Results 11,601-11,620 of 16,057 for speaker:Mary Coughlan

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: My Department recently established and chaired a Procurement Innovation Group who have developed new policy guidelines in conjunction with the National Public Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) in the Department of Finance and the National Public Procurement Operations Unit (NPPOU) in the OPW. The Group have produced two documents, which were published in July 2009: a Report with 13...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: My Department's continuous support for enterprises arises through maintaining a positive business environment and through particular interventions from the State development agencies such as Enterprise Ireland and the County and City Enterprise Boards. Enterprise Ireland is focused on providing support to clients to maximise export sales and consequently employment, by investing in companies...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The Job Initiative Programme (JI) which was launched in July 1996 continues to provide full time employment for people who are 35 years of age or over, unemployed for 5 years or more, and in receipt of Social Welfare payments over that period. The main purpose of the programme is to assist long-term unemployed people to prepare for work opportunities by providing participants with work...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: As the Deputy is aware, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) is carrying out an investigation into certain matters within FÁS. A copy of the report that deals with the examination of advertising and promotion in FÁS, which forms part of the investigation, was laid before the House on 9 September. I understand that a further report from the C&AG will be issued in the coming months....

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: Funding of FÁS Services to Business and Skillnets is a matter for the Estimates process for 2010. The outcome of that process will be published in Budget 2010, which will be released on 9 December 2009.

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: My Department does not compile specific annual statistics on the number of new start-ups that have commenced trading in the State. As an assistance to the Deputy, the closest approximation to the information sought may be derived from the number of new companies registered each year and the yearly number of new VAT registrations. However, these figures in themselves must be seen as...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The current approved staff complement for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) is 45. In addition, eight Gardai are assigned to the office. In March this year the Director requested six additional staff to assist in carrying out the work of his office. The six staff requested have since been assigned through the redeployment of staff from within my own Department. The...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: I am fully committed to the prevention of exploitation of migrant workers and to ensuring that all workers benefit from the full range of our employment rights protections. In this respect the provisions of the Employment Permits Act 2006 have added substantially to this range of protections. The employment permit is granted to the employee, rather than to the employer and it contains a...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The Mid-West Task Force, which I established under the Chairmanship of Mr Denis Brosnan, completed an interim Report and presented it to me on the 2nd of July. The wide range of recommendations in the report cover both local and national issues. In that respect, the Government has been responding to the economic downturn generally and has taken numerous initiatives, for example in relation...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: I propose to take Questions Nos.76 and 79 together. The Work Placement Programme is a labour market activation initiative that provides 2,000 six-month work experience places to individuals who are unemployed, including graduates. The programme is broken down into Stream 1, which is for graduates and Stream 2, which is for other individuals. Participants on the scheme will retain their...

Written Answers — Unemployment Levels: Unemployment Levels (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: Ireland is currently experiencing, as is the rest of Europe, high unemployment, with latest figures indicating our unemployment rate at 11.6%. According to the Live Register there were 412,400 people claiming unemployment benefits at the end of October 2009. This is 7,440 (1.8%) less than September 2009. The Live Register is 161,700 (64.5%) higher than this time last year. Positively, the...

Written Answers — EU Funding: EU Funding (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The Government approved an amount of €100m in total for the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund for the years 2009 and 2010. €50m has been included in the estimate of my Department for this purpose in 2009. Under the scheme, Enterprise Ireland may provide up to €500,000 to viable companies with robust business models that are facing difficulties as a result of the current economic...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: In its report on Ireland published in June, the IMF acknowledged Ireland's transformation from a location for low cost manufacturing to a centre of high value-added production and services. In this context, it noted that, with the possible exception of Luxembourg, Ireland had become the most expensive location in the Eurozone in recent years. However, the IMF also noted the "incipient"...

Written Answers — Smart Economy: Smart Economy (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The High Level Action Group on Green Enterprise was launched on 21 May 2009 and the Group continued to meet until 21 September 2009. The Group also held a number of consultation sessions with interested parties over the Summer. The Report was finalised in October 2009 and submitted to Government on 3 November 2009. The Secretariat is in the process of having the Report printed and it will...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The Government has and will continue to formulate and implement new innovative, active labour market polices that have been designed with the aim of maintaining the unemployed, skilled or unskilled, close to the labour market, while crucially providing them with the necessary skills set and experience to ensure they are better equipped to return to employment as soon as possible. The Work...

Written Answers — Prompt Payment System: Prompt Payment System (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The Secretary General of my Department wrote to all Government Departments on 26th May, asking them to take the necessary steps to implement this commitment and to ensure that Department line staff and Finance Units are made aware of the need to prioritise payments to suppliers to meet the 15 day deadline. The Government Decision of 19 May included a requirement for Departments to report...

Written Answers — Departmental Programmes: Departmental Programmes (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The Government is determined and committed to keeping the unemployed as close to the labour market as possible during these challenging times. It is widely accepted that keeping people close to the labour market is important to improve their future employability. That is why the Government introduced the Work Placement Programme. This Programme is providing an initial 2,000, 6 month, work...

Written Answers — Retail Sector: Retail Sector (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: The downturn in retail sales is an inevitable consequence of the current difficult economic climate. The Government fully recognises the difficulties currently being faced by retailers and the importance of ensuring that we continue to have a viable and successful retail sector. It is all the more important in these difficult times that businesses, particularly those with a direct presence...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91, 100 and 113 together. The Industrial Development agencies, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland as well as the City and County Enterprise Boards are extremely active in the drive towards job creation and job protection. IDA Ireland is working to keep its client companies operating in Ireland, to maximise employment and minimise job losses in those...

Written Answers — Export Credit Insurance: Export Credit Insurance (12 Nov 2009)

Mary Coughlan: As a result of the difficulties being experienced by some companies seeking Export Credit Insurance, I arranged that a forensic examination of the Export Credit Insurance market in Ireland should be carried out to establish what assistance the State could provide in enabling exporters and to assist recovery in the credit insurance market. This Assessment, by international consultants KPMG,...