Results 13,821-13,840 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I do not say there is any disagreement but clearly this is something that would have to evolve on both sides if there is to be additional institutional collaboration. I am not up to speed on the collaboration in the tourism area but I am aware that Ministers meet regularly in respect of tourism North and South and there has been progress in the area. The Deputy would have to talk to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I think there is always room for additional initiative in this area. What we are doing ourselves is trying to evolve our regional policy with a number of new tools we have put out into the field. This is an experimental period and I am definitely interested in seeing if they can evolve and if we can get involvement collaboratively across the Border. That would be very good for those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Obviously, there is the Border, so North and South operate in two different jurisdictions with different Parliaments to which they are answerable. This clearly is a reality and what the Government has built is cross-Border institutional collaboration which it has turned into the channels it considers are best for driving real change. Consequently, there is significant collaboration on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy should attend some of the events held by InterTradeIreland. That agency is anything but lethargic.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I do not have those sort of data with me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: No. I would need advance notice of such a question to provide the information being sought.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Approximately 18 trade missions take place each year - not all of them are organised by Enterprise Ireland - and approximately 60 firms participate on them, which means the total per year would be somewhere between 600 and 700.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: No. I do not know what the number is in that regard. The figure I provided represents the total involved.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, I was involved in a joint trade mission with Arlene Foster. That was the first such trade mission of its kind ever but it proved to be extremely successful. The mission in question was centred around aviation, and we travelled to Singapore, where there is an aviation cluster. A number of the precision engineering companies which operate in the South are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is leading the spatial planning exercise and, therefore, the Deputy would be better to direct his question in this regard to the relevant Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: There is a process involving local authorities and their regional assemblies. In the context of NUTS 3 regions, we are working with local authorities and our own agencies in the context of seeking to develop regional enterprise strategies. We were deliberately timing those ahead of the emergence of the wider regional infrastructure plan in order to get the enterprise thinking, needs,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Priority is being given to encouraging FDI to set up in the Border region. That is a distinct feature of the IDA's latest plan, in which we have committed to strategic investment in advance facilities in Sligo, Letterkenny and Dundalk and we have committed to increase the number of projects won by 40%. InterTradeIreland and INTERREG are focused on the needs of SMEs with export potential....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I outlined the practical steps, but whether a Border development zone is an idea that should form a centrepiece of policy is an issue around which there is room for genuine, open debate on its merits.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Plenty of actions underpin the development in practical ways. I am not trying to be smart, but there is genuine debate about what is the best way to develop. Is it around a Border corridor or the all-island economy concept, through which we play to the overall strengths of the two economies and can take a greater look at regional strengths and opportunities? There is a genuine debate to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have a retail forum that is chaired by the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy Gerald Nash, where we listen to the retail sector.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Exactly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: We do listen to the sector. I have not seen the report. My general opinion on institutional innovation is that I start with policy actions. It is only if the policy action cannot be delivered by existing institutional arrangements that I start to look at new institutions. I have been around a long time and have seen a lot of energy put into setting up institutions. What we should put our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: All-Island Economy: Discussion (Resumed) (26 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: One must always compete for FDI. Investors will look, for example, at Manchester and different locations. An agency that is trying to win foreign direct investment, whatever its geographic mandate, will compete, and that has always been the case. I do not see competition as a bad thing. The more Ireland is promoted as a good place to invest, and the more vibrant the competition is, then...