Results 1,461-1,480 of 1,981 for speaker:Conor Lenihan

Live Register. (12 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: Of course there are huge pressures on businesses. We would hope to reduce the delays over a period. For the moment we have reassigned 26 additional full-time people into the redundancy payments area to process these payments more quickly. The level of redundancy claims does not bear much relationship to the level of unemployment. That is an important point. In 2002 there were 24,000; in...

Smart Economy. (12 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 86 together. My Department has made significant progress in several aspects of the smart economy framework since it was published last December. Our priorities under that initiative have been activation, support for enterprise and credit supply, while continuing our focus on strategic issues such as research and development, skills and venture capital....

Smart Economy. (12 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I am not aware of an effort to sabotage Project Maths. I am a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science with responsibility for the third level spend on research and development and I am an enthusiastic supporter of this project. However, it is only one of a range of complementary measures needed to increase the take up of maths, particularly at higher level for the...

Smart Economy. (12 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: Only 16% of those who take the leaving certificate do higher level maths and while that is the average, according to the Pisa comparative study of uptake in higher level maths across Europe, we are not content with that. It must be leveraged much higher to increase the pipelines of qualified people to take up jobs in the smart economy of the future. We are anxious to implement further...

Smart Economy. (12 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: A number of key issues must be addressed. This is Maths Week 2009 during which we are encouraging citizens and students to be enthusiastic about, and to understand, maths. Teaching inputs for this subject need to improve. It is a disappointment that a significant number of maths teachers do not have a qualification for doing so. They did not do maths as part of their degree and that is...

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

Conor Lenihan: As a key support for leveraging growth and productivity Ireland has substantially increased the public investment in R&D in recent years and therefore substantially increased the size of its research community. The development of sustainable career paths is vital if we are to continue to attract talented young people into research, as our human and intellectual capital is an important draw...

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

Conor Lenihan: The Government has made a commitment, through the substantial investment set out in the Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation (SSTI) 2006-2013 and the National Development Plan (NDP) 2007-2013, to making a transition to a knowledge economy to enable Ireland to compete in a highly competitive global market. The importance of the SSTI lies not only in the scale of investment but as a...

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

Conor Lenihan: The Standing Scientific Committee in their Report on the Status of Irish Salmon Stocks in 2008 and Precautionary Catch Advice for 2009 advised that stocks of salmon in the River Suir were below conservation limits. It is calculated that in 2007 the river Suir (including Clodiagh and Lingaun waters) was meeting 71% of its conservation limit, in 2008 79% and in 2009 it reached 85%. In order...

Written Answers — National Drugs Strategy: National Drugs Strategy (17 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: The role of the 14 Local and 10 Regional Drugs Task Forces is, inter alia, to facilitate greater local/regional focus on drugs issues and a more co-ordinated response to them. A key element in this is education, prevention and awareness raising. There are a significant number of projects being funded through the Drugs Task Forces with an education and prevention focus. These projects, while...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I am pleased to bring the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 before the House. The Tánaiste and I thank Senators for facilitating an early debate on the urgent issues it addresses. This is the second Bill the Tánaiste has introduced this year to amend the Companies Acts. Like its predecessor, the Companies (Amendment) Act 2009, this Bill focuses on making a small number of...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I thank Senator Ryan for his contribution. He is anxious to learn more about the differences between United States and Irish GAAP or generally accepted accounting principles. I must put up my hands as I am not an accountant or lawyer. My officials will prepare a short note on the matter and communicate directly with the Senator. Accounting standards are difficult and complex and there are...

Seanad: Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Second Stage (19 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: The media often does a great deal of damage to Ireland by depicting it as some sort of tax haven. It is important to state that Ireland is not a tax haven. Our low rate of corporation tax is very attractive to overseas investors. Articles expressing all sorts of fear and loathing were published in the Irish media in advance of last year's US election. It was suggested that Ireland was one...

Written Answers — Research and Development: Research and Development (24 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: In December 2008, the Government reinforced the importance of the investment in the commercialisation of publicly funded research in 'Building Ireland's Smart Economy – A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal', and tasked enterprise agencies Enterprise Ireland, IDA and Science Foundation Ireland, with the job of instilling a commercialisation culture in the enterprise sector and...

Written Answers — Research Funding: Research Funding (24 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: Since December 2008, my Department has provided support through the enterprise development agencies, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland to enable and encourage companies to undertake Research, Development and Innovation activity in line with the Smart Economy Report. Enterprise Ireland's programme of company R&D supports are designed to provide support for...

Written Answers — Alternative Energy Projects: Alternative Energy Projects (25 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 47, 72 and 91 together. The report of the Geothermal Working Group is being finalised and it is intended to publish it, when complete, on the Department's website. I am strongly committed to the