Results 10,221-10,240 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: As trade negotiations are a matter of European Union (EU) competence, Ireland’s involvement in trade negotiations is as an active contributor to overall EU policy and consequently I attach great importance to promoting the EU’s external trade agenda. Regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) both the European Union and the United States have a strong...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Bodies (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) has a total staff complement of 36.3 Whole Time Equivalents (WTEs). In addition, there is 1 temporary Legal Secretary on contract and 6.6 members of An Garda Síochána seconded to the Office. The ODCE's staff complement comprises three distinct sub-categories, i.e. - staff in professional grades (9 WTEs) - staff in general...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: How many minutes does the Chairman suggest I have? He is very flexible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Chairman. I will, however, try to keep to five minutes. This discussion is, in a sense, very timely. I met the committee in February after we had just published the Action Plan for Jobs 2013. As we are now starting the process of engaging in consultation on the plan for 2014, it is timely to meet the committee. I do not need to remind members of the action plan, but its...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Dara Calleary for his compliments to the staff of the Department. A superhuman effort was made across all areas. There was Horizon 2020, a trade deal and accountancy directives. Many people who stayed at home had to take up the slack to keep the ordinary work going. It was a major effort and I thank the Deputy for his comments. While the Action Plan for Jobs seeks to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I was coming to that. We have definitely done a lot of work. As job numbers in the pharmaceutical sector have been stable, there has been no impact on employment. Part of that is due to the fact that IDA Ireland is looking at new opportunities in the bio-pharmaceutical and other sectors. While we are inevitably losing jobs in some sectors, we are expanding elsewhere. As the Deputy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The reforms are proceeding. On data reform, we have established the new Insight Centre which involves 250 researchers across four colleges and 45 companies and is now operational. The Health Innovation Hub is progressing well. Six companies are already involved in a pilot project. We are evaluating how we can extend this initiative across the country. Obviously, the JobsPlus scheme was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: It will be before the Dáil in the autumn and we are working to try to complete it. I think we are getting towards the stamped copy. We are close to the end.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: We are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: That is okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Anthony Lawlor raised the same issue as Deputy Dara Calleary. What we are trying to do with the Action Plan for Jobs is to work across the silos, but the fact that we are engaging in co-ordination across them does not mean that we are in charge of the respective programmes. What we are trying to do is something a little different. Therefore, if members want to raise questions about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thought the Deputy had asked about short-term contracts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: JobsPlus will not allow an employer to rotate through a number of people. If an employer creates a job and finds an employee through the scheme, he or she will not then be able to let that person go and replace him or her with somebody else through the scheme. There will be no incentive to do this. The issue of who the employer selects-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Yes, but it comes down to the probability of a person leaving the live register. Last year some 140,000 left the live register. Of these, 120,000 were unemployed for less than 12 months and only 20,000 for over 12 months. Looking at the percentages, the chance of finding a job if one is long-term unemployed is only one in nine, but if one is unemployed for only a short time, it is quite...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (9 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Michael Conaghan for his kind comments. I agree with him that there are two dimensions to this challenge. It has been crucial to rebuild the export, enterprise, innovation-oriented economy. As the Deputy rightly observed, the domestic economy has more clusters of unemployment as a result of the collapse of the construction industry which had been at the core of much of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Ireland's open economy needs to have the export of goods and services at the heart of its economic strategy. The excessive reliance on property in the years up to the crisis was not only unsustainable but also undermined Ireland's competitiveness in export markets and caused a steady decline in our export market share. The economic transition we are now undertaking must be founded solidly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: At EU level we put a strong emphasis on creating opportunities for growth in export markets during our Presidency. We successfully closed an agreement on a mandate for EU-US trade negotiations. These negotiations hold out the potential for increasing transatlantic trade between the EU and the US by 28%. If they can be concluded quickly they will offer good opportunities. Similarly,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Both Enterprise Ireland and the IDA track investment, employment and volume flows. The trends are quite positive. We have encountered some difficulties in export markets but the April figures have shown recovery. There is a positive outlook among purchasing managers in respect of service prospects for the export markets. They are monitoring the trends closely but the signals are diverse....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Unemployment Measures (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The economic crisis has had a severe impact on young people in Ireland and the rest of the EU. Youth training, progression to employment and unemployment among young people continue to present a major challenge for Ireland, as they do for most member states. The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to develop a supportive environment for enterprise to create and sustain jobs. All of the...