Results 13,561-13,580 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices (2 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The LEOs are the first-stop-shop for those beginning a new business as well as those wishing to expand their existing one. The LEOs provide financial and non-financial supports to help micro and small businesses to expand their growth potential. To qualify for receipt of direct financial support from a LEO a company applying must have ten or less employees. However, this criteria does not...

Topical Issue Debate: Small and Medium Enterprises Debt (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is no doubt that the funding difficulties being experienced by small and medium-sized enterprises has been a huge issue right through the period of this Government's term in office. We have introduced a great deal of change in an effort to respond to that. The remit of the Credit Review Office has been repeatedly extended, for example, with...

Topical Issue Debate: Small and Medium Enterprises Debt (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: We need to have all the facts before we decide on a course of action. It is not true to say protections are worthless where the loans in question are impaired. In fact, there continue to be procedures and protections in place where loans are impaired. I take the Deputy's point, however, and we will look at the situation fully to see what is the best way in which to find a resolution. I...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: I move amendment No. 1:To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“acknowledges that in steering the country through and out of the economic crisis the Government has focused on protecting the most vulnerable workers, pursued an agenda of maintaining and improving employment rights and reforming and enhancing both the industrial...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: It is depressing listening to Sinn Féin trying to feed the world of self-delusion and misery it portrays all the time. It continually pretends that there is no improvement occurring in the economy. I remember listening to it when we were starting out on this difficult journey to rebuild the economy. Its Deputies were saying there were no jobs available. Then they shifted to saying...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have seen the reality, yet Sinn Féin repeatedly peddles myths. The truth is that the number of people unemployed has come down from 300,000 to 200,000. There are 100,000 fewer people unemployed. The number at work has gone up by 90,000. All of these jobs are full time and none is part time. If Deputies look at the CSO figures, they will see that for the past two years the...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: None of the extra jobs is attributable to schemes. There are no extra people on schemes than there were two years ago; therefore, none of the additional jobs is on a scheme. I have a lot of respect for Deputy Peadar Tóibín, but I wonder who wrote his script today. I have heard him express concern for those at risk of poverty. The truth is, however - I am quoting from the...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have taken 100,000 people out of an extremely precarious situation where they are at high risk of poverty and have brought them into employment. That is the journey. Deputy Gerry Adams who is no longer present in the Chamber asked about the social consequences of the policies we were pursuing. The social consequences are quite clear - they are removing people from the risk of being...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The truth, to which Sinn Féin does not want to face up, is that last year over 140,000 people left the live register to take up employment.

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Therefore, 40% of those on the live register left it in the course of 2014. That is the highest level we have seen since the recession. It is a sign of real progress in reaching out to people who would otherwise have been marginalised. I listened to Deputy Martin Ferris talk about rising long-term unemployment. According to the CSO's figures, the number of long-term unemployed at the...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have sought to provide practical solutions for people in difficult situations, whether unemployed or at work. We restored the minimum wage and provided legislation for temporary agency workers. In addition, we restored the JLCs after they had been struck down by the courts. We have also reformed the Workplace Relations Commission to make it easier and more swift for workers to seek...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The truth is that we can create an economy, like the jobs we have created in the past two years, with 90,000 extra in full-time employment and high wages. They are enjoying strong living standards because we are creating a strong economy. Sinn Féin's vision does not include enterprise as part of the growth of a strong economy. It has a narrow, old-fashioned view of the world. It is...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Unemployment is coming down from 15% to below 10% now. We are getting people back to work in quality jobs and providing the legislative underpinning to make sure that decent standards and dignity apply in the workplace. That is the balanced economy. Enterprise is part of it. Sinn Féin's view of the world has no space for enterprise.

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: There was not a single positive word out there from Sinn Féin as to how we can build an economy that will provide full employment. We have such a vision and a proven track record in delivering this pathway.

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have a strong record in restoring workers' rights at a very difficult time. This is a very important time - we are at a critical moment in our history. We are at a turning point where we have established that we are a strong economy and can rebuild from the ashes of an extraordinary debacle. People have made huge sacrifices to get us to a point where we are rebuilding employment and...

Fair Pay, Secure Jobs and Trade Union Recognition: Motion [Private Members] (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: That is what this Government has been delivering and it has been an honour to serve in it.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Regional Enterprise Strategy (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: As part of the Action Plan for Jobs: Regionalinitiative which was launched last February, the Government announced that up to €250 million would be made available over five years to support enterprise development in the regions. The €250 million package includes €150 million for a property investment programme by IDA Ireland to attract foreign direct investment into the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of SMEs in Ireland in 2012 (most recent figures available) was 185,049. The numbers have been declining since the economic crisis in 2008. Self-employed workers may access social welfare supports by establishing eligibility to assistance-based payments such as jobseeker’s allowance and disability allowance. In the case of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: In the first instance, existing and prospective businesses can access the new online search tool for SME business supports that was launched last year. The Supporting SMEs Online Tool is a cross-governmental initiative to help Irish start-ups and small businesses navigate the range of Government business supports for which they could be eligible. The Supporting SMEs Online Tool can be...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (15 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: My Department put in place two credit schemes in 2012: the Microenterprise Loan Fund and the Credit Guarantee Scheme. Microfinance Ireland (MFI) was established to manage and control the Microenterprise Loan Fund. I provided a €10 million Exchequer allocation to MFI in 2012 which will be supplemented by €5 million from the three main banks to cover the first 5 years of the...