Results 10,241-10,260 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

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

Richard Bruton: Deputy Tóibín keeps repeating the myth that we are failing. In the past 12 months we have 20,000 additional people at work, net. If we remove from the equation the fact the public sector figures are declining, the private sector has expanded employment by 2,000 jobs per month. That is in sharp contrast to the economy we inherited where there was a loss of jobs of 7,000 per month....

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

Richard Bruton: Sinn Féin seems to be of the view that it must talk down what is happening.

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

Richard Bruton: Deputy Tóibín is picking facts selectively. Some 20,000 more people are at work today than there were 12 months ago and there are many employment programmes designed to help young people get such jobs. JobBridge has been very successful and has dealt with 17,000 young people, resulting in a 60% employment take-up from the programme. Springboard has also been exceptionally...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The remit of the Entrepreneurship Forum, under the chairmanship of Mr. Seán O'Sullivan, is to provide advice on matters of policy in the area of entrepreneurship and to draft appropriate policy conclusions and recommendations which will support business start-ups, sustainable growth and long-term job creation. The forum will generate actions for the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is our intention to engage with thousands of women in this process. I could hardly be accused of discriminating against women in business because, for the first time, under my guidance we established a competitive start fund dedicated specifically to women entrepreneurs. I put €750,000 into that last year and it was massively oversubscribed. There are encouraging signs that women...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy seems to have misunderstood what I said. The purpose of this group is to set the ball rolling. We will be engaging with thousands of women involved in business.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is not a board with any continuing role, rather it is a group tasked with starting the consultative process over a three month period. We will attempt in that very short timeframe to meet as many relevant persons as we can. I will be providing additional money this year for women in entrepreneurship by way of a competitive start fund confined to women. This is an area in which we are...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Regional aid, also known as investment aid, is paid in the form of grants by the industrial development agencies to businesses in order to support new investment and new employment in productive projects in Europe's most disadvantaged regions. Such aid must be in accordance with each country’s regional aid map, as approved by the European Commission, which has responsibility for the...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Our negotiating position was closely co-ordinated with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland as we developed these proposals in order to make sure we protected the capacity of the IDA to promote regional development. The categories for large enterprises include new economic activity, new products and new process innovation. It is a broad range of areas where we can continue to support large...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: In terms of competitiveness with other countries, we have 51% of the country's population in the C regions. Overall, a lower percentage than that in all of Europe is covered by C regions. We have proportionately more C regions than the EU as a whole. We have much more than some very developed markets and much less than some of the emerging markets. I do not have the exact population...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Those are the categories, which means that this is not entirely open-ended. To qualify for regional aid, it is necessary to demonstrate that a new investment represents a new economic activity by a company and involves a new process or innovation. Companies must show that they are modernising their production and developing new products or ways of doing things. There must be a step-up in...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I assume the Deputy is referring to foreign nationals defined in the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006 as foreign nationals other than nationals of member states of the EEA and Switzerland. The law is clear on the employment of third country nationals. It is illegal for a third country national to be employed without the State's permission and the offence where a third country national...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated, I expect to have a draft of the Bill soon. We are in the final stages of the process and it appears that we will have it imminently. I hope we will have it before the end of the session. We will certainly make it available for the very start of the new session. Mr. Justice Hogan reversed a Labour Court award having found that the contract of employment was illegal as Mr....

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Calleary will have to take up the issue of unspent funds with the Minister for Justice and Equality. As the Deputy stated, there is a close relationship with the migrant rights organisations who have been instrumental in trying to make this system work. What we have recognised is that there are legal defects. We are seeking to correct those in the two types of cases that I outlined...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is a repeat of an earlier question.

Other Questions: Youth Enterprise Initiatives (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Encouraging and promoting an enterprise culture in those under 25 years is an important area of activity for the county enterprise boards and the local enterprise offices. These offices seek to influence student attitudes in favour of enterprise at both primary and secondary level through the annual student enterprise awards, local or inter-county initiatives such as Exploring Enterprise, in...

Other Questions: Youth Enterprise Initiatives (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Other Questions: Youth Enterprise Initiatives (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The decline in entrepreneurship is disappointing but it is concentrated in certain sectors such as construction, which used to be a major entrepreneurial sector. As I mentioned in reply to Deputy Calleary, a bespoke scheme for women entrepreneurs was launched last year. It was very successful and was oversubscribed. We are continuing to build on that. On the question of whether our most...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights Issues (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Policy issues relating to childcare fall within the remit of my colleague, Ms Frances Fitzgerald T.D., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Issues relating to employment rights policy fall within my remit. Ireland's body of employment rights legislation protects all employees legally employed on an employer-employee basis in Ireland. Therefore, once it is clear that a person is working...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Relations Issues (10 Jul 2013)

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 have commenced a root-and-branch reform with the...