Table of contents
Budget 2023 – Helping businesses and families with escalating energy costs
Cross-Government launch of new National Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals 2022-2024
EU trade sanctions in response to situation in Ukraine
New pay agreement provides pay increases and wage structure for early learning and childcare workers
Publication of the Final Report of the LEEF High-Level Working Group on Collective Bargaining
Public consultation on the Single Market Emergency Instrument
Budget 2023 – Helping businesses and families with escalating energy costs
Last month, the Government announced a Budget package to help businesses with escalating energy costs and to plan for the future.
Overall funding allocated to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in Budget 2023 increased by €36 million, to €940 million, including the following measures:
- €1.25 billion for Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme
- €200 million for Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme
- €1.2 billion for Ukraine Credit Guarantee Scheme
- €500 million for Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme
- €4 million in funding to the Local Enterprise Office network to include a new grant for microenterprises for energy efficiency
Cross-Government launch of new National Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals 2022-2024
The Government has launched the new National Implementation Plan for the Sustainable Development Goals 2022-2024 on 5 October 2022.
The new plan sets out five strategic objectives and 51 actions, with 119 individual measures, to increase Ireland’s ambition and strengthen implementation structures to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The plan was developed in collaboration with all Government Departments and key stakeholders, and based on input from two public consultation processes held over the last year.
The launch reflects the whole-of-Government approach Ireland has adopted to the implementation of the SDGs. Each Minister has specific responsibility for implementing individual SDG targets related to their Ministerial functions and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has responsibility for overseeing coherent implementation across Government.
EU trade sanctions in response to situation in Ukraine
On 6 October 2022, the EU adopted additional sanctions in response to Russia’s illegal and unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine.
EU sanctions regulations have direct effect in all member states of the EU, and, as such, are legally binding on all natural and legal persons in Ireland. Private companies, therefore, have an obligation to ensure that they are in full compliance with these new measures.
The 8th package of EU sanctions came into effect on 7 October 2022. The major trade-related elements of the package include:
- An extension of the prohibition on the provision of services to Russia to include the provision of architectural and engineering services, IT consultancy services, legal advisory service
- A prohibition on the sale, supply, transfer or export of firearms, their parts and essential components and ammunition
- A further extension of the import ban on coal and other products that either originate in Russia or have been exported from Russia
New pay agreement provides pay increases and wage structure for early learning and childcare workers
Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD accepted proposals for Employment Regulation Orders for the Early Years Services Sector on 7 September 2022.
The Orders, commencing on 15 September 2022, provides new minimum hourly rates of pay for various roles in the Early Years Services Sector as follows:
- €13.00 for Early Years Educators/ School-Age Childcare practitioners
- €14.00 for Early Years Lead Educators / School-Age Childcare co-ordinators
- €15.50 Graduate Early Years Lead Educators / School-Age Childcare co-ordinators
- €15.70 for Deputy Managers
- €16.50 for Managers
- €17.25 for Graduate Managers
Publication of the Final Report of the LEEF High-Level Working Group on Collective Bargaining
The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD and the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD announced the publication of the Final Report of the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) High-Level Working Group on Collective Bargaining on 5 October 2022.
The High-Level Working Group was formed in March 2021 to review the collective bargaining landscape in Ireland and to make recommendations for improvement.
Public consultation on the Single Market Emergency Instrument
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is conducting a European Commission public consultation on the Single Market Emergency Instrument (SMEI).
The Commission's proposal states that the purpose of the SMEI is to provide a strong, agile governance structure, as well as a targeted toolbox, to ensure the smooth functioning of the Single Market in any future type of crisis.
Submissions should be sent to SMEI@enterprise.gov.ie. The closing date for submissions is 5pm Friday, 21 October 2022.
