In this week’s Public Policy Bulletin, from Ireland we bring news that the enhanced illness benefit has been extended until the end of September, a new €85 million fund has been announced to help businesses ‘go digital’ and several occupations have been added to the Critical Skills Occupation list. In Northern Ireland, 7,000 free training places have been announced to help people skill-up and latest statistics show increased business activity in the region.
Enhanced illness benefit extended until end-September in Ireland
Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys has extended Enhanced Illness Benefit from the end of June until the end of September 2022.
The benefit was introduced at the start of the pandemic as a payment for employees and self-employed people diagnosed with Covid-19 or as a probable source of infection. The benefit is paid at a weekly rate of €350 from the first day of the illness. To date, 516,433 have been entitled to receive the payment.
More information can be found on gov.ie.
€85 million “Grow Digital” Fund announced
The Government have announced details of a new €85 million fund to help businesses in Ireland to go digital. Administered by Enterprise Ireland, the Digital Transition Fund will be in operation until 2026, with €10 million being made available in 2022.
The Fund will be used to help companies use digital technology like AI, cloud computing and big data to improve their products, processes, supply chains and services. Companies at any stage of their digital journey can apply for funding.
A new website is also being developed which will allow companies assess what their needs are and point towards their next steps to improve their offering through digital technology.
More information can be found on gov.ie.
Additional occupations added to Critical Skills Occupation List
A statutory instrument has been introduced by the Government to add the occupations of Pharmacist, Cardiac Physiologist, Medical Scientist, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Podiatrist/Chiropodist, Psychologist and Speech & Language Therapist to the Critical Skills Occupations List. This means these jobs are now eligible for a Critical Skills Employment Permit and employers can recruit non-EEA nationals for these roles.
The Institute has been working with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for several months on improving the processing time for such visas.
More information can be found on gov.ie.
Northern Ireland: Applications open for 7,000 free training courses
Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has announced that applications are now open for more than 7,000 free training courses for 2022/23. The Skill Up initiative fully funds local further and higher education providers to deliver more than 20,000 training places in over 250 subject areas and is supported by an investment of up to £23 million for the Department of the Economy and the Northern Ireland Office.
Minister Lyons said “Skill Up is one element of a wide range of skills and training funding that my Department put in place to help address the economic impact effects of the pandemic, with around 15,000 training places already funded since May 2020. Skill Up will run until the 2023/24 academic year, funding high quality training, in priority areas of need, that is directly applicable in the world of work.”
Number of businesses operating in Northern Ireland continues to rise
The number of businesses operating in Northern Ireland increased by 1.6 percent over the year to March 2022, according to statistics issued by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) this week. 78,885 businesses are now registered for VAT and/or PAYE, marking the eight consecutive increase since 2014.
The statistics also show that 89 percent of businesses operating in the region are micro-businesses, classed as those with less than 10 employees. Just over 2 percent have 50 or more employees. Furthermore, non-NI owned businesses account for 2.5 percent of the business population but 23 percent of employees.
In terms of sectors, construction, production, and services all experienced increased growth (1.5 percent) over the year to March 2022.