Results 9,821-9,840 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices Establishment (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: The CEB Restructuring project is the first radical reform of the system for the delivery of State support to micro and small businesses since the establishment of the County and City Enterprise Boards in 1993. This reform will bring about a new level of engagement and interaction at both national and local level in relation to enterprise support and stimulation and economic recovery and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Issues (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 132 and 139 together. My Department is very conscious of the importance of comprehensive business and economic statistics relating to both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The availability of such data is crucial to understanding the background and context of the various business and trade issues which both our administrations are...

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

Richard Bruton: The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012 came into effect on 1 August 2012. The main purpose of the Act is to implement the commitment in the Programme for Government to reform the Joint Labour Committee system. The Act provides for a radical overhaul of the system so as to make it fairer and more responsive to changing economic circumstances and labour market conditions. It reinstates...

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

Richard Bruton: Competition has many benefits; it gives consumers more choice and better value for money, it encourages businesses to innovate by creating new and better products and services and, critically, it drives competitiveness and economic growth which results in job creation and retention, higher living standards and lower costs. The Competition Authority is the statutory independent body...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Targets (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: Job creation is a key priority for the Government. As I have pointed out on many occasions, the Government does not create jobs – entrepreneurs and successful businesses do. However, the Government has a lead role to play in providing the environment where businesses can start-up, expand and create jobs. The Action Plan for Jobs has set the objective of supporting the creation of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Numbers (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: During 2012, I led 20 Trade and Investment missions with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to countries such as the United States, China, Canada, South Africa, Russia, Brazil and Germany. Each year Enterprise Ireland organises a series of targeted international trade missions, market visits, participation in international trade fairs and a large number of international buyer visits to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Disputes (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: Where disputes arise in the workplace the State provides a range of dispute resolution services. Parties may engage either on a voluntary basis through the Labour Relations Commission using the mediation and conciliation services, or under the Industrial Relations Acts to the Labour Court. In some cases, parties to a dispute agree in advance to be bound by the decision of the Labour Court....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Issues (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: The role of Government is to create the environment in which enterprises can start-up grow and create jobs. The Government’s key policy instrument to achieve this is the Action Plan for Jobs. The 2013 Action Plan for Jobs was launched on 22nd February. The Plan contains 333 individual actions, broken down further into Quarterly deliverables. My Department and its agencies are...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Exports Growth (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: Last Friday, I announced the outcome of Annual Business Review (ABR) 2012. This showed that Enterprise Ireland clients had exports of €16.2bn in 2012 with export growth of €1.793bn representing a 6.3% export gain on 2011. Continuing to support indigenous companies to build capacity to grow employment, increase international sales and build on their success in 2012 is central...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Innovation Voucher initiative was developed to build links between Ireland's public knowledge providers (i.e. higher education institutes, public research bodies) and small businesses. Innovation Vouchers worth €5,000 are available to assist a company or companies to explore a business opportunity or problem with a registered knowledge provider. The Innovation Vouchers...

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

Richard Bruton: The sinking of the Tit Bonhomme and the subsequent tragic loss of life is of deep concern to my Department. One of the key objectives of my Department is that of ensuring the protection of employment rights and worker health and safety. This objective is shared across a number of other Government Departments at a sectoral level. In the case of the Tit Bonhomme, I welcome the response of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: I am informed by IDA Ireland that, having regard to its statutory responsibility for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Ireland, it will continue to promote Kerry as part of its marketing efforts, in response to specific client queries and also on an opportunistic basis. At the end of 2012 there were 12 IDA Ireland supported companies in Kerry with total employment of circa 1,600...

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

Richard Bruton: The recently published Forfás report "Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2012" indicates that property costs in Ireland have reduced significantly in recent years. Construction costs and rental costs for both office and industrial space have fallen dramatically for new businesses, since the collapse of the property bubble. Rental costs for new leases of office space in Dublin, for...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Issues (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: I take it that the Deputy is referring to support for the creation of jobs in the retail sector in town centres. The 2013 Action Plan for Jobs includes a number of measures which will support the retail sector, including an initiative to introduce a single portal for business licence applications, a new scheme to help more businesses to trade on-line, and the integration of local business...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: IDA Ireland is the statutory body charged with the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland and its regions. IDA Ireland has informed me that it currently supports 14 companies in Donegal which employ 2,228 people in software development, systems development and the medical technology industry. Donegal's industry base is transforming from the clothing and textile industry to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Relations Issues (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: The system of industrial relations in Ireland is essentially voluntarist in nature with the terms and conditions of employment of workers being determined in the main by a process of voluntary negotiation and agreement without the direct intervention of the State. In general, Irish law does not try to impose a solution on parties to an industrial relations dispute, but rather is designed to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Targets (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: In the Action Plan for Jobs, the Government has set an ambitious target of having 100,000 more people at work by 2016. When we launched the first in a series of annual Action Plans for Jobs in February 2012, I said that the transformation needed for our economy would not come through one big bang solution but through deliberate and determined action across all areas of Government and the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Joint Labour Committees Agreements (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: The new Section 41A of Industrial Relations Act 1946 (inserted by Section 11 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012) provides that reviews of each Joint Labour Committee (JLC) will be carried out by the Labour Court, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the Act, and at least once every 5 years thereafter. In this context, the Labour Court appointed Ms Janet Hughes to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Transport Costs (23 Apr 2013)

Richard Bruton: The primary issues raised in this question relating to transport costs and transport infrastructure would be more appropriately directed to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. The recently published Forfás report “Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2012” identifies a number of issues relating to transport costs in Ireland. Prices for transport related services...

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

Richard Bruton: The achievement of balanced regional growth is a core objective of Government. Promoting entrepreneurship, attracting inward investment and facilitating the key infrastructural needs of Irish enterprise across all regions is vital to ensuring a vigorous pipeline of new business leaders, new business ideas and entrepreneurial activity. The Action Plan for Jobs is a whole of Government,...