Parliamentary questions

406. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the amount his Department has spent on translation services from a company (details supplied) for the years 2020 to 2025 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72066/25]

407. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if a job (details supplied) is eligible for a critical skills employment permit under the categories of ICT software developers and engineers, or ICT professionals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72080/25]

408. Deputy Paula Butterly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment for an update on the work being carried out to promote market leading top of the line semiconductor manufacturing companies to begin manufacturing operations in Ireland; and the way in which the funding Ireland has or will receive under the EU Chips Act will be used to attract investment from these companies. [659…

409. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the number of WTE inspectors by grade working within the workplace relations commission in each of the years of 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form. [72172/25]

410. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the progress made over the past 12 months on each of his Department’s Programme for Government commitments, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72195/25]

411. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment he status of the current review of the critical skills occupation list and the ineligible occupations list; the extent to which submissions from the agri-food sector, including those relating to the role of dairy farm assistant, are being considered; and when the final recommendations from this review are expected t…

412. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the position regarding the quota of 1,100 general employment permits for dairy farm assistants which was exhausted in November 2025; if his Department intends to extend this quota or consider removing the role from the ineligible occupations list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [72415/25]

374. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if his Department, and agencies under the Department’s remit, purchase data on the habits and activities of social media users and other platforms; if so, the reasons for purchasing such data; the amount spent in 2024 and 2025 year to date on such expenditure, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the …

375. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment his plans to apply the enhanced SME test to the English language education sector in relation to the stamp 2 visa changes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [70910/25]

376. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if a work permit application can be expedited for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71023/25]

377. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment in light of the recent announcement that the quota for general employment permits for dairy farm assistants has been exhausted, with no new applications being accepted, the representations his Department has received from farming representative bodies regarding the urgent need to increase the quota for the upcomin…

378. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment given the critical labour shortages being reported in the dairy-farming sector, particularly during the busy spring calving season, if he will commit to immediately reopening or extending the quota for dairy farm assistants, or otherwise fast-tracking additional permits to ensure farms have sufficient staff for th…

379. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the timeframe for when the current review of the occupations lists for employment permits will conclude; and if the Department will publish interim arrangements or special allowances for agricultural employers facing urgent labour shortages while that review is ongoing. [71065/25]

380. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to provide Ireland’s full indicator-level scores under the Blavatnik Index of Public Administration for 2024, disaggregated by each theme and sub-domain, given that this information was not included in his previous reply; to confirm whether the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council has furnished these dat…

381. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the actions taken under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 to address misleading commercial practices relating to the description, presentation or marketing of meat products supplied to food service businesses and retail outlets; the coordination mechanisms in place between his Department, the Competition and Consumer …

382. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if an independent external evaluation framework has been established to assess the value-for-money and productivity impact of the Built to Innovate programme, including the €6.8 million in approved grants; if not, when such an evaluation will be commissioned; and the indicators that will be used to measure demonstrab…

383. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the work undertaken with the Central Statistics Office and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage since 2022 to enable the publication of residential-specific productivity statistics, including GVA, hours worked and modern methods of construction output; if his Department has sought a Eurostat derog…

384. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the measures his Department has in place to support main street/bricks and mortar retail stores and to enhance main streets as retail destinations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71094/25]

385. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the reason data centres are a critical part of Ireland's digital infrastructure; the measures in place to support the development of environmentally sustainable data centres; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71095/25]

386. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if his Department holds any analysis of the impact of complex interest rate hedging products on the viability of Irish SMEs during the financial crisis; and if any examination has been undertaken of contingent liabilities embedded in swap-linked lending by banks operating in the State. [71168/25]

387. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the policy instruments available to support SMEs that may have been affected by non-transparent or complex hedging structures in the 2007 to 2012 period; and his intentions to initiate a review of SME credit fairness and contract transparency in light of recent international allegations. [71169/25]

388. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if any elements of the Credit Guarantee Scheme, SME Lending Code, or statutory protections for small businesses have been evaluated to determine if they would have captured or prevented the use of hidden contingent credit exposures within SME loan products. [71170/25]

389. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the dates on which his Department sent correspondence to or met with Commissioner McGrath or the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers since March 2025 and the subject of any such correspondence and/or meeting, in tabular form. [71198/25]

390. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the dates on which his Department received correspondence or met with a company (details supplied) or its representatives since March 2025; and the subject of any such correspondence and/or meeting, in tabular form. [71201/25]

391. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the dates on which his Department received correspondence from, or met with, a company (details supplied) or its representatives since March 2025; and the subject of any such correspondence and/or meeting, in tabular form. [71204/25]