Results 1,301-1,320 of 14,554 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Departmental Investigations: Departmental Investigations (16 Dec 2010)

Dara Calleary: In 2005, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment directed that the Labour Inspectorate of the Department carry out an investigation into certain allegations made against a particular company. A report was prepared and, on 21 March 2005, a copy of the draft report was forwarded to the relevant companies under investigation. The outcome of an interlocutory hearing on a Judicial...

Written Answers — National Minimum Wage: National Minimum Wage (12 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: The Government's decision to reduce the minimum wage to €7.65 per hour was not a condition of the International Monetary Fund/European loans. The Government agreed to a reduction in the National Minimum Wage as part of the National Recovery Plan published on 24 November, 2010. The EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland, published on 1 December 2010, included a commitment to...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (12 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: In October 2006, the Government announced its intention to continue to restrict access to the Irish labour market for nationals of Romania following their accession to the EU on 1 January 2007. Accordingly, Romanian nationals continue to require a permit to take up employment in Ireland. However, those already in the State on a valid employment permit for an uninterrupted period of 12...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (13 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I assume the question relates specifically to amending the definition of "worker" under the Industrial Relations Act 1990. Access to the employment dispute settling bodies under the Industrial Relations Acts is governed by the definition of "worker" in Section 23 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990. Workers not included within this definition are normally covered by separate schemes of...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (18 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 420 and 421 together. It is understood, following clarification with the Deputy's office, that the Questions relate to Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work and to Council Directive 89/654/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and...

Job Creation (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: The primary objective of my Department is to ensure we have the right policies in place to support and grow our enterprise base to facilitate job creation and job retention. The work of the Department has been proven over the past five days with the announcement of 1,200 new jobs, including a major investment by the Intel corporation which had been sought worldwide. The policies developed by...

Job Creation (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: All of us are very aware of the problem we face. However, it is not just an Irish problem and I remind Deputy Bruton that 1 million people under the age of 25 are unemployed in the UK. We have put in place a direct response, providing for graduate employment and for those without qualifications. Between the skills development and internship programme and the work placement programme, there...

Job Creation (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I assure the Deputy that I am not in the business of trotting out statistics. These programmes have been devised specifically as a response to the situation we are in and specifically to give people, including educated people, a chance to gain work experience here and to stay here. None of us likes to see emigration but we have had a consistently high figure of immigration in recent years...

Job Creation (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: These programmes have been put in place and are providing a response on the ground. While we would love to be able to put more money into them, it is a question of resources and resource allocation. Resources are being allocated in the most effective way given their availability.

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: Access to bank credit for businesses, particularly SMEs, has been central to many Government initiatives in addressing the crisis in the banking sector. Both the 2009 and 2010 bank recapitalisation arrangements provided specific commitments from the recapitalised banks to assist SMEs. Under the 2010 bank recapitalisation arrangement, AIB and Bank of Ireland have both committed to making...

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: All Members share the Deputy's commitment to viable small businesses and this is the reason the review office is in place. Regardless of party politics, all Members should use it. I have used it and have found it to be helpful to me and to a number of constituents. As for direct interaction with the office, it takes it on and if the businesses are viable and if they have a future, it will...

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I do not have it to hand but will provide it to the Deputy. However, unless Members provide the cases from their daily interactions with businesses, that figure will not improve.

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I have to hand some figures. Since its establishment, the Credit Review Office has had slightly more than 4,000 users of its website, 467 calls from borrowers and a total of approximately 37 cases have been received. The Government is not happy with this and Deputy Morgan probably has hit on a point, in that we must do a lot more. While the Credit Review Office has advertised extensively...

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: While I do not have that information to hand, I will provide it to the Deputy. It certainly is the kind of information this Department has been seeking through this process.

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I accept that and accept Deputy Penrose's concerns in this regard. As for meeting the banks or the bank management, the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, has led five different meetings with the banks since his appointment to the Department at the end of March 2010. The last report of the Credit Review Office states: My view is that recapitalisation strategy for the two main banks is now...

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: Some changes such as those suggested by Deputy O'Donnell have been made. The Government has been forcing banks to improve their lending facilities to SMEs and the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, referred to increasing the number of staff. Moreover, the skills base of staff to lend to SMEs was depleted-----

SME Sector (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: -----and they now are engaged in partnership with Enterprise Ireland on this. In addition, the Government has found that the success rate of appeals within the banking system from regional to central level has improved in recent months. Moreover, the Government continues to force the banks to adopt a more vigorous internal appeals procedure, as well as that available through the Credit...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: The primary objective of my Department is to ensure that we have the right policies in place to support and grow our enterprise base in order to facilitate both job creation and job retention. The policies developed by this Government to accelerate and improve the transition of young people from education into the labour market are based on three main pillars: 1. Expanding provision in the...

Written Answers — Public Sector Pay Agreements: Public Sector Pay Agreements (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: The Croke Park Agreement has committed the Civil and Public Service management to working with their staff to increase efficiency and reduce costs across the public sector. In that regard, my Department and our Agencies submitted Croke Park Implementation Plans last October to the Department of Finance and the Agreement "Implementation Body" for consideration. We submitted updated Plans on...

Written Answers — National Wage Agreements: National Wage Agreements (19 Jan 2011)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 97 together. The National Recovery Plan 2011 – 2014 commits to a range of structural reforms to the labour market aimed at removing barriers to employment creation and disincentives to work; and at re-orientating activation measures. In this context, the Government committed to review the framework of Employment Regulation Orders (ERO) and Registered...