Results 5,161-5,180 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I agree with the Deputy. The Border region is lagging behind and I want to see more of a focus there. In fairness, creating jobs in the regions is a priority for IDA Ireland and the Department as a whole. While progress has been made, more work needs to be done and I certainly will be focused on doing everything I can to deliver the fairest possible spread of investment throughout the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: In the case of Ardmore Studios, Enterprise Ireland had a 32% shareholding. The owners decided to sell and we were one of the shareholders. Enterprise Ireland got an independent valuation and was satisfied it was the right thing to do for the studios. I visited the studio in my former role and it certainly did need investment; there was no question about that. I understand there had not...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I am confident they are safe because there is significant demand for studio space in this country. We have a good news story in Limerick. The local authority and institute of technology are training people to work in the film industry. As the Deputy is aware, not only are actors needed, we also need back-office staff, set designers, costume designers, producers, camera operators and...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I did not see the advertisement.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I am aware that IDA Ireland did a supplement in The Irish Timesoutlining what it does, as it is entitled to do. It took out the advertisement and it has responsibility for anything featured in it. It is IDA Ireland's prerogative to do that.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Almost 100 companies were represented at the most recent Brexit meeting I attended, which was held in Cootehill, County Cavan. The meeting was organised by Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland and was well attended and received. Many of those to whom I spoke afterwards indicated they had learned a great deal from the meeting. We have introduced a number of initiatives on Brexit. For...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: What I am seeing is that businesses are engaging. Enterprise Ireland is working closely with businesses. Some businesses may not be impacted by Brexit. I do not know who AIB surveyed. As the Deputy noted, Enterprise Ireland is a wonderful agency and is working very closely with businesses. Initially, people did not think this was going to happen. There was an idea among some businesses...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: What was it in the context of?

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Is it Enterprise Ireland?

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: It is okay. Of course, at budget time, everybody puts in their pitch. A request was sent in. We examined it very carefully and are now in the position where we are providing this €300 million loan fund for working capital for businesses that are impacted by Brexit. That is certainly something that is very important. We have agreement from Europe for a €10 million...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Enterprise Ireland got extra funding on top of what it got the previous year, but instead of a €40 million fund there will be access to a €10 million stabilisation fund, and also its clients will have access to this €300 million loan fund. This Brexit loan fund has a fair bit of flexibility. Businesses can get loans from €25,000 up to €1.5 million. They...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I do not wish to confuse the Brexit loan scheme and these other two schemes, which are targeted at a different type of enterprise. The Microfinance Ireland scheme is a high-risk scheme that provides finance to businesses that cannot get it elsewhere. We will look at it and evaluate how it has performed in the past five years. The credit finance guarantee scheme was put in place at a...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Sanctioned. The Deputy is correct. Over the term, loans of €84.3 million were sanctioned, but I do not have the figure for drawn downs.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Following a detailed review of the initial 2012 scheme, several changes have been made to make the credit guarantee scheme more accessible to SMEs and open to other finance providers and products. The revised scheme will encourage more lending to SMEs by providing for the State to take up a higher level of risk on finance provided. The State will take up to 80% of the risk as opposed to 75%...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: In fairness, the rate of 4% for an overdraft facility is a very attractive rate of interest when one compares it with rates for overdraft facilities across Ireland. I do not know what the business rate is but I am sure it is in the region of 8% to 9%, but in my book 4% is a very competitive rate and I feel there will be a lot of interest in it. We are also considering developing a long-term...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: We are operating in Ireland and in the Irish market. It is not just about exporting to Germany and France. It is about expanding our exports globally. Some of the companies will be going to China and some will be going to the Middle East, Asia or the United States. Therefore, we have to deal with the facts of where we are. The Deputy is correct that interest rates here are as they are...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I would be happy to arrange to give the Deputy a briefing on what has happened. I genuinely believe this is a good news story for Ardmore. The initiative is allowing it to expand to its potential. There is considerable potential in that space in Wicklow, where there are two studios very close to each other. What I have been talking about all the time here is clustering and a talent pool....

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I plan to have a meeting with the representatives of all the committees for the Action Plan for Jobs. We will have a consultation day and consider what has worked well in some areas and what has not worked so well in others. Bringing all seven Action Plan for Jobs committees, the regional action plan committees, together will be a good exercise to obtain information on what has worked well...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Some, however, have performed better than others so it is a case of determining the areas that have performed exceptionally well and those that could learn from them. The South East Action Plan for Jobs was launched in September 2015. It aimed to increase employment in the region by 10% to 15% over the period to 2020, resulting in the delivery of 25,000 jobs. The implementation of the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (27 Mar 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I agree with what the Minister of State said. Put simply, we have somewhat been victims of our own success because GNP in this country has grown hugely over the last years. The percentage has, therefore, gone down. Where the Department was able to get extra money, the vast majority went to innovation. There was an addition of €105 million in the innovation budget between 2015 and...