Results 13,661-13,680 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I have asked both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland to pursue all possible options in seeking to source an alternative employer and find alternative employment for those impacted by the Bank of America/MBNA redundancies in Carrick on Shannon, which unfortunately took effect in November last. As part of this ongoing work, IDA Ireland are engaging with key players in the International Banking...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Review Office Remit (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that responsibility for the implementation of personal insolvency legislation rests with my colleague, Frances Fitzgerald T.D., Minister for Justice and Equality, and responsibility for the Credit Review Office with my colleague, Michael Noonan, T.D., Minister for Finance. The Deputy will also be aware that the Taoiseach has previously announced that the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Ministerial Adviser Appointments (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) 2015 was published in January and is the fourth in the multi-annual series of a whole of government approach to economic recovery, export growth and job creation. The development and coordination of the Action Plan for Jobs was, and is, led by my Office and Department. Forfás were centrally involved in this process before it was integrated with the Department...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Vacancies on State Boards (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Information relating to current vacancies on the boards of agencies within my Department’s remit is presented in tabular format below. As the Deputy will be aware the Government decided on 30thSeptember 2014 that all appointments (with some limited exceptions) are to be advertised on the State Boards portal, stateboards.ie,operated by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). The process...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: This closure, which has now been postponed until 29th May, is very much regretted. I travelled to Carrickmacross to discuss the issue with some of the workforce there after the announcement, and I am very conscious of the need to pursue replacement jobs in the area. I established an interagency group to co-ordinate the response from the state in terms of awareness of entitlements and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Any job losses are very regrettable and our Development Agencies ensure that in such cases replacement projects are pursued vigorously. Despite some specific company losses in the Sligo area in the recent past, the overall unemployment trend in the region has improved significantly over the last few years. Unemployment in the Border Region, although still too high, stood at 10% the end of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Bodies Data (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: There is a substantial programme of reform underway and well advanced within my Department in relation to agencies and public bodies. This will see a reduction in the number of agencies or bodies under the remit of my Department fall by 41. This includes the dissolution of 35 City and County Enterprise Boards, the merging of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency, the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation, which offers extensive protections to employees. Those protections include the Protection of Employment Acts 1977-2007, which provide for a process of information and consultation between the employer and the employee representatives in circumstances where a collective redundancy is proposed, the Minimum Notice and Terms of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Support Services Provision (12 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the ‘first-stop-shop’ for assisting start-ups, business development and job creation in each local area. The LEOs can provide advice and direction, covering all government supports and requirements, to anyone who wishes to start or expand a business. The LEOs can also provide funding for projects that meet certain criteria, in certain...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Data (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The concept of part-time underemployment is based on ILO and EUROSTAT definitions and includes job holders who are working part time, willing to work additional hours and available to work additional hours. The level of part-time underemployment in Ireland has been falling steadily from its peak in the second quarter of 2012 when it stood at 157,000 or 8.5% of total employment and now stands...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Data (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: This is a work in progress and we are making good headway, from the peak of 157,000 in 2012. When the statistics process started in Ireland, the number was 100,000 and we are getting back to pre-crash levels in so far as we know what the figures are. We are not concentrating on job creation in sectors that offer zero hour contracts or part-time work. The evidence is that the increase in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Data (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I do not think they are a static group, with people leaving or entering the live register. Many of them are on the live register part time. There is a profile under the probability of exit, PEX, system which is shaping new programmes to assist people to get back to work. Also, it gives a rating for with whom the Intreo office should work because they are at higher risk of falling into the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Competition Authority Investigations (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: After the acquisition was agreed to by the parties involved, the Competition Authority received notification on 16 March 2012. Following this, notification of the proposed transaction was sent to me, as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, in accordance with section 23(1)(a) of the Competition Act 2002, on 20 March 2012 as the Competition Authority considered it to be a media merger...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Competition Authority Investigations (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I can assure the Deputy that none of those details was provided. As I said earlier, the only function of the authority, myself and the Department was with regard to the effect of this transaction on competition in the Irish economy. No examination or briefing was provided on any other aspects of the transaction or the companies involved. To have done so would have been to act outside our...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Competition Authority Investigations (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The information provided to the Competition Authority, and from it to the Department, is solely related to competition impact and whether this would represent an increased concentration in the marketplace and so forth. None of the issues that have given rise to public concern was brought to the attention of the Competition Authority. However, the Minister for Finance has established an...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Supporting enterprise development in all regions of the country in order to support job creation is a key objective of the Government. All regions have experienced jobs growth, as the Minister of State, Deputy English, has said, but the rate of progress in some regions is less than in others. That is why the Government is placing an increased emphasis on supporting job creation in the...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for his support for this initiative. It is not true to say, as he projected in his initial statement, that foreign direct investment only takes place east of the Shannon. In the western counties to which Deputy Calleary referred in terms of the report from the WDC, 4,000 additional jobs were created by the IDA in the past four years. There has been a stronger performance...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated, the Government has provided €150 million for the IDA to develop property-based solutions across the country, only 30% of which is committed to the 12 advanced facilities. There is an IDA facility to support initiatives. It is a pity the Deputy was not at the regional enterprise forum because people genuinely examined our strengths and what we can build in the regions....

Other Questions: Job Losses (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Immediately after the announcement by the company concerned, I established an inter-agency group to co-ordinate the response to the proposed job losses. The group, chaired by Enterprise Ireland, will seek to secure alternative employment in the area affected and ensure departing workers will have access to supports they need from State agencies in seeking retraining, access to social welfare...

Other Questions: Job Losses (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I completely deny that that is the case. Enterprise Ireland will support any restructuring plan agreed by the unions and the company. Once they work out a plan, we stand ready to support it in many ways, for example, by developing lean processes, providing training and support in undertaking research and development. Obviously, a restructuring plan has to be negotiated between the company...