Results 40,321-40,340 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Business Supports (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: This is a recognition payment effectively to businesses as we know that many of them are finding the going somewhat difficult in terms of costs and we are giving something back.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: Other Deputies are now arriving so I hope we will get to some of the questions that were skipped. I hope we will have the flexibility to return to them if Members want to.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: We are not short of time given how fast we are moving through the questions.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: In reply to the Deputy, I will refer to Monthly Estimates of Payroll Employees, published by the CSO, which should be read alongside the CSO's labour force survey. The latter has shown that employment in the ICT sector rose by 2.2% on a quarterly basis in the second quarter on 2023 to reach a new record high of over 174,000. We have more people employed in ICT now than we ever had. Of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: I assure the Deputy that I speak to representatives of companies all the time. We have investment announcements all the time. I have been to the US three times this year and I suspect I will be going again early next year. The US is where most of the tech multinationals are coming from, although not all of them. We were in South Korea recently seeking to attract more tech interest and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: My final point is that it is not true to say that fewer people are employed in tech now than there were at the start of the year. The CSO would suggest that there are more.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: That does not mean that we have not had significant job losses in certain companies. That is important to recognise.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: I was and am very concerned about any job losses, which is why, at short notice at the start of the year, I went to the US to meet as many key decision-makers in some of the big tech companies as I could to really understand their mindset about what was happening. The answer we got was that the decisions they were making had very little to do with Ireland. In fact, it was nothing to do with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: It is spending a fortune on building-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: We are seeing-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: All right.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for the question. IDA Ireland has made considerable property investments in Kerry under its current strategy, including this year with the acquisition of over 16 ha of land at Kerry Technology Park. IDA Ireland is now working to identify a suitable site within this land bank for the construction of an advance building solution. Securing planning permission on the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: I would not move on that quickly from the Astellas announcement. The Deputy said he has got similar answers for some years. That is a really significant delivery for Kerry. It is a €330 million advance manufacturing facility for a big global name. It will employ a significant number of people in Kerry and specifically Tralee. That announcement happened in September, which is only...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: Much of that has changed under this Government.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: We have a new technological university and a new road into Kerry.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: We are starting to see some of the results now with, for example, Astellas.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: This Government and the previous one have tried to focus on the competitiveness proposition for Kerry. You do not just bring multinationals in and place them where you want. They will go where they want to go and they will look at the options they have in Ireland. It is our job to make sure we have regional development in every part of Ireland. We have set a target for IDA Ireland as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Relations (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: IDA Ireland’s strategy of diversifying its market reach involves broadening the geographic profile of investors. This is supported by the agency’s pathfinder model, which it has used across several territories over the past number of years and involves engaging in market business development consultants on a part-time basis in markets with business potential and in which IDA...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Relations (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: I was a foreign Minister once but I am not one at the moment. I am an enterprise Minister now. Many of the issues the Deputy has raised are foreign policy issues on which I have very strong views. However, we are dealing with questions on enterprise. The Deputy’s comments are very one-sided in many ways. As he knows, I have been a very strong voice at a European level in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Relations (23 Nov 2023)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will know, I have discussed many of these options many times. We have taken advice from the Attorney General about what we can and cannot do. We have received very clear answers from three Attorneys General in a row in relation to the occupied territories Bill. I repeat that Ireland could decide to do things that will gain the support of this House but the question we need to...