Results 3,141-3,160 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Skill Shortages. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: The green card we will introduce as part of the work permits system will facilitate high-skilled labour and will better streamline it. I accept the procedures must be streamlined to facilitate inter-company transfer, which will be statutorily facilitated in the Act. We will introduce regulations to commence it in the new year. The green card and work permit systems will focus on higher...

EU Directives. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: Directive 98/6/EC on the requirement to indicate product prices was transposed into Irish law in Statutory Instrument No. 639 of 2002 and came into force on 1 March 2003. The directive obliges retailers to display the selling price and the unit price per kilo or litre for products. As the Deputy is aware, I will introduce major consumer legislation later this year to establish the new...

EU Directives. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: Yes.

EU Directives. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I will certainly take up that issue with the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs which is operating as it always has, despite the change of personnel. There may have been a blip on that particular day but the office is up and running, as it always has been and there has been no particular change there. In fact, I recently launched the National Consumer Agency's new website, which is...

EU Directives. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: It is available for the public to access in terms of rights data and so on. I hope to have the legislation ready for publication before the end of the year. It is the number one priority and is well advanced in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. The passage of that legislation will enable us to put the agency on a statutory footing.

Company Liquidations. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82, 112 and 137 together. As indicated in replies to previous questions, matters relating to the liquidation of the company concerned are currently the subject of attention by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Each of these bodies is independent in the performance of its functions and it would not be...

Company Liquidations. (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I share the sentiments expressed by the Deputy. I wish to put on the record the main company law provisions in Ireland dealing with such companies. Companies that fail and re-engage in trading under a new name are addressed under the Companies Acts 1963-2005 and, in particular, under the provisions of Part 5 of the Company Law Enforcement Act 2001. Under section 56 of the latter Act, a new...

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: A key goal for the enterprise development agencies is the achievement of the national objective of balanced regional development within the framework of the National Spatial Strategy. The recently launched "Gateways Investment Priorities Study" aims to provide renewed impetus to the development of the nine Gateway locations identified in the NSS. Gateway development involves not just...

Written Answers — Research Policy: Research Policy (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Framework Programme is the main instrument through which the EU's research policy is implemented. The Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) has been designed to build on the achievements of its predecessor towards the creation of the European Research Area and carry it further towards the objective of developing the knowledge economy and society in Europe. The Budget for the FP7 Programme is...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: In September, 2006, the company in question announced a reduction in its employment with the removal of 200 temporary positions from its Waterford plant. The full services of the Industrial Training agency FÁS are available to these employees. The jobs in question are not permanent positions and the company continues to employ over 1,500 permanent people. On 27 October, 2006, I announced...

Written Answers — Foreign Direct Investment: Foreign Direct Investment (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and its regions. For a number of years now the Agency has been very successful in marketing Ireland to overseas investors and we continue to win a disproportionate share of available investments relative to our size and population. The level of foreign direct investment...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: My Department has been making good progress in the relocation of the required 250 posts to Carlow under the Government's Decentralisation Programme. With regard to the property side of the Department's move, the Office of Public Works completed the purchase of a site in Carlow town centre late last year. On 31st May 2006, the OPW commenced the tendering process by seeking expressions of...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 117 together. I have provided funding of more than €30m to the County and City Enterprise Boards this year. This represents an increase of nearly 8% on the allocation provided in 2005. In addition to the Exchequer funding provided, the CEBs have an increasing flow of funds available to them from repayments of refundable grants provided in earlier...

Written Answers — Research Funding: Research Funding (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: The information being requested falls within the statutory remit of Enterprise Ireland, an agency under the aegis of my Department. However, I understand that a significant proportion of the requested material now being sought is incorporated in the material recently supplied to Deputy Ryan by Enterprise Ireland following the Deputy's Parliamentary Questions, numbers 406, 407 and 408, of the...

Written Answers — UN Conventions: UN Conventions (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 154 together. As I and other Ministers have indicated to similar questions in the past, Ireland has not signed nor has it any plans to ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1990. This is also the position of other Member...

Written Answers — Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy: Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: In the months since the launch of the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) in June, 2006 the following implementation initiatives have been set in train: The composition and terms of reference of Technology Ireland (TI) have been agreed and it has become operational. TI, which operates under the aegis of the Office for Science and Technology, is charged with ensuring...

Written Answers — Live Register: Live Register (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: As part of the Government's National Employment Action Plan (NEAP) Preventive Strategy, people aged between 18 and 64 years and who are approaching three months' duration on the Live register, are systematically referred by the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) to FÁS for interview with a view to assisting them enter/re-enter employment. During the period January to December...

Written Answers — Public Services Portal: Public Services Portal (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 113 together. My Department has co-operated with Reach Services on the integration of electronic services into one common portal. At present, all of the Department's websites and online services are available via Reach. These services include database and register searching, downloading official forms, and document searching, downloading and...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: I understand that the information being sought by the Deputy refers to Bodies or Agencies that come under my Department's remit, and which are funded by my Department, but which are statutorily independent of the Department in the execution of their day-to-day functions. I should also say that under Delegation of Ministerial Functions Orders, responsibility for making a number of the...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (15 Nov 2006)

Micheál Martin: My Department and its agencies support the financing of SMEs in a number of ways. The funding provided by Enterprise Ireland and the County and City Enterprise Boards in the form of grants, refundable aid and equity participation provides an important source of finance to many SMEs. In addition, Enterprise Ireland actively promotes the availability of venture capital in Ireland and, earlier...