Results 541-560 of 50,134 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: The National Competitiveness Council in both its annual competitiveness reports published last month and in its statement on prices and costs published in September have identified the need to recover Ireland's cost competitiveness as being a high priority to ensure sustained economic success in the future. The National Competitiveness Council in its competitiveness challenge 2004 make...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: Child care and housing are the primary responsibility of my colleagues, the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I am not aware of any proposals to assess the impact of costs in these areas on competitiveness. The National Competitiveness Council monitors and reports on Ireland's competitiveness position. Each year...

Written Answers — Adult Education: Adult Education (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: The initiatives and recommendations set out in the LLL report focus on promoting and enhancing access to learning-training, the development of new skills, the acquisition of recognised qualifications and progression to higher level qualifications. The task force stressed the need for co-ordination between the Departments of Education and Science and Enterprise, Trade and Employment and called...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: An appeal was received from the employer concerned on 1 November 2004 and is still under consideration. A decision will be made in this case shortly and the employer will be notified.

Written Answers — Insurance Industry: Insurance Industry (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: According to the National Competitiveness Council's statement on prices and costs, Ireland's expenditure on life insurance ranked fifth highest out of 16 countries, behind Switzerland, the US, the Netherlands and the UK. There has been an improvement in the functioning of the Irish insurance market. The Irish Insurance Federation recently revealed that the 20 non-life insurance companies...

Written Answers — Insurance Industry: Insurance Industry (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: A comparison of insurance figures in European countries is available in European Insurance in Figures — June 2003, published by the Comité Européen Des Assurances, CEA. This report contains details on "Average non-life premium per inhabitant" and the figures include motor and public liability insurance. Figures for 2001 show that, of 29 European countries listed, Ireland ranked fourth...

Written Answers — FÁS Training Programmes: FÁS Training Programmes (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: Details of funding in support of employment and training schemes delivered through agencies under the remit of my Department will be contained in the Abridged Estimates Volume which is to be published later this week.

Written Answers — FÁS Training Programmes: FÁS Training Programmes (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: Details of funding in support of employment and training schemes delivered through agencies under the remit of my Department will be contained in the Abridged Estimates Volume which is to be published later this week.

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: The number of new work permit applications granted from 1 January 2004 to date and the number granted in previous years is as follows: Year Number 2004 8,882 2003 21,932 2002 23,306 2001 29,542 2000 15,328 1999 4,323

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: The number of work permit applications granted and refused in the past five years is as follows:— Year Granted Refused 2004 29,447 1,264 2003 47,492 1,629 2002 40,284 1,072 2001 36,375 736 2000 17,872 352 1999 6,244 277

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland, including its regions and areas, apart from the Shannon free zone which is the responsibility of Shannon Development. Overseas companies that are clients of these two development agencies submit investment proposals to the agencies for consideration for state support. Typically,...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland, including its regions and areas. The following table provides details of the number of overseas announcements regard intentions to invest together with total associated job content and start-ups for the years 2002 and 2003 and to end October 2004. In 2003, 32 greenfield and...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland, including its regions and areas. According to IDA Ireland, Ireland has many attributes that continue to make it one of the most attractive and successful countries in the world in terms of attracting mobile investment. These include a low corporation tax rate; educated skilled...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: Clearly, a more attractive cost environment abroad will inevitably attract some firms that are unable to produce in the high-wage environment of modern industrial economies. The continuing structural transformation of our economy is inevitable. With this, some plant transfers and other adjustments are bound to come, but where relocation has occurred to date, it has largely been limited to...

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (16 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: The matter raised is an operational issue for Dublin Bus. However, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that each of the three CIE operating companies has a customer charter in operation for a number of years. Copies of the charters are available from the respective company offices and can also be accessed on the company websites. Audits of the charters are carried out on an annual basis by...

Written Answers — Anti-Competitive Practices: Anti-Competitive Practices (23 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: The Competition Act 2002 prohibits anti-competitive practices such as price fixing and the abuse of a dominant position. The Competition Authority, an independent body, is responsible for the enforcement of competition law in the State. Accordingly, anyone with information regarding anti-competitive practices should refer the matter directly to the authority for investigation. The authority...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (23 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: Support for job creation and investment on a regional or local basis is a day-to-day operational matter for the industrial development agencies. The agencies are actively promoting all areas for new investment and jobs on an ongoing basis. IDA Ireland is actively marketing individual areas as a location for additional foreign direct investment through its network of local and overseas...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (23 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland, including its regions and areas. There were 673 new IDA Ireland supported jobs created in Donegal in the period 2001 to 2003, of which 353 were created in 2001, 179 were created in 2002 and 141 were created in 2003. These data are compiled from the annual Forfás employment...

Written Answers — Unemployment Levels: Unemployment Levels (23 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: I am conscious of the unemployment situation in County Donegal, particularly following the closure announcements by Unifi Ireland and Fruit of the Loom of their manufacturing plants there. Finding alternative employment for the workers affected is a priority for me and the State development agencies under the auspices of my Department. IDA Ireland is committed to the development of the...

Written Answers — Company Closures: Company Closures (23 Nov 2004)

Micheál Martin: Enterprise Ireland has been working closely with Barford Meats Limited over the past 18 months, with a view to identifying outside investors who would bring much needed investment to the business. At Enterprise Ireland's urging, a business mentor was appointed in May 2003 to review the financial situation and provide strategic guidance to the company. Resulting from this involvement, the...