Results 961-980 of 1,095 for speaker:Jimmy Devins

Unemployment: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: Hear, hear.

Unemployment: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: She outlined exactly what FÁS is doing.

Unemployment: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: There was leadership last week.

Unemployment: Motion (7 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: No, I am very serious.

Unemployment: Motion (Resumed) (8 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: Following on from last evening's address to the House by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Mary Coughlan, I welcome this opportunity to reaffirm the excellent track record of county enterprise boards in fostering local entrepreneurial potential. Since their establishment in 1993, the enterprise boards have gone from strength to strength. They have never...

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (8 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I thank those Senators who contributed to the debate for the constructive manner in which they have approached the Second Stage of this Bill. We all realise the critical importance of the State's commercial ports to our economy and the vital role they play in facilitating growth and prosperity. The Minister of State outlined to the House his belief that this Bill will further enhance the...

Seanad: Harbours (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (8 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: While the policy statement of the ports was published in January 2005 envisaging the reduction of local authority representation from three members to one, we felt it was necessary to remove local authority representation by right in order for the port companies to be seen to operate on a fully commercial basis. I have no doubt this issue will surface on Committee Stage. Senator McCarthy...

Seanad: Higher Education Grants. (9 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I thank the Senator for giving me this opportunity to outline the position of the Department of Education and Science on the third level Gaeltacht scholarship scheme. The Department of Education and Science funds three Irish scholarship schemes which provide support for students...

Seanad: Higher Education Grants. (9 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I thank the Senator for that comment. I will undertake to make inquiries in the Department and come back to him.

Financial Resolution No. 15: (General) Resumed (16 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I wish to share time with the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews. The future requires us to compete internationally in a global and increasingly knowledge-based world economy. It requires that we return to sustainable growth fuelled by our capacity to trade competitively by offering the world competitive and innovative goods and services. This budget sets us on that path. The pace of...

Education Cuts: Motion (Resumed) (30 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: It is back.

Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008: Second Stage (30 Oct 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I wonder if we have.

Job Creation. (11 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment. The recent increase in the numbers on the live register is unwelcome and is an indication of the challenges that are now facing the labour market. The Government is taking specific measures to address these challenges and to ensure that job losses are minimised as much as possible. Our priority is to create the environment that...

Written Answers — Science and Technology Groups: Science and Technology Groups (18 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: The SFI Research Frontiers Programme (RFP) supports innovative, cutting-edge and internationally competitive research in a broad range of disciplines in Science, Mathematics and Engineering. The principal objectives of the Research Frontiers Programme are: To provide a broad base of trained researchers to support and underpin the strategic areas of Biotechnology, Information & Communications...

Written Answers — Science and Technology Groups: Science and Technology Groups (18 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: As part of the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) the Government recognises the important contribution of engineering to the economic competitiveness of Ireland and proposes significant growth and strengthening of the research base in this area. The Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Engineering Professorship and Lectureship Programme, which was launched in 2007, is an...

Economic Competitiveness. (20 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: The World Economic Forum, WEF, Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009, ranks Ireland 22nd overall, the same score recorded for 2007-08 and 2006-07. Ireland was ranked 30th in 2003 and 2004. Achieving 22nd place out of 134 global economies is not a negative scoring for a small economy such as Ireland. The World Economic Forum ranks countries according to 110 indicators. Within this set of...

Economic Competitiveness. (20 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I remind the Deputy that is one survey but there are many others some of which have ranked Ireland at a much higher position, including the IMD. There is an argument to the effect that the World Economic Forum survey is very much based on perceptions, whereas the IMD survey is based more on factual information. There are other surveys, such as that of Forbes magazine, which ranks our...

Unemployment Levels. (20 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 14 and 15 together. The rise in unemployment, while regrettable, must be seen in the light of the unprecedented growth in the economy and in employment in the past number of years. Overall employment growth was driven by significant growth in employment in the construction sector. Such levels of growth could not last indefinitely. The resultant rise in...

Unemployment Levels. (20 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: I remind Deputy Varadkar that some weeks ago he said Ireland was the only country in recession.

Unemployment Levels. (20 Nov 2008)

Jimmy Devins: Many European countries, including some that are much bigger and stronger than we have ever been, are officially in recession. The Deputy is very selective in what he says.