Results 6,601-6,620 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Agreements (5 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in October 2010 and has been provisionally applied since July 2011. The FTA was approved by Dáil Éireann on 21st July 2011 and was formally ratified by the EU in December 2015. At the time it was the most ambitious trade agreement ever negotiated by the EU and the first with an Asian country. The majority of import duties...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Health and Safety Authority Expenditure (5 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The Health and Safety Authority has 104 FTE staff in the inspector grades who work across all sectors in the economy. In 2018, the HSA was allocated additional funding of €1.1m, including €400,000 for Brexit related posts and €300,000 for the operation of the Irish National Accreditation Board, which is part of the HSA. For 2019 it has been allocated...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (5 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: In response to the challenges we face, the Government agreed to the development of Future Jobs Ireland, the composition and implementation of which is being led jointly by my Department and the Department of the Taoiseach. The development has included extensive consultation to help shape the ambitions for 2019 and thereafter. Future Jobs Ireland is a whole of Government, multi-annual...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Support Schemes (5 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports for entrepreneurs and businesses that intend to start or grow. The LEOs can offer direct grant aid to microenterprises (10 employees or fewer) in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors which, over time, have the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Ireland Investments (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 to 149, inclusive, together. Enterprise Ireland provides financial support to companies via grant and equity investment. Equity investment is made in the form of ordinary shares, convertible shares and preference shares for capital projects greater than €250,000, to support high potential start-ups and high-risk projects in line with EU State Aid...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Ireland Portfolio (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The IDA is authorised by my Department to provide a range of financial supports in the form of employment, capital, research and development, environmental and training grants. These grants are an important means of encouraging companies to invest in Ireland, particularly in regional locations.    With regards to equity stakes in client companies, under Section 31 of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Retail Sector (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The Retail Consultation Forum, which I chair, enables key issues affecting the retail sector to be discussed, with a view to identifying practical actions which could be taken by Government, or by industry itself, to support sustainable jobs growth in the sector. As the largest private sector employer in the country (90% Irish-owned) that supports jobs in every city, town and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Children's Research Programme (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The future Children’s Research and Innovation Centre (CRIC) is the planned new facility for paediatric research and innovation that will be located on the St James’s campus. The CRIC will be developed adjacent to the existing St James's Hospital campus research facilities and will be built using separately raised funds. I understand that the potential for contribution...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Advertising Expenditure (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 153 and 154 together. Details of expenditure incurred by my Department and its Offices during 2018 on social media advertising and online promoted content are set out in the following table.  To date in 2019 no amount has been spent in this regard; projects where the use of social media may be considered worthwhile will be considered on a case by case...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Preparations (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: As it stands, the UK is scheduled to leave the European Union as of 11pm on Friday, 29 March 2019. While many Irish businesses already have plans in place to mitigate the impacts of Brexit, I am conscious that a proportion of businesses have delayed their Brexit planning due to the degree of uncertainty in the UK surrounding the Brexit negotiations and the withdrawal process. As we approach...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Ireland (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: Diversification beyond the UK is now an urgent imperative for Irish enterprise and is one of the key pillars of Enterprise Ireland’s Eurozone Strategy to 2020.   This Eurozone Strategy is part of Enterprise Ireland’s overarching Strategy to build scale and expand reach. Export diversification is a strong defence against Brexit challenges.  While the UK is and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Data (6 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The recently published Q4 2018 CSO Labour Force Survey employment figures are overall very positive. Figures show that overall, employment continues to grow strongly with 50,500 jobs created in the year from Q4 2017 to Q4 2018. This brings total employment to 2,281,300, the highest number at work ever recorded. The Border region has shown excellent progress in employment levels since the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Preparations (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. My Department, with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, has been working closely with the Commission and DG Competition since November 2017 through the Irish-EU technical working group on state aid. The objective of the group is to scope and design schemes to support enterprises impacted by Brexit in line with state aid...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Preparations (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: In November 2017, the Commission approved a rescue and restructuring scheme for Ireland for undertakings in difficulty, with an undertaking considered to be in difficulty when, without intervention by the State, it will almost certainly be condemned to going out of business in the short or medium term. They are viable but vulnerable companies. The scheme was put in place and, in May 2018,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Preparations (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The rescue and restructuring fund, with a pot of €200 million, is already in place and applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If something untoward occurs and companies need assistance, that fund will be there to support them. We are still engaging with the Commission to secure further flexibility in any schemes that we may have to roll out. We are very happy that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Action Plan for Jobs (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: Since the launch of the regional Action Plan for Jobs in 2015 there has been an increase of 266,900 people in employment across the State, with 166,400 people at the end of 2018 in the regions outside Dublin entering employment in that period. Overall, the recently published 2018 quarter 4 CSO labour force survey employment figures are very positive. The survey shows that employment...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Action Plan for Jobs (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I am absolutely committed to increasing employment in the regions. The jobs plan is working. Job creation in the regions is my number one priority. In 2018 more jobs were created in IDA Ireland client companies outside Dublin than at any point in the past 17 years. Every region of the country saw foreign direct investment driven job gains. There are now more than 132,000 people employed...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Action Plan for Jobs (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I agree that we need a strong city and regions. That is why I launched the regional enterprise plans. There are nine plans in total and I have travelled around the country to work with local stakeholders, including the local authorities, local enterprise offices, the agencies, the regional skills fora and Enterprise Ireland which are all coming together. The chairmen have put forward some...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Regional Action Plan for Jobs (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: There is huge investment. We need local people who are working very well together to come up with the good ideas and we will give them the money. That is the way to support job creation.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: IDA Ireland Site Visits (7 Mar 2019)

Heather Humphreys: Increasing the level of foreign direct investment in regional Ireland, including in County Tipperary, has been a priority of mine since I was first appointed Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. As an elected representative of Cavan-Monaghan, I know how important it is to create new jobs and economic opportunities in regional areas. That is why I am committed to achieving the...