Results 4,321-4,340 of 14,554 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Mortgage Arrears Proposals: Motion [Private Members] (9 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: I thank my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, for giving us the opportunity to debate the issue of mortgage arrears. It has been approximately two years since he first raised the issue of mortgage arrears. In the summer of 2011 he, along with Senators MacSharry, Byrne and Darragh O'Brien, pointed out the need for an independent arbitration agency to address a number of issues that had...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Single Euro Payments Area (9 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: 178. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has set a deadline for Irish banks to implement the SEPA B2B scheme, if his attention has been drawn to the potential danger to credit supply here if this scheme is not implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33452/13]

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Members' Remuneration (9 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: 398. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to provide for a gratuity for councillors who will not contest local elections in 2014; the conditions he proposes applying to this gratuity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33451/13]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: I welcome the Minister and his officials. I apologise in advance as I will have to leave early. As this is the first time the Minister has met the committee since the conclusion of the EU Presidency, I compliment him and all of the officials on their accomplished work. His Department probably had to shoulder the greatest burden during the Presidency. We can measure the outcomes on another...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: The underlying numbers are solid enough, but if the trend of the last quarter continues, it will impact on employment. Has the Minister done any work to see if there is a trend emerging?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: I also asked about the partners involved in rolling out reforms.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: 1. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on the likely impact of the recent fall in exports on employment levels in the State; how exporting firms can be assisted in maintaining and winning new markets in the context of the ongoing eurozone economic weakness; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33643/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: Export growth in 2011 was 5.4%, compared to 1.6% last year. That is substantially below expectations. Goods exports, which are dominated by the pharmaceutical sector, were down by almost 10% on the corresponding period last year. Services exports from Facebook and the other new industries in which we have invested so much effort dipped in the first three months for the first time in three...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: Can the Minister give an indication of the most up-to-date figures for the first six months of 2013? Has the trend worsened or has it stabilised? At what level is the Department engaged in examining these figures in order to stem the fall in value of the exports on which the Department's credibility has been based over the past two and a half years?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: 4. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the remit of the recently established Entrepreneurship Forum; the reason he has not sought a better gender balance on the forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33644/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: I welcome the raison d'être of the forum, which has the usual Andrex puppy feel of all of the Department's statements at the moment. The Minister described the seven people as "a core group of active and dynamic business people", yet he could only find one woman to fit that profile - there is only one woman out of seven people on the core group that will devise and drive...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: I have previously welcomed the fund. However, it was one of the lowest of the funds made available in Enterprise Ireland's suite last year. I want to see whether that fund will be launched again this year and, given the oversubscription to the fund, I want to know whether there will be a bigger budget. Second, the fact that the fund was oversubscribed must give the Minister an indication -...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: The Minister described it as the core group.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Enterprise Support Services Provision (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: There are some 2,000 places.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Enterprise Support Services Provision (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: It is only lately the Government started looking at it that way.

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: It is only fair to acknowledge the huge effort put in by the Minister and the Department in respect of what Commissioner Almunia first proposed, which would have been detrimental to Ireland. We now have the opportunity to focus on a number of issues. The 50-50 split in job announcements, between the old southern and eastern region and the BMW region is not happening. Is that still a...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: I am concerned. I accept that we must support and build our indigenous economy but we have traditionally depended on a strong presence of foreign direct investment, which assists the indigenous economy. Many of our more successful indigenous companies grew from initially servicing foreign direct investment companies in the State. I am somewhat concerned about the vagueness surrounding this...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: Let us recall the Younis case. Mr. Younis was forced to work a 77 hour week with no days off. He was forced to live in cramped, substandard conditions and brought his case to the Labour Court which awarded him €92,000. The employer appealed the award to the High Court which overturned the decision on the basis that as an undocumented migrant worker, Mr. Younis was not allowed to go...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: The Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, with which I had severe disagreements when I was sitting where the Minister is now sitting, has built a bond of trust with undocumented workers and tends to be their first port of call rather than the law. The centre does a superb job but has funding difficulties which affect its capacity to continue to do this work. The Minister is beginning to sit...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Dara Calleary: It is already answered.