Written Answers Nos. 76-101
76. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to delays in processing both normal and trusted partner work permit applications; his plans to address and remove these delays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44584/21]
View answer77. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on whether delays in processing work permit applications are impacting on Ireland's attractiveness to foreign direct investors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44585/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 76 together.
Ireland operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The employment permits regime is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and/or labour shortages in the State, required to develop and support enterprise for the benefit of our economy. However, this objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one.
The employment permits system is managed through the operation of the critical skills and ineligible occupations lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for consideration for an employment permit and these lists are subject to twice-yearly evidenced based review.
Since March 2020, my Department has implemented Covid-19 contingency arrangements moving employment permit operations seamlessly to a totally remote working environment. Feedback received from enterprise across the board has been universally positive. In fact, Ireland was one of the few countries that has managed to keep their employment permit system fully operational throughout the crisis.
From the outset of the crisis, in order to assist the HSE and all other medical providers in the State to respond to, and to assist with, the public health response to the threat of Covid-19, all medical employment permits are expedited with immediate effect.
My Department has seen a significant increase in applications for employment permits this year. To the end of August, some 14,624 applications were received, representing a 35% increase over the same period in 2020 (10,772) and a 19% increase on 2019 (12,276). Some 9,526 employment permits were issued over this period.
Processing times have been impacted by this increase in demand but also because of the HSE cyber-attack. As a result, employment permit applications associated with the July Doctors rotation (which occurs twice yearly in January and July) had to be submitted either manually or through other nonstandard methods. This resulted in a significant additional administrative burden in dealing with these applications, requiring staff to be temporarily reassigned to assist in the process and had a direct impact on wider processing times for other permit applications.
It is important to point out that when set against other international employment permit regimes, Ireland continues to compare extremely favourably, even at current processing times.
However, my Department is very conscious of the recent lengthening of timeframes for processing Employment Permit applications and is taking a range of measures to reduce the current backlog as quickly as possible. It advises employers to take current timelines into account as part of their recruitment plans.
My Department updates the employment permit processing timelines on its website on a weekly basis and regularly issues updates on relevant employment permit matters to Trusted Partners such as the recent update on employment permit processing timelines.
Regarding Ireland's attractiveness for foreign direct Investment, Ireland continues to remain a highly attractive destination for companies seeking to invest, with 142 investments won up to the end of Q2 2021. These investments provide employment potential of over 12,500 jobs. It is also encouraging to see that during the first half of 2021 investment continued with 62 new name investments. All this reflects foreign direct investment employment creation plans approaching the record levels of 2019.
78. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a venue (details supplied) has applied to be a designated venue or if it has applied to have any of its events designated under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021. [44671/21]
View answerTo date, the specified venue has not applied to be designated as a venue or to have events, which take place in its venue, designated under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021.
Venue operators and event organisers can apply for designation under the Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021 (Designation of Venues and Events) Regulations 2021, SI No. 399 of 2021. These Regulations set out the requirements for a venue operator or an event organiser who may wish to apply for designation of a venue or an event where certain conditions are met.
Officials from my Department and I have written to stakeholders to encourage them, if they are a venue operator or event organiser that meets the criteria, to consider applying for designation at the earliest opportunity.
Any designations made will be published in Iris Oifigiúil and made publicly available. Also, a Register of designated venues and designated events will be established and maintained on my Department’s website.
Application forms for designation as a venue or an event and further information about the legislation and designation process are available on my Department’s website at: Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021.
79. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the locations of all offices and buildings either owned or used by his Department or by public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit which are usually open to the public to access services. [44910/21]
View answerAccommodation for my Department and its Offices is provided by the Office of Public Works (OPW) in buildings which are either State owned or leased by the OPW on our behalf.
The nature of the work of my Department means we have minimal direct in-person interaction with members of the public in our buildings and accordingly we have no public offices in the Department. The vast bulk of dealings by the Department with the general public are conducted by phone, email or via dedicated online portals specific to the services being sought.
