeline for the scheme’s introduction, and to engage with service providers, advisors, employers, and representative bodies to ensure that the logistics of the system are fully tested before the scheme becomes mandatory.
In its response this week, the Department referred to its process of pre-legislative scrutiny, its plans to seek Government approval for presentation of the Bill to the House of the Oireachtas, and the establishment of rates of pay and calculation by Statutory Instrument. It stated that once the legislation is finalised, an information campaign will be undertaken to ‘clarify aspects of the scheme in advance of its introduction’.
We will continue to seek an appropriate timeline for the introduction of such a scheme to ensure that employers are given sufficient time to prepare and that detailed guidance is issues as soon as possible.
You can find the Institute’s representations to the Government on public policy issues here.
Scheme to regularise the status of long-term undocumented migrants
From 31 January thousands of undocumented migrants will be able to apply to regularise their status under the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants scheme.
The scheme, which will run for six months from 31 January to 31 July, will apply to those who have been living in the State without permission for at least four years, or at least three years for those with children.
The scheme, which is expected to benefit about 20,000 people, includes those with expired student permissions and those with pending deportation orders, who will be eligible provided they have spent the required amount of time in the State without permission.
Further details regarding the qualifying criteria, required documentation for the scheme and application fees, are available on the Department’s immigration website.
ESRI study increases in average take-home pay
An ESRI study examining the impact of recent minimum wage increases found that while some minimum wage employees experienced a reduction in hours, average take-home pay increased.
The study, funded by the Low Pay Commission, examined the cumulative effect of three recent minimum wage increases (from 2016 to 2018 when it rose from €8.65 to €9.55 per hour) on the hours worked of minimum wage employees. The findings of the study show that while the hours worked by minimum wage employees fell by almost one hour per week over the same period, the minimum wage increases were large enough to offset any earnings loss due to reduced hours, leaving the average minimum wage worker financially better off.
Over 7,000 jobs created by firms supported by Local Enterprise Offices
Ireland’s Local Enterprise Office network has reportedly created over 7,000 jobs, a 9 percent increase on the previous year’s figure, as well as providing training and mentoring to thousands of other firms. Approximately 85 percent of those employed in LEO-supported companies are based outside the Dublin region.
Supports include the Trading Online Voucher and the 'Green for Micro' programme, which encourages businesses to become more sustainable.
Commenting, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar, described these figures as “a real boost … and will contribute to our overall target of having 2.5m people in work by 2024.”
Action Plan publishes for Northern Ireland’s Path to Net Zero
Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has launched a 22-point Action Plan for the region’s Path to Net Zero Energy. The publication of the action plan, which comes at a time of significant energy price rises, follows last month’s publication of The Path to Net Zero Energy which outlined a roadmap to deliver a 56 percent reduction in Northern Ireland’s energy-related emissions by 2030 and a pathway to deliver the 2050 vision of net zero carbon and affordable energy.
New initiatives in the action plan include a £10million green innovation fund, a hydrogen centre of excellence and one-stop shop for energy advice.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Lyons welcomed the announcement, saying it bolsters the strategy’s vision for a Green Economy, which aims to create new jobs and grow a skills base for the low carbon economy through innovation, support and focusing on our competitive strengths.
Availability of workers top problem for Northern Ireland manufacturing
A survey by Manufacturing NI has found the availability of workers was the biggest problem for over half of its member firms, affecting 60 percent of respondents.
The survey, issued to gauge traders’ experience of the NI Protocol, saw respondents citing ‘the availability of people’ as the greatest problem they faced, with the Protocol ranking fourth out of four options, after the Covid-19 pandemic and productivity issues.
“Despite the challenges of 2021, the clear view is that it is the availability of people and labour, and not the protocol, which is damaging firms and the manufacturing economy the most,” the report stated.
You can find information, guidance and supports to help members understand sustainability and meet the challenges it presents in our Sustainability Centre.
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