Results 8,761-8,780 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Youth Unemployment: Youth Unemployment (11 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government is tackling unemployment generally through the twin strategies of the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work. The aim of the Action Pan for Jobs is to support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs by 2016, while the objective of Pathways to Work is to provide those who are unemployed with the appropriate training and skills to avail of the job opportunities which will arise...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (11 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: While my Department is responsible for legislation governing workplace health and safety, it is the Health and Safety Authority, which operates under the aegis of my Department, which is the national statutory body with responsibility for enforcing and investigating alleged breaches of that legislation. Once any investigation has begun, it is a matter for the Authority to determine the...

Job Creation (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government is fully committed to its target of achieving a net increase of 100,000 persons at work by 2016 and improving job prospects for those who are out of work. To achieve this target, the Government has put in place two major programmes, the Action Plan for Jobs and Pathways to Work. These programmes are focused on delivery. This Government is seeking to undertake a huge...

Job Creation (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy knows that the Government has set a series of targets of 270 actions to be taken this year to deliver a transformation in our economy. As I said in my reply, many systems are seriously broken. The banking system is not performing to a standard and as a result we have had to introduce numerous measures to support business in getting access to finance. This includes the...

Job Creation (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy needs to recognise that enterprise will create employment in the economy. The turnaround in the performance of all the export-oriented companies and IDA and Enterprise Ireland is a significant achievement after a number of years of reversal. The Deputy is correct that there are innovative ways to bring new investment into the economy. The Ministers, Deputies Howlin and Noonan,...

Jobs Initiative (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government's jobs initiative of May 2011 was aimed at restoring confidence in the economy, providing opportunities for re-skilling those who had lost their jobs and assisting people in getting back to work. Key measures in the jobs initiative included halving the rate of employer's PRSI on earnings up to €356 per week, a reduction in the lower rate of VAT on certain goods and services,...

Jobs Initiative (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I certainly do not accept anything of the sort. We have inherited an economy in which under the stewardship of the Deputy's party unemployment rose from 4% to 14%, an increase of 10% in a three-year period. A total of 300,000 jobs were lost under that regime. The economy's underlying structure was severely damaged and there is a lot of work to be done to fix it. Nobody ever indicated that...

Jobs Initiative (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: That is a target in the Pathways to Work programme, which was introduced a number of months ago. It is a target for 2015. It indicates that we have now completely reformed the employment services that were inherited from the previous Government. We now have an employment service that is far more streamlined and is focused on identifying those who are at high risk of entering long-term...

Sick Pay Scheme (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Any proposals for changes in the sick pay scheme or to employer PRSI are budgetary matters which will be considered in due course by the Government. Any such consideration will include a thorough examination of the proposals, having regard to the overall impact of the measures proposed. The Minister for Social Protection initiated a consultation process earlier this year on the feasibility...

Sick Pay Scheme (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Every proposal needs to be examined carefully. Evidence suggests that small employers manage absence through illness extremely well and that the highest rate of sick leave is in the public sector. We need to look across the board at this issue. The Minister for Social Protection is undoubtedly correct that there has been considerable growth in long-term dependence on welfare owing to...

Sick Pay Scheme (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is seeking to have me comment on a number of issues that will be discussed in the context of the budget. The matter will be dealt with by the Government by weighing up the evidence in due course. There is no doubt we ought to be extremely careful about anything that adds to the cost of employment. We must ask whether any proposed measure will be effective in reducing absences...

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: There is ongoing dialogue between the Government and the banks through the Economic Management Council to ensure there is a flow of credit to entrepreneurs and businesspeople. One can say objectively that, in lending practice, the rate offered to businesses is always above the normal interest rate.

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 13 and 23 together. The county and city enterprise boards, CEBs, receive an Exchequer capital allocation each year towards the provision of grants and soft supports to the micro-enterprise sector. Within this, individual capital allocations are made by the CEB central co-ordination unit, CCU, in Enterprise Ireland. A systematic approach is adopted to...

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The allocations are based on a weighting of factors, including unemployment and the capacity of CEBs to deliver new projects. It is a balancing act, which is as it should be, to encourage high performers and so on. The Deputy is right, in that practices differ between CEBs. Some are in the habit of committing in advance and have high levels of commitment at any stage of the year while...

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: We have established an implementation group which has had a number of meetings already. Those people are putting together a plan for the implementation which will include timelines, and I expect to have very substantial progress made by the end of the year. There is a legislative requirement which must come before the House, and I do not expect to have that before the start of next year....

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: There is now certainty about the future of county enterprise boards, and it will be to deliver a one-stop shop within local authorities as part of the enterprise family. They will be answerable, through a service level agreement, to Enterprise Ireland, which is establishing a centre of excellence for the support of small business. We have a clear structure that will give people certainty....

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Small companies with potential would enter the export market through Enterprise Ireland. It has 31 offices overseas and has expertise and a programme to support exports. It has also put in place a first-time exporters' division.

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Exactly. For a small business, there will not be a ceiling that cannot be breached. If a company has export potential and there are only two people involved, they will be able to access the system through Enterprise Ireland. To be clear, I have not said it will process the microfinance loans, and there will still be a "microfinance Ireland", as it were, that will make decisions on...

Industrial Development (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The total costs associated with administering the IDA's 18 overseas offices in 2011 was €10.5 million. These offices are located in New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Irvine and Mountain View in California, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangalore, Australia, Russia and Brazil. It is not possible to give a breakdown of the cost of each individual...

Industrial Development (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I would like to take issue with the suggestion that foreign enterprise is some sort of an enclave. Foreign enterprise employs 150,000 people and the agencies supporting indigenous companies employ approximately the same number of people. The global spend of both sectors in the Irish economy is about equal. Foreign-owned export-oriented companies spend as much in the Irish economy as...