In relation to the Offices of my Department, the primary “face-to-face” onsite interaction with the public as we continue to transition back safely to our buildings is predominately undertaken by the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) mainly at Lansdowne House, Dublin 4. This is a state-owned property overseen by the OPW. Much of this work throughout the pandemic was conducted in a virtual setting but we are now seeing a safe and phased return to in-person onsite meetings. Such interactions typically involve discussions involving the Labour Court and WRC with employers, unions and individual workers on a wide range of industrial relations and employment rights issues.
The WRC also has regional locations in Carlow, Cork, Ennis and Sligo and again, given the nature of the work involved, do engage in in-person interactions across the regions.
Other Offices, such as the Companies Registrations Office (CRO) and the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland have moved more and more of their operations online over recent years as part of the public sector reform process.
The CRO Public Office closed in March 2020 in the initial phase of COVID-19 restrictions and has not reopened. Since the closure of the Public Office the CRO moved to a new IT system where close to 90% of submissions to the CRO are now online. The vast majority of the remaining submissions are received by post. Searches can be done online and there is no need for anyone to attend the Public Office to request information. The CRO is currently reviewing the position in relation to the Public Office and a decision will be made shortly.
Similarly the Public Office of the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland (IPOI) has also been closed to the public since March 2020. The IPOI is currently reviewing when the Public Office will re-open. Most of the work of the Office can be conducted online, such as the e-filing of applications, fee payments and so on, and members of the public can still contact the IPOI by either telephone or email, as they have been able to since March of last year.
Such is the nature of the work of Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement that is does not have a public office.
The agencies under the direct remit of my Department include the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Enterprise Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority, IDA Ireland, the Irish Accounting and Auditing Supervisory Authority, the National Standards Authority of Ireland and the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. Such is the nature of the enterprise agencies work is that they deal with their respective clients across a range of locations, nationally and internationally, and do not operate public offices for access by the general public.
80. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the engagements his Department has had with a person (details supplied) in relation to accusations against them and their dismissal from an industry body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45014/21]
View answerMr. Mulcahy and his representatives have communicated with my Department for more than twenty years and I have written to Mr Mulcahy about these matters on 16 March 2021.
I reviewed the matters associated with my Department regarding Mr Mulcahy’s correspondence over a prolonged period. Mr Mulcahy had the Department’s handling of these matters considered by the Office of the Ombudsman and by the Information Commissioner and neither body found the Department at fault in any aspect. Mr Mulcahy also raised matters with both the European Commission and the EU Ombudsman, neither of whom criticised the Department’s engagement on these matters.
In all these circumstances my department has maintained that it has been fully open and transparent with Mr Mulcahy on issues, which ultimately relate back to a decision by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association to conclude his employment in 1998 - a decision in which the Department played no part.
The Department has over many years devoted a considerable amount of time and resources to this issue. It has afforded every facility and courtesy to Mr Mulcahy in these matters and is strongly of the view that it has acted with probity with no adverse findings from consideration of these matters by the Ombudsman and the Information Commissioner.
Given the passage of time and the efforts made by the Department, I advised Mr Mulcahy that it is no longer tenable we continue to engage with him in any further correspondence. This message was conveyed to Mr Mulcahy by my predecessor Mary Mitchell O’Connor and the Secretary General of my Department in 2016 and 2017. I have informed Mr Mulcahy that this matter is closed in my correspondence to him.
I fully appreciate and respect Mr Mulcahy’s desire to vindicate his good name. However, it is my view that this would be best done through engagement with his former employer, ISME.
81. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he has deleted text messages or email correspondence related to Government or official communications at any point since January 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45034/21]
View answerI do not regularly use text messages to transact Government business but I do use email regularly. I do not routinely delete text messages or emails related to Government or official business. I do delete personal or party political ones on occasion. Messages on old devices may not always be retained or backed-up.
82. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will review a case concerning a charity (details supplied) and filing fees; and if latitude can be extended in the context of a lack of resources available to small operations that were unable to meet obligations as a result of public health guidelines that were issued. [45105/21]
View answerIn relation to the filing of annual returns with the Companies Registration Office (CRO), I should clarify at the outset, that the Registrar of Companies is a statutory role and is administratively independent in the exercise of this function.
The Registrar has taken a number of decisions since March 2020 in relation to arrangements for the filing of annual returns, in recognition of the additional challenges facing some companies and their professional advisers in meeting filing obligations during the Covid-19 pandemic period. The filing of annual returns has continued throughout the period of Covid-19 related disruption, with particularly heavy volumes in the run up to the filing deadlines last Autumn and more recently at end May/early June this year. I am informed that the company in question had an annual return date of 1st August 2020 and had an extended deadline of up to 2nd November 2020 to submit the Form B1 and a further 28 days from the filing of that form to submit the remaining elements of the annual return.
Under the Companies Act 2014, the Registrar does not have any discretion in relation to the waiving of late filing penalties, where annual returns are deemed to be late. Where companies experience difficulties with filing in time due to their particular circumstances, they have the option, under section 343(5) of the Companies Act 2014, of applying to the District Court for extra time to file their annual return.
83. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on whether chefs could be included in the list of eligible occupations for critical skills employment permits due to the shortage of their skill set within the hospitality sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45205/21]
View answerPolicy responsibility for the Hospitality Sector is matter for my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media. The Tourism and Hospitality Careers Oversight Group, under the auspices of Fáilte Ireland, was established in 2019 to coordinate relevant bodies to agree and implement a work programme addressing labour supply and skills requirements in the tourism and hospitality sector.
The State operates a managed employment permits system maximising the benefits of economic migration and minimising the risk of disrupting Ireland’s labour market. The system is intended to act as a conduit for key skills which are required to develop enterprise in the State for the benefit of our economy, while simultaneously protecting the balance of the labour market.
The system is managed through the operation of the Critical Skills and Ineligible Occupations Lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for an employment permit where there is a surplus of those skills in the domestic and EEA labour market.
Since 2019 all grades of Chef are eligible for the General Employment Permit which is the primary vehicle used by the State to attract third country nationals in occupations where it can be demonstrated that the employer was unable to fill the position from the Irish and EEA labour market. The minimum remuneration to be met to be eligible for a permit as a Chef is €30,000 with the requisite that the prospective employee have a number of years’ experience in the role, depending on the Chef grade applied for.
The Critical Skills Employment Permit targets those who have the skills identified as being in critical short supply, in order to drive our economic future. The prospective employee concerned must have secured a 2-year job offer in respect of the eligible occupation from the prospective employer.
The qualification criteria for this permit type are as follows:
- Occupations with a minimum annual remuneration of €32,000 for occupations on the the Critical Skills Occupations List. A relevant degree qualification or higher is requirement.
- In the case of a nurse or midwife, a third level degree or diploma accepted by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland as a sufficient qualification for registration to practice as a nurse or midwife in the State.
- All occupations with a minimum annual remuneration of over €64,000, other than those on the Ineligible List of Occupations for Employment Permits. In this circumstance, a non-EEA national who does not have a degree qualification or higher, must have the necessary level of experience.
In order to maintain the relevance of the occupation lists to the needs of the economy and to ensure the employment permits system is aligned with current labour market intelligence, the lists undergo twice-yearly evidence-based reviews which are guided by research undertaken by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN), the Skills and the Labour Market Research Unit (SLMRU), SOLAS and involves public/stakeholder consultation. Account is taken of education outputs, sectoral upskilling and training initiatives and known contextual factors such as Brexit and, in the current context, COVID-19 and their impact on the labour market. Consideration is also taken of the views of the Economic Migration Interdepartmental Group, chaired by the Department and of the relevant policy Departments including the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media.
A review is currently under way with submissions received, including submissions from the Hospitality sector, under consideration. It is expected that the review will be finalised in the Autumn.
84. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the details on the level of trade between Ireland and Bahrain in 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45210/21]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office compiles statistical data in relation to Exports and Imports of Goods and Services. Statistics for Ireland’s goods exports to, and goods imports from, Bahrain for 2020 and for the first six months of 2021 are contained in the table below. Statistics for services exports to, and services imports from, Bahrain for 2020 and to date in 2021 are not yet available.
For exports, in 2020 the value of goods exports from Ireland to Bahrain was €72 million. The principal goods exports were in the categories of
- Computers, Computer Parts & Storage Devices;
- Medical & Pharmaceutical Products; and
- Dairy Products.
In the period Jan-June 2021 the value of goods exports from Ireland to Bahrain was €24 million. Principal goods exports from Ireland to Bahrain in Jan-June 2021 were:
- Medical & Pharmaceutical Products;
- Essential oils,
- Perfume materials,
- Toilet & Cleansing Preps; and
- Computers, Computer Parts & Storage devices.
On the imports side, in 2020 the value of goods imports to Ireland from Bahrain was €79,000 with the principal goods imports in the categories of:
- Live Animals,
- Essential oils,
- Perfume materials,
- Toilet & Cleansing preps; and
- Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up Articles & Related products.
In Jan-June 2021 the value of goods imports to Ireland from Bahrain was €39,000 and the principal goods imports were in the categories of:
- Manufactures of Metals;
- Road Vehicles; and
- Articles of apparel, clothing accessories.
|
- |
Exports to Bahrain (Goods) €million |
Imports from Bahrain (Goods) €million |
|
2020 |
72.408 |
0.079 |
|
2021 (Jan- June) |
23.787 |
0.039 |
85. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his plans to incentivise microgeneration; if he will put a feed-in tariff in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44677/21]
View answer124. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications when the microgeneration support scheme will be rolled out (details supplied). [45242/21]
View answer125. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the fact that tariffs (details supplied) are not available yet in Ireland; when the tariffs will be made available to customers in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45277/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 85, 124 and 125 together.
My Department outlined proposals for a new Micro-generation Support Scheme (MSS) in a public consultation that closed in February last. A summary report of the submissions received has been published on my Department's website.
While the primary aim of a microgeneration scheme is to enable a household to meet its own electricity needs, it is intended that a suitable tariff for excess electricity generated on site and exported to the grid will be available to all renewables self-consumers later this year, subject to regulatory arrangements, in line with the transposition of Articles 21 and 22 of the recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II).
It is expected the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) will publish a draft framework in the coming weeks outlining the details, including eligibility criteria and timescales for introduction, of the Clean Export Guarantee tariff for exported renewable electricity. This framework will introduce an obligation on electricity suppliers to offer remuneration to their customers, by way of a Clean Export Guarantee payment, for excess renewable electricity exported to the grid by eligible micro- and small-scale generators. The CRU consultation will last four weeks, with a decision expected to be published in November.
The legal basis for the enabling framework is dependent on the transposition of the relevant articles of RED II and Directive (EU) 2019/944 on common rules for the internal market for electricity (IMED), which establish the renewables self-consumer model of electricity generation. My Department is engaging with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on transposing these Articles into Irish law. It is envisaged that this will be achieved before year end.
Further to the public consultation mentioned above, my Department is developing a final scheme design for the MSS that incorporates the feedback from the consultation and subsequent additional analysis. It is envisaged that a proposal on the supports to be offered to citizens, farms, schools and businesses under the MSS, which may include grants or premium tariff payments for new installations, will be submitted to Government later this year.
86. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the schemes that are available for homeowners to upgrade or retrofit their homes if they are working and paying PRSI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44825/21]
View answer87. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the schemes that are available for homeowners to upgrade or retrofit their homes if they are working and paying PRSI and the homes were built after 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44826/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 86 and 87 together.
My Department funds a number of grant schemes, administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) to support homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties. Since 2000, over 450,000 homeowners have upgraded their homes with support from these schemes, representing nearly one home in four across the country. This has resulted in warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes that are easier to heat and light.
Building Regulations have been progressively amended and strengthened over the years and new buildings must now meet very high energy performance standards. Homes constructed since 2006 are generally more energy efficient than those built prior to that period due to energy performance requirements of the 2003 Building Regulations. For that reason, grants are not available for insulation or heating controls for homes built and occupied after 2006. However, grant funding for renewable energy measures (heat pumps, solar thermal and solar PV) are available for homes built before 2011. Full details of all schemes operated by the SEAI and the application processes are available at www.seai.ie, info@seai.ie or Tel. 01-808 2004.
It is important to note that the grants available through SEAI aim to maximise emissions reductions and deliver energy savings for the widest range of homeowners possible. The grants which are available, and their respective eligibility criteria, were chosen as the most likely to deliver significant energy savings to homeowners and the best value for money for the Exchequer.
88. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications when access to effective, high-speed broadband will be provided in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44494/21]
View answerThe premises referred to in the Question is located in the BLUE area on the NBP High Speed Broadband Map which is available on my Department's website at www.broadband.gov.ie. BLUE areas are not included in the State intervention area covered by the National Broadband Plan as commercial operators are already providing high speed broadband or have indicated future plans to do so. My Department defines high speed broadband as a connection with minimum speeds of 30Mbps download and 6Mbps upload. The activities of commercial operators delivering high speed broadband within BLUE areas are not planned or funded by the State and my Department has no statutory authority to intervene in that regard. Complaints about service provision are a matter to be dealt with between the consumer and the service provider in the first instance. If this avenue has been exhausted without a satisfactory resolution, the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) may be able to assist further. ComReg is the independent body that issues licences to broadband service providers and investigates complaints to make sure that companies are delivering services in line with their licence obligations.
Notwithstanding this, my Department has investigated the matter and from our records we have established that the premises should be served with high speed broadband and should be able to place an order for Fibre To The Home (FTTH) through a commercial operator.
89. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on right-to-repair regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44496/21]
View answerRepairing products, and making products which are more easily repairable, is central to circular economy policy in Ireland and the EU. “A Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy”, Ireland’s national waste policy 2020-2025, announced a number of initiatives to support repair activities including a commitment that the National Waste Management Plan due in 2022 will contain targets for reuse and repair.
The draft Whole-of-Government Circular Economy Strategy, which is currently being finalised, also recognises the role of repair in advancing the circular economy.
This point is also addressed by the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan 2020, which recognizes the importance of empowering consumers. The Commission is expected to proposed legislation to ensure that product information about durability, reparability and green claims is trustworthy and is working towards establishing a new ‘Right to Repair’. Ireland will support and promote this ambition, and believes that a wide-ranging 'Right to Repair' can most efficiently be introduced at EU rather than national level.
Some progress has already been made. Regulations under the Ecodesign Directive have been enacted by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Those regulations require that refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers and televisions are longer lasting and more reparable, and professional repairers can access spare parts for a minimum of 10 years.
The Circular Economy Bill, which will be published in the coming months, will provide the necessary legislative basis for several key measures of national waste policy, including the Circular Economy Strategy, the EPA’s new Circular Economy Programme, and the inclusion of targets for reuse and repair in the National Waste Management Plan.
90. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the work that is being done by his Department to identify technical and regulatory solutions to the problem of scam calling. [44501/21]
View answer91. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on whether there has been a large increase in scam calling recently; if work has been undertaken to identify the extent of this increase that is as a result of the hacking of the HSE and the resulting loss of data. [44502/21]
View answer92. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the work that is being carried out by his Department to identify technical and regulatory solutions to the problem of neighbour spoofing (details supplied). [44503/21]
View answer93. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the adequacy of consumer protection and security for consumers in the mobile phone industry; and his views on whether security solutions are outdated and inadequate to protect customers from scam calling. [44504/21]
View answer94. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his Department has carried out investigations of measures being taken to protect citizens from scam calling in other jurisdictions, such as the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act in the US; and if he has legal and regulatory powers to legislate against such scam calls here. [44505/21]
View answer95. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if any work is being carried out at European level to prevent citizens from scam calling and other unethical phone practices. [44506/21]
View answer96. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his Department has carried out any investigation of robust call authentication SHAKEN and STIR protocols to verify caller identification; and if he has had any communication with the Commission for Communications Regulation on technological solutions to neighbourhood spoofing and other unethical practices. [44507/21]
View answer97. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the adoption of call authentication technologies to verify that incoming calls are legitimate before ever reaching consumers; if he has had any discussions with the regulator, industry bodies, the Department of Justice, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment or any other bodies regarding the adoption of authentication technologies for the telephone industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44508/21]
View answer99. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if his attention has been drawn to the increase in scam phone calls being received and reported by members of the public; and the role he sees for his Department under the consumer protection remit in building a picture of the nature and quantity of scam calls. [44515/21]
View answer100. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications his views on the role his Department has in protecting consumers from automated scam calls. [44516/21]
View answer101. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the action his Department has taken to investigate the impact of scam calls based on age; if his Department has data on whether reliance on telephony makes older persons more susceptible to scam calls; the action being taken by his Department to protect older persons from scam calls; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44517/21]
View answer102. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will establish a joint working group on scam calling with the relevant Departments and regulatory and industry bodies to identify legal, technological and regulatory solutions to the related issues of autodialling commercial calls, telephony fraud, number spoofing and leaking of customer data which leaves vulnerable consumers open to targeting for commercial exploitation, excessive contact, sharp practice and fraud over the telephone. [44518/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101 and 102 together.
I am aware of phone customers in Ireland recently experiencing an escalated level of nuisance scam calls and smishing and that they can cause considerable distress and anxiety, in addition to causing some customers to incur additional charges.
It is not possible, from a telecoms point of view, to assess the level of scam call activity or to quantify it with any accuracy. While operators may notice an upsurge in traffic or change in patterns of traffic, this might not be related to scam calls.
While I understand that it is not possible to identify scam call numbers in advance, which can resemble normal, familiar geographical or international numbers encountered on a daily basis, the Regulator has published information for consumers in relation to this issue: www.comreg.ie/consumer-information/mobile-phone/scam-calls-2/. This provides advice urging vigilance at all times on the part of consumers and listing suggestions for the proactive steps to be taken by those receiving scam calls, and in particular, advising people not to answer, or to call back any number which they do not recognise or where there is a bland or no voicemail left. The notice also provides a phone number for consumers to contact and the Regulator also offers a text call back service and other facilities to assist consumers.
I understand that An Garda Síochána has also raised public awareness to warn phone users on the need to remain continually alert with respect to calls and text messages
Unfortunately, there is no immediate technical or (telecoms) legislative solution to scam calls, or smishing. I understand that industry operators are actively analysing the position at network level and the matter continues to be monitored by the Regulator.
The advice to the public remains focused on the importance of being vigilant.
98. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the conditions that must be fulfilled before a person may engage in the commercial sale of peat and-or peat-related products; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44510/21]
View answerThere are currently no specific conditions laid down by my Department that must be fulfilled before a person may engage in the commercial sale of peat or peat-related products.New regulations are being developed to begin the phasing out of the most polluting fuels, and from 2022 new standards for all solid fuels will apply in Ireland. In order to accommodate those with rights to harvest sod peat, no ban on its burning will be introduced. However, a regulatory regime to reduce its harm in more urbanised areas is under examination.
