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Launch of the Economic Recovery Plan 2021
Public Consultations:
- Public Consultation on Scheme of Consumer Rights Bill 2021
- Public Consultation on EU Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
Interim Guidance for Employers on Fitness for Work following COVID-19 Absence
Important notice regarding the temporary changes to Ireland's visa requirements and employment permit regime
Webinars:
- 11 June - Student Entrepreneur Awards
- 15 June - Patenting for Business and Research
- 24 June - Energy Optimisation and Innovation for Business
The ISO 56000 Collection 1:2021
Launch of the Economic Recovery Plan 2021
Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar TD and Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan TD this month launched the Economic Recovery Plan 2021 to achieve rapid job creation and economic growth after the pandemic.
The plan sets out a new phase of supports for the next stage of recovery. In it are new measures for businesses and affected sectors as the economy opens up, and details for existing emergency pandemic financial supports including the COVID Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS), Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) and Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), giving certainty to businesses and employees and for those who need it most.
There is also very strong emphasis on upskilling and research, providing targeted support for those sectors most impacted by the pandemic.
Public Consultation on Scheme of Consumer Rights Bill 2021
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is seeking the views of stakeholders on the Scheme of the Consumer Rights Bill. The Bill will consolidate and update the legislative provisions that regulate the main types of consumer contract.
Individuals or organisations with an exclusive or predominant interest in a specific aspect or are free to confine their responses to it.
The deadline for responses is Wednesday, 30 June 2021.
Public Consultation on EU Proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is seeking the views of stakeholders on the proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
Rules for the disclosure of non-financial information by certain companies, including environmental reporting, have been in effect in Ireland since 2017 through the EU’s Non-financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). The European Commission has reviewed the NFRD and has proposed a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The CSRD will revise the existing reporting requirements of the NFRD, and proposes:
• to extend reporting requirements to all large companies (not just those with over 500 employees) and all companies listed on regulated markets (except listed micro-enterprises);
• to introduce more detailed reporting requirements, and a requirement to report according to mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards; and
• to require companies to digitally ‘tag’ the reported information, so it is machine readable and feeds into the European single access point envisaged in the capital markets union action plan.
The deadline for responses is Wednesday, 23 June 2021.
Interim Guidance for Workers on Fitness for Work following a COVID-19 absence
This guide is designed to assist workers returning to the workplace following a COVID-19 related absence, whether having had a confirmed case of COVID-19 (COVID-19 found) or a negative test result: (COVID-19 not detected).
Even if the worker’s test result is negative, restrictions may still apply:
- Workers should keep in contact with their employer to ensure their safe return to work is planned;
- Public health advice continues to be put in place to guide and support workers to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. COVID-19 can spread rapidly through the workplace causing outbreaks.
It is essential that infectious workers do not return to the workplace as they could spread COVID-19 to co-workers and cause an outbreak at work.
Important notice regarding the temporary changes to Ireland's Visa requirements and employment permit regime
The Employment Permits Section of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) is no longer seeking information as to the criticality of an employment permit application prior to it being processed.
This follows the Department of Justice (DoJ)’s decision to widened the business categories for which they will process and accept visas. Now included in the categories are people travelling for business/employment purposes and those granted an employment permit by DETE.
Full details on the updated Visa Processing times and decisions at the Dublin Visa Office are available at Visas Updates and Announcements.
Any queries regarding the processing of visa applications should be directed to the Department of Justice.
Student Entrepreneur Awards
When: Friday, 11 June at 12.00pm
The Student Entrepreneur Awards is at the forefront of developing entrepreneurship, giving young entrepreneurs a viable pathway to transform their smart ideas into commercial businesses.
The competition is a great opportunity for ambitious and enterprising third level students to build a real-world business venture.
Webinar: Patenting for Business and Research
When: Tuesday, 15 June from 11.00am to 11.45am
Join Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) for their June webinar in the Unlocking Knowledge Transfer series and discuss the basics of patenting.
Speakers include:
Michael Lucey (Director, Purdy Lucey) will provide an outline the fundamentals of applying for a patent and the importance of this intellectual property right for your IP strategy.
Mark Lyons (CEO, Hooke Bio) and Declan Soden (CEO, Mirai Medical) will outline how patented technology has become a key asset for their businesses.
Enterprise Ireland’s Technology Insights Webinar: Energy Optimisation and Innovation for Business
When: Thursday, 24 June from 11.00am to 11.45am
Presented by Dr. Paul MacArtain and Dr. Fergal O’Rourke from CREDIT Technology Gateway.
The drive to decarbonise business will see the halving of emissions each decade to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Better environmental performance leads to improved resource efficiency and direct cost savings and can also increase access to customers who are increasingly demanding more environmentally friendly products and services. Better environmental performance will also increase the agility and resilience of the company to climate change impacts. The steps through energy efficiency, renewable energy, corporate sustainability and circular economies are linked and businesses can identify opportunities to address each of these areas.
The CREDIT Technology Gateway specialises in the technical feasibility, development and testing of energy technologies aimed at addressing these drivers. Dr. Paul MacArtain will outline how energy storage can assist with decarbonisation and efficiency and Dr. Fergal O’Rourke will describe some examples of energy product developments developed at Dundalk Institute of Technology which SMEs have commercialised.
The ISO 56000 Collection 1:2021
The new ISO 56000 Series of guidance standards on Innovation Management has been developed by innovation experts from across the world. It provides international best practice on the systematic management of innovation activities in organisations of all types, including SMEs.
The ISO 56000 series of standards have already been adopted by a number of Government bodies to underpin their Innovation activities.
- Enterprise Ireland and IDA Innovation Maturity Assessment tool for companies.
- Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Innovation Maturity Assessment tool for public bodies.
- Skillnet Ireland - Innovation Excellence Programme
The ISO 56000 Collection available from NSAI includes the following standards:
- Fundamentals and Vocabulary (I.S. EN ISO 56000:2021)
- Innovation Management System - Guidance (I.S. EN ISO 56002:2021)
- Innovation Partnership – Guidance (I.S. EN ISO 56003:2021)
- Innovation Management Assessment – Guidance (S.R. CEN ISO/TR 56004:2020)
- Intellectual Property Management – Guidance (ISO 56005: 2020)
