The plans are bottom-up in nature. They will be designed with input from the key stakeholders in each region. It is up to the regions to devise their own plans and to prioritise what they see are the most ambitious targets they can achieve within their regions in the coming years. I already outlined the key stakeholders that will participate in that. I would be happy to get a copy of the draft plan and share it with the Deputy and he can have an input into it in that way. Lessons need to be learned from the previou…

I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. We do not need to read about Carlow in the Irish Independent . Not a week goes by when Deputy Murnane O'Connor does not raise Carlow either here or in the parliamentary party meeting.

My colleague has corrected me by saying not an hour goes by. Regional enterprise development and sustainable local job creation are key policy priorities of mine and of the Government. My Department is overseeing the development of nine new regional enterprise plans. These are bottom-up plans, developed by regional stakeholders which identify growth opportunities, recognise vulnerabilities and enable job creation across the regions, including in the south-east region, through collaborative regional actions. The new…

The previous regional enterprise plan had significant investment in Carlow. Two projects were supported. Insurtech Network Centre in Carlow, which supports technology solutions to the global insurance services sector, received €1.4 million and the National Design Innovation Hub received €1.843 million. Under the previous regional plan there was significant investment in Carlow. I hope there will be further investment in Carlow under the new regional action plan, which, as I have outlined, will be published early in…

I reiterate that the plan will be published early next year. The plan is devised by the people of the south east. I am very confident that there are objectives and targets for every county in the south east and it will not just concentrate on one particular county. When I engaged with the stakeholders, I stressed that if it is to be successful, it must have buy-in from all counties; all counties must be supported.

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft: Sectoral Employment Order (Electrical Contracting Sector) 2021, a copy of which has been laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 19th November, 2021.

I move: That the proposal that, pursuant to subsection (2) of section 2 of the Ombudsman Act 1980, and subsection (4) of section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, Dáil Éireann recommends the appointment of Mr. Ger Deering, by the President to be the Ombudsman and Information Commissioner, be referred to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, in accordance with Standing Order 95(5) and 95(9)(a), which, not later than 14th December, 2021, shall send a message to the Dái…

I welcome the opportunity to be in the Seanad today to discuss the Bill, and to have the opportunity to hear the contributions of a number of Senators. I thank Senator Ruane for bringing forward this legislation. As previous speakers have said, it is timely and important legislation. I very much share her ambition for positive change in this space. Initially, the Government had said it would like to bring forward an amendment to read the Bill in 12 months. That was not in any way a stalling tactic and Senator Ruane…

I reiterate I have ambitions of sustainability reporting and want to see Ireland taking a lead role in this area. I cannot speak in much detail about the member state negotiations but I can say they are under way and are being attended by officials both from Dublin and Brussels. As a member of the EU, Ireland plays its part in developing these laws for all member states and for the whole of the Internal Market. I genuinely believe this Bill will feed into those negotiations. I am not saying this in any way condesce…

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important topic. The most immediate factor affecting electricity prices in Ireland is the continuing upward trend in international gas prices where we are a price taker. In Europe, wholesale natural gas prices have been on an upward curve since the second half of 2020. This feeds directly through to retail electricity prices, as the wholesale pric…

Price regulation ended many years ago. Suppliers must compete with each other on price and set their own prices accordingly, as one would expect in a liberalised market. The independent regulator, the CRU, has functions in regard to these matters, including consumer protection and monitoring the market more generally. I will undertake to refer the query Deputy Cahill has raised today with the CRU. I would be surprised if the Deputy has not done that already himself. If he has, I am interested to hear what it has sa…

I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this important issue and giving us an opportunity to debate it. I also thank all speakers for their important contributions on this Bill. It is clear that we have some way to go to ensure that we all embrace climate change going forward. As we transition to a low-carbon economy and society, we need to empower consumers to make good and informed choices. There is already a shift in consumer preference for climate-friendly products, which itself will further encourage innovation and c…

I thank the Deputy for coming some way towards meeting our concerns. As I explained on Committee Stage, I am supportive of the principle behind this amendment, which is to minimise the time period in which there would be acting members. We also discussed that the principle behind what we are doing here is to ensure, as far as possible, that vacancies at member level are planned and filled seamlessly, without any need for acting members. That is the ultimate goal. However, practically speaking and notwithstanding th…

I will certainly keep an eye on it and undertake to write to the incoming chairman and ensure this is only used in exceptional circumstances. The purpose behind this amendment is unforeseen circumstances and not planned vacancies.

I appreciate the very co-operative manner in which Deputy O'Reilly engaged with the whole process on Committee Stage. I welcomed the amendment at that time and the spirit in which it was made. I have no doubt the Deputy wants to enhance the disclosure of information relating to the commission of offences under the Companies Act 2014 between the Central Bank and the corporate enforcement authority and that is the principal that underpins her amendment. As I said on Committee Stage, the Office of the Director of Corp…

I thank Deputy O’Reilly. Again, I will try to give her some reassurance. We will see how that goes. As I explained on Committee Stage, this section is specifically a requirement of EU law. It transposes Article 30(c)(ii) of the EU audit directive, practically word for word. Failure to re-enact these provisions would mean that Ireland would be in breach of its EU obligations. As the Deputy is aware, this section provides for certain circumstances in which administrative sanctions imposed on a company director by the…

I thank Deputy O’Reilly. I genuinely acknowledge that she has been extremely constructive from the get-go. However, as I said already, we are not talking about the courts here. We are talking about administrative sanctions that apply only to breaches of statutory audit rules. These rules are derived from the EU law that significantly reformed the regulation of statutory audit across the EU. This was a result of the European Commission assessment of the role of audit in the financial crisis. IAASA is a competent aut…

I am lucky.

I understand from the Deputy’s questions about this section on Committee Stage that she is concerned with the perception that there is a lack of equity. She has raised that again just now. A director cannot be levied with an administrative financial sanction so high that they could be adjudicated bankrupt. However another person fined by the court for a different breach of law could experience hardship as a result of a fine. As I explained previously, the administrative financial sanctions referred to in this secti…

Deputy O'Reilly could address the amendments that were ruled out of order. I have an answer for her that I think she might welcome.