Results 8,321-8,340 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Trade Agreements: Trade Agreements (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Negotiating trade agreements is a matter of trade policy which comes within the competence of the EU Commission. Accordingly, no bilateral trade agreements were signed between Ireland and China. Three Memoranda of Understanding were signed between Ireland and China during the recent visit of Vice Premier Xi Jinping to Ireland and the subsequent trade mission that I led to China in March....

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Heads of a Bill to give effect to the Microfinance Fund have been agreed by Government and the Bill is due for publication in Quarter 2 2012. The Fund will be managed and controlled by the Social Finance Foundation (SFF). Funding of €10m has been allocated as seed capital for the Fund in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation's Vote for 2012. It is anticipated that this €10m...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Development Capital Scheme as outlined in the Action Plan for Jobs has been developed to complement the existing suite of financial supports offered by Enterprise Ireland. A range of other initiatives are already in place for the provision of capital at the early stage and scaling phases, and a clear market failure was identified in the availability of risk capital for established...

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Draft heads of the Consumer and Competition Bill which, inter alia, give effect to the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Media Mergers, were approved by Government in July 2011 and were then forwarded to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel for drafting. I expect the Bill to be published later this year.

Written Answers — Industrial Disputes: Industrial Disputes (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 317 and 318 together. The Deputies' questions concern a dispute between the company and twenty employees in relation to a claim for enhanced redundancy terms of four weeks pay per year of service in addition to statutory redundancy entitlements, following the acquisition of the company and the closure of its Dublin offices in 2011. The company rejected the...

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme, on which legislation was published on 3 April, is designed to address two specific market failures, namely: 1. inadequacy of collateral (Pillar 1) and 2. inadequacy of bank understanding of novel aspects of the business environment, particularly in the areas of new markets, new technologies and business models (Pillar 2), which may restrict the...

Written Answers — Tribunals of Inquiry: Tribunals of Inquiry (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Neither I nor any of my officials have attended any meetings recently regarding recommendations in the Moriarty and Mahon Tribunal reports.

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: My Department processes applications in respect of the different types of employment permits and all applications are processed in line with the Employment Permits Act 2006. A Work Permit application in respect of the above named was received in my Department on 16 March 2012. A letter issued from my Department to the applicant on 5 April 2012 seeking additional information in respect of the...

Written Answers — European Council Meetings: European Council Meetings (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: My Department has the lead responsibility for the Competitiveness Council and for the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO). When the Foreign Affairs Council considers trade matters, such matters also come within the remit of my Department. The Competitiveness Council itself is sub-divided into industry, internal market and research issues. The Employment,...

Written Answers — Action Plan for Jobs: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 323, 326, 329 to 331, inclusive, 333 to 336, inclusive, 339 to 343, inclusive, 345 to 349, inclusive, 351 to 354, inclusive, and 356 to 358, inclusive, together. The Questions the Deputy has raised relate to measures the Government undertook to deliver in the first Quarter of 2012 as part of the Action Plan for Jobs. The first Progress Report on the Action...

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Section 1.12 of the Action Plans for Jobs provides for a commitment to enact legislation to reform wage setting mechanisms. To this end, the Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 2011 was published on 22 December 2011. The Bill has completed Second Stage in the Dáil and is currently awaiting Committee Stage. The main purpose of the Bill is to implement the commitment in the Programme...

Written Answers — Departmental Charges: Departmental Charges (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I wrote to my Ministerial colleagues in March, asking them to examine all charges which are levied on business by their Departments and associated bodies, with a view to identifying which charges can be reduced, or frozen to the end of 2013 or beyond. My officials are currently preparing a composite overview of the responses from Government Departments and the bodies under their aegis. I can...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Most of the generic regulatory requirements for establishing a business are already available online. Those that are not yet available online will be examined further, in conjunction with relevant regulatory bodies, to determine their feasibility for online development. This exercise will be conducted having regard to the timeline in the Action Plan for Jobs.

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: 6153I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 338 together. A Community Enterprise Development Programme has been established for the maintenance or establishment of a strong business development function in the Community Enterprise Centres funded by Enterprise Ireland. The Programme is now underway with the first call for proposals closing on 9 April 2012. The preliminary stage of...

Written Answers — Trade Relations: Trade Relations (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: 1A total of 19 Ministerial-led Trade Missions are planned for 2012. To date six have been successfully completed. I myself officiated with the Taoiseach on the recent Mission to China, and also last month, Minister of State Sherlock led a Mission to Texas, USA and Minister of State Perry was in Sweden and Finland. Other Missions undertaken recently have included Minister Coveney's visit to...

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: 1The Procurement Roundtable took place on April 2nd and was attended by senior representatives from key procuring bodies that regularly tender for goods and services from the private sector. The participants included representatives from Government Departments, State agencies and some commercial State bodies, including the ESB, Born na Mona and An Post. The objectives of the Procuring...

Written Answers — Job Initiative: Job Initiative (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Quarter 1 actions in item 7.2.1 of the Action Plan for Jobs have been delivered on schedule. My colleague the Minister for Health and I have appointed the former Global Head of Life Sciences in IDA as chairman of the Project Team to deliver on the Demonstrator Project. The Project Team has already met including representatives of EI, SFI, the Department of Health and my own Department. A...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: None of the staff of my Department who had taken the early retirement package or retired due to reaching the retirement age in each year since 2005 have been or are re-employed by my Department. However, the following two former staff members are re-engaged by my Department on the following basis: - A former Assistant Secretary in this Department is serving on the NERA Advisory Board. The...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are the only economic development agencies for which I have responsibility who have offices outside of the island of Ireland. The tabular statements below set out the location of those offices together with the number of staff employed in each office. The total costs associated with the running of both IDA Ireland's and Enterprise Ireland's overseas offices...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (24 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I wish to inform the Deputy that there is no record of a Permit application being received in my Department in respect of the above named. The Department of Justice and Equality determines the immigration status of persons within the State. A student on an Immigration Stamp 2, issued by the Department of Justice and Equality, is permitted to remain in Ireland to pursue a course of studies and...