Results 3,381-3,400 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Job Losses. (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: The closure was a surprise. No one expected the closure of the entire plant.

Job Losses. (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: People may have felt certain aspects of the plant's activities were under threat.

Job Losses. (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: I have been in constant contact with IDA Ireland on the matter. If the Deputies want to make it a political issue, it is their business.

Job Losses. (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: My focus is on ensuring the workers can be helped in every way possible by the various State agencies. This will include any alternative opportunities or additional help and support they require.

Job Losses. (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: With the greatest respect, while companies have closed in Cork in the past year, many of their employees have secured alternative employment. We will continue to work on that basis. Motorola, like any other company, was entitled to tender for the Garda TETRA project. We cannot get involved in that process for obvious reasons. If opportunities arise from that, we will seek to exploit them....

Job Losses. (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: I was on Question Time today when there were plenty of opportunities to ask me a question but no one did.

Written Answers — Pricing Regulations: Pricing Regulations (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: The issue of alcohol and below cost selling was dealt with in my Department's November 2005 Report on the Groceries Order. The Groceries Order was not designed to tackle the issue of alcohol abuse and there is no evidence to suggest that it was capable of doing so. The Department's Report concluded that the Order was a highly inappropriate and disproportionate mechanism by which to seek to...

Written Answers — Enterprise Policy: Enterprise Policy (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: Enterprise policy over the past number of years has been very successful in achieving a decoupling of growth in emissions from economic growth. The review of the National Climate Change Strategy which was published by my colleague, the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government last July, shows that emissions per unit of GDP in 2004 were 48% of what they were in 1990. In fact,...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: 23,684 actual redundancies were notified to my Department in 2006. Over the last number of years there has been a significant churn in employment. Some traditional low-cost industries throughout the country are under pressure and are closing. Other sectors, especially the services sector, are providing significant new employment opportunities. Since 1997, over half a million new jobs were...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: The BES and SCS are central tax incentive schemes to Ireland's overall strategy for the small business sector. I established The Small Business Forum in 2005 to specifically look at the environment in which small business operate. As part of their review the Forum considered whether the strategies being followed to support and develop the spirit of entrepreneurship in Ireland were effective...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: At the end of 2006, Enterprise Ireland reported a second solid year of progress on the implementation of the organisation's current three year strategy "Transforming Irish Industry 2005-2007". The goal of the overall strategy is to maximise export sales through the utilisation of applied research, technology and innovation while ensuring economic development is achieved in a regionally...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: The number of permits issued to Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in 2007, to date, is 17. My Department has not detected any increase in the trend in Work Permit applications from these Member States since they joined the EU on 1st January 2007.

Written Answers — Pricing Regulations: Pricing Regulations (31 Jan 2007)

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 1st March 2003. The Directive obliges retailers to display the selling price and the unit price (the price per kilo or litre) for products. I decided to review the EU price display legislation as it is legislation which impacts on the...

Written Answers — Company Law Enforcement: Company Law Enforcement (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: Section 56 of the Company Law Enforcement Act 2001, requires a liquidator of an insolvent company to submit a report to the Director of Corporate Enforcement within 6 months of their appointment. Liquidators are also obliged to bring High Court proceedings for the restriction of the directors of such companies within 5 months of receipt of such reports, unless relieved of that obligation by...

Written Answers — Labour Inspectorate: Labour Inspectorate (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 146, 154 and 168 together. As indicated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 84 of 15 November 2006, the number of Labour Inspectors will be progressively increased from 31 at present to 90 by end-2007 with the expectation that assignments will be made from the second quarter of 2007. The necessary arrangements and selection processes to meet this...

Written Answers — Manufacturing Sector: Manufacturing Sector (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: The High Level Group on Manufacturing has been established. The composition of the Group which is in accordance with the standard tripartite model for Social Partnership Groups is set out in the following appendix. The first meeting of the group is scheduled to take place in early February. It will be a matter for the Group to determine its modus operandi and schedule of meetings. The Group...

Written Answers — Skills Requirements: Skills Requirements (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 153 and 1130 to 1132, inclusive, together. In an increasingly knowledge-based and globalised environment, skills required are progressively becoming more sophisticated. While manpower forecasting over the medium to longer term can only provide an approximation of likely demand and supply, the Government has made provision to ensure that we have the best...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: My colleague, Mr Michael Ahern, TD, Minister of State at my Department, attended the EU Competitiveness Council, which took place on 4th December 2006. The following is a summary of the four main agenda items discussed: Modernised Customs Code The Council held a policy debate on a proposal for modernizing the Community customs code with a view to providing political guidance for further...

Written Answers — Live Register: Live Register (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: I am aware of the details of the Live Register for December, 2006, published by the Central Statistics Office on 12 January, 2007. The Live Register figures for County Kerry as a whole show a total of 6,793 in December 2006 compared to 6,650 in December 2005. These figures cover seven towns. The figure for Tralee is the biggest component — 3,098 in December 2006 as against 2,950 a year...

Written Answers — Manufacturing Sector: Manufacturing Sector (31 Jan 2007)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 157, 1134 and 1135 together. Ireland's strengths and competitive advantages have changed over the last decade, and our economy is now characterised by high output and productivity, together with high returns to labour in the form of wages, salaries and better living standards. Low technology production, which dominated our economic output in the past, is...