Results 9,001-9,020 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Enterprise Offices (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The European Commission has signalled its intention to bring forward proposals to combat youth unemployment and support transition to work through a range of measures such as youth guarantees, activation measures targeting young people, the quality of traineeships, and youth mobility. The proposed measures follow upon the call by the European Council on 29 June that urged member states to...

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: With respect to Deputy Calleary, the question he put down was on the EU Presidency and asking a supplementary question about a national initiative-----

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The position in regard to the Presidency is that it is seeking to have a youth guarantee scheme adopted but there is no financial mechanism attached to it. What it is considering is that it would be embodied in the reviews by the EU of the employment policies of different countries. They will be looking to see to what extent countries are embodying youth initiatives. The Government has a...

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Commission's ability to fund more initiatives in the youth unemployment area will depend on the European Social Fund budget. However, it is clearly Commissioner Andor's intention that there will be a shift in emphasis towards youth unemployment and youth guarantees. That is the implication of what he is seeking to do. With regard to the domestic economy, I take Deputy Wallace's point....

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 49 , 55 and 62 together. In the three years prior to taking office, over 300,000 jobs were lost. The collapse of the property bubble brought our banking system to a point of collapse and employment in the construction sector fell by 60%. The surge in unemployment is the direct consequence of these failed policies. A huge task of economic transformation...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is raising issues that go beyond my brief. He will know that the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputies Noonan and Howlin, have developed a stimulus plan that involves initiatives across a range of infrastructure. It includes, for example, the establishment of Irish Water and its development as a professionally run utility that will become a major asset...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I agree with Deputy Calleary that there are issues of skills shortages. As part of our action plan for jobs, the Minister for Education and Skills rolled out a programme to double output in the ICT sector over the next five years. That will involve initiatives such as Springboard which will provide short-term conversion courses, as well as increasing the longer term outputs from the...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: There will be new jobs. They will be outlined by other Ministers. Investing, through NewERA, in the assets we need for the future and being willing to sell older assets from the past will, even in a financially strained economy, create funds to drive new employment and infrastructures. That is an area where real progress is being made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy refuses to see the positive things that are happening in the economy. This year, we had 95 high potential start-up companies. They were set up by predominantly young entrepreneurial people, men and women, who are setting up businesses that have the potential to grow to significant scale. We are backing those enterprises with preference shares, supports and mentoring. They are...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Of course I am conscious that in an acute recession, such as the one we have now in Europe, we must have policies that are appropriate. Keynes was long an advocate of appropriate policies which included, during his time and which are still relevant, getting stability and confidence in a currency and having a system in which people will have confidence. That was not there during his time...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy must be aware, as everybody else is, that we are working within fiscal constraints that have been set by the troika. It happened before we took office but the country reached a point where, effectively, it could not borrow in the lending markets. There was only one place we could borrow and that was under the most strict conditions, of which the Deputy is aware. The conditions...

Other Questions: Job Creation Issues (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 56 together. Manufacturing is a key priority of enterprise policy. It comprises 64% of Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs and over 50% of IDA-supported jobs in 2011, and 194,490 persons were employed in agency assisted manufacturing companies in 2011. The Action Plan for Jobs includes measures aimed at exploiting sectoral opportunities, including...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Issues (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government inherited a situation where 300,000 jobs had been lost in the three years prior to March 2011, our banking system had all but collapsed, and we were in the middle of a world-wide economic downturn. Previous Governments had become too dependent on a small number of sectors to support economic performance – an approach that was neither wise nor sustainable. This...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The rise in youth unemployment as a result of the global economic downturn is a challenge for most EU countries. Comparative figures from Eurostat show that Ireland had a youth unemployment rate of 30.5% at the end of last year. The EU average was 22.1%, with several countries having a higher youth unemployment rate than Ireland. The Government is tackling unemployment generally...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Workplace Relations Services Provision (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government is committed to reform of the State’s Workplace Relations Services. The system that developed over the last sixty years had become unwieldy and complex; it lacked consistency, involved long delays and in some cases proved expensive for users. In short the system was no longer fit for purpose and it was for this reason that I committed to delivering a root-and-branch...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Support Services (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) provides estimates of the number of people who are working on a part-time basis involuntarily, which is also known as part-time underemployment. Involuntary part-time work is defined by the OECD as comprising three groups: i) individuals who usually work full-time but who are working part-time because of economic slack; ii) individuals who...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Retail Sector (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 81 together. The Government recognises the importance of the retail sector to the economy. It is employment-intensive and covers every community in the country. Combined with wholesale, the sector employs 258,000 people in Ireland – that is almost 15% of our total workforce. Recognising its importance to the economy, the Action Plan for Jobs...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Skills Shortages (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs advises the Minister for Education and Skills and me, on behalf of the Government, on current and future skills needs of the economy and on other labour market issues that impact on Ireland’s enterprise and employment growth. In its most recent National Skills Bulletin, which was published on 25 July last, the Expert Group stated that it...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Availability (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Along with my officials, I am in regular contact with the major banks to discuss the availability of credit to the SME Sector and the rollout of both the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme and the Microfinance Loan Fund.