Results 421-440 of 9,147 for speaker:Pat Breen

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Supports (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: In regard to state aid considerations, I will be attending a meeting of the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on Monday next. The technical working group involving various players, including the Department, Enterprise Ireland and others, has been very successful. An outcome of the group's discussions has been the extension of the Irish rescue and restructuring scheme to include temporary...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: I thank Deputy Martin Kenny for his question. He he is representing his county well. The Government is committed to supporting job creation and investment in the regions. This remains a key priority. That is why my Department and its agencies are working towards ambitious targets to ensure that employment and investment are distributed as evenly as possible across the country, including...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: Leitrim is a little like Clare. My county is sandwiched between Galway and Limerick and Leitrim is sandwiched between Donegal and Sligo. I have visited Leitrim in my role as Minister of State and I have seen at first hand the operations of fantastic indigenous companies such as VistaMed, which employs over 400 people. There are brewery companies such as the Carrig Brewing Company, as well...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Brexit Supports (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: I thank Deputy Kelleher for tabling the question. The Department and its agencies are carrying out extensive work to prepare for all Brexit eventualities. Informed by detailed research, the Department has been putting in place a package of measures that will allow us to respond to the needs of businesses. This includes the recruitment of additional staff to support businesses to adapt to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Supports (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: My Department, through its agency Enterprise Ireland and Local Enterprise Offices, supports companies in urban and rural areas to start, innovate and remain competitive in international markets, now and into the future. On an annual basis, Enterprise Ireland works with approximately 5,000 companies through a network of market and sector advisers based across 10 national offices and 33...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Regional Action Plan for Jobs (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: The REDF is aimed at accelerating economic recovery by delivering on the potential of local and regional strengths. It is a key action to support the Regional Action Plans for Jobs and the Action Plan for Rural Development. The first call under the Fund was announced in May 2017, with the results released in December 2017. Twenty-one applicants representing all regions of the country secured...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Supports (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 16, 24 and 36 together. Brexit presents the most significant economic challenge of the past 50 years for businesses in all parts of the country, including Dublin, and my Department and its agencies are working hard to ensure that potentially impacted firms are taking the necessary steps to prepare and mitigate risks and to take advantage of potential...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Ireland Portfolio (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: Creating more jobs in the regions is a priority for both the IDA and my Department. I will certainly be focused on doing everything I can to deliver the fairest possible spread of investment across the country. Total employment by FDI companies in Ireland now stands at a landmark 210,443 people which is an increase of 5.3% from 2016. This figure surpasses the overall five-year target of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Regional Action Plan for Jobs (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: This Government has made jobs and enterprise in the regions a top priority. The Regional Action Plan for Jobs (RAPJs) initiative is a central pillar of the Government’s ambition to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020, 135,000 of which are outside of Dublin. A key objective of each of the 8 regional plans is to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Sanctions (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: Ireland shares the views expressed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Fredrica Mogherini, to the effect that the EU deeply regrets the announcement by the US that it will withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which was signed by the "E3+3" Group with Iran. The EU remains committed to the continued full and effective implementation of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Meetings (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: As Minister of State responsible for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, I hosted a Ministerial meeting of the EU Digital 9+ (D9+) front-runner countries, which is a loose affiliation of like-minded Member States on Digital Single Market issues, on 15 May. The meeting further underscored Ireland’s commitment to the digital agenda and increased the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Economic Competitiveness (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: Addressing Ireland’s cost competitiveness remains a key economic priority for Government which continues to monitor Ireland's cost competitiveness on a regular basis. The National Competitiveness Council monitors business cost competitiveness annually and its research findings indicate that Ireland’s cost base has improved across a range of metrics over the last five years...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is responsible for ensuring compliance with employment rights legislation, including the national minimum wage in all sectors of employment. As the deputy will be aware, WRC inspectors, formerly NERA inspectors, routinely carry out inspections in all employment sectors, including in the social care sector, with a view to checking for and enforcing...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: The Action Plan for Jobs is one of the Government’s key instruments to support job creation. The Action Plan for Jobs process has worked well to achieve its primary objective. Since the first Plan was launched in early 2012, there are over 345,000 more people at work. The unemployment rate has fallen from a high of 16 per cent to 5.9 per cent in April 2018. A continuing focus of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Minimum Wage (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is responsible for ensuring compliance with employment rights legislation generally, including the national minimum wage. Inspectors from the WRC routinely carry out inspections of employer records in all sectors of employment with a view to determining compliance with employment rights legislation. These inspections arise: - In response to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Appeals Tribunal (24 May 2018)

Pat Breen: The EAT is independent in the exercise of its quasi-judicial function and I have no direct involvement in its day to day operations. I should point out to that since 1 October 2015, the functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) have been subsumed into the Workplace Relations Commission which now deals with all employment rights claims at first instance, and the Labour Court...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Pat Breen: This group of amendments deals with GDPR related data processing under Part 3 of the Bill. Amendment No. 36 amends section 41 of the Bill, which reconciles the right to data protection with freedom of information rights. It broadens the scope of section 41 by incorporating reference to the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007. Amendments Nos. 35...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Pat Breen: This is a very important part of the GDPR for public representatives. Senator Conway first raised the potential impact of GDPR on the ability of elected representatives to make requests or representations in the House. Arising from that intervention, the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, announced his intention to introduce new provisions to establish a robust legal basis for the making of...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Pat Breen: As a rural Deputy, I think it is important that a Deputy, Senator or local authority member is able to communicate with constituents. It is very important. It is part of the role. It is also important to point out with regard to the Bill that Oireachtas Members and local authorities have the same obligations as anybody else with regard to the protection of data that they hold. They are...

Seanad: Data Protection Bill 2018: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (22 May 2018)

Pat Breen: Group 8 includes amendments Nos. 48 and 107 to 110, inclusive. They are court related amendments. These amendments are concerned with the application of data protection safeguards and rules by courts when acting in their judicial capacity. Section 155 deals with the processing of personal data, where the controller is a court acting in a judicial capacity. Amendment No. 107 amends...