Results 9,421-9,440 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Directives (23 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: Prompt Payments for goods and services rendered is critical to the effective working of any economy and is an issue on which this Government places great emphasis. The reduction in the number of late payments in commercial transactions is one of the ten principles cited in the Small Business Act for Europe as a means to help SMEs to deal with the difficult market conditions currently...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs (23 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: The 2012 Action Plan for Jobs included an undertaking to examine the potential to establish a national Community Investment Fund to promote the creation of employment at a local level. It was envisaged that one-to-one matching funding from the community and/or private sector would be a condition of this fund. The establishment of such a fund would, of course, be contingent on the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs (23 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: One of the actions detailed in the Action Plan for Jobs 2012 was for Forfás to: ‘develop, in consultation with stakeholders, a national strategy for the construction sector to 2015 outlining the opportunities, challenges and actions needed to realise the potential of the sector, to retain expertise in Ireland and to continue to develop capabilities over coming years and to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Personal Insolvency Act (23 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Company Law Review Group (the CLRG) spent several months last year considering the feasibility of introducing a new structured and non-judicial debt settlement scheme for small and medium sized companies. I received the CLRG’s report at the end of September and, shortly after that, I brought that report to the attention of the Government. The CLRG made five recommendations, which...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (23 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I share your concern in relation to the position of the employees in the company’s stores in Limerick and elsewhere who have been understandably apprehensive about the future of their jobs and the payment of monies owed to them by their employer. I understand that this situation has arisen due to difficulties across its operations in the UK and Ireland, arising from dramatic changes...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Economic Competitiveness (23 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Jobs has set out the objective of creating 100,000 jobs by 2016 and making Ireland the best small country in which to do business. Ireland is already rated highly internationally as one of the best countries in the world in which to do business, and we have built a strong competitive basis on which to go out and compete on global markets. Ireland is currently ranked...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: Action Plan for Jobs is designed to deliver measures right across Government to protect existing jobs and support the creation of new ones. It is a key instrument in our objective to transform the economy from one that became over-dependent on property, construction and debt to one focused on enterprise, innovation and exports. Because it involves a very large number of actions across...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for his good wishes in respect of the Presidency. It is an ambitious programme. Yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy Sherlock, and I attended a number of committee meetings and the size of the operation is formidable. I assure him that Action Plan for Jobs has initiated a change in the way Departments work and this can be seen throughout Departments. The Department...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy this will be included in the 2013 programme. We have been working on reform of the work permits system. We will have legislation in the new term and we plan to make it much more accessible in order that where there are skills shortages, there will be a speedy and easy response and people will have certainty in respect of how the system works. I am confident that I will...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together. The recent closures of HMV and the Old Darnley Lodge are very regrettable. My thoughts are with those directly affected, the workers and their families and the wider local communities. Their concerns about the future of their jobs and the payment of money owed to them by their employers are of paramount importance. There is a body of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: Clearly the best outcome in all of these situations is to find a buyer and maintain and support jobs in the business, or as many of those jobs as is possible. That must be a factor in dealing with such situations. The legislation exists to allow receivers or examiners to seek new buyers and to find a way of making a settlement with creditors in cases of examinership and to find a way for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I agree with the Deputy that there have been many cases where workers have been treated poorly by employers and I am not exonerating them in any way but the question was should we change the law in this area. In many cases, NERA ensures that employers respect the existing law. Employers often fail to do so and that is why we immediately called in NERA. The Deputy raised the situation with...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I would hotly dispute the contention that policies being pursued by the Government are undermining retail business. The truth is that the Government has made a number of interventions to improve the environment for business in the retail sector, whether it be in terms of access to credit or their cost structure. The Minister of State, Deputy Perry, is conducting an audit of the licences...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Rights (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: In the same way, we have made the services of NERA available to the workers so that it will support workers in that situation. Obviously, the same applies in terms of recourse to the insolvency legislation to protect the workers in respect of payments if the company is insolvent. Of course, the company, in the first instance, has its responsibilities and the State will not step in unless...

Other Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: Work on the Action Plan for Jobs 2013 has already been under way for several months. The Government recently held a special Cabinet meeting on jobs, as we did last year, to ensure that every opportunity has been taken across Government to support this central priority of Government. I am currently finalising the 2013 plan on behalf of the Government. The action plan will be published in...

Other Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I believe the point the Deputy is making is that if we did not have to engage in fiscal consolidation, money would not be taken out of the economy. Equally we inherited an economy in which government spending was running ahead of revenue by 40% to 45%, which nobody would argue is sustainable. It is not possible to sustain expansionary fiscal policy on the basis of such high levels of...

Other Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: The difficulty is the State cannot use taxpayers' money to prop up consumption that is falling or to prop up spending in areas that are declining. There has been a huge shock in this economy with many jobs lost in the construction sector, which has had a huge impact. When it is on its knees financially, the State is not in a position to substitute for that spending in the economy....

Other Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: We have to reduce spending by approximately €3 billion next year. We must at the same time try to maintain services in the health sector. A reduction in the cost of the public pay bill is clearly an element in our being able to maintain public services, including health and social welfare services and social welfare payments. There is a balance to be struck between the different...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Retail Sector (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Government recognises the importance of the retail sector to Ireland’s economy. It is employment-intensive, and covers every community in the country. The combined wholesale and retail sector employs almost 273,000 people in Ireland – that is almost 15% of our total workforce. In recognising the importance of the sector to the economy, the 2012 Action Plan for Jobs...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (24 Jan 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 44 and 54 together. I very much share the concern of the Deputies in relation to the company concerned and particularly as regards the position of the employees in the company’s Irish stores who have been understandably apprehensive about the future of their jobs and the payment of monies owed to them by their employer. I understand that this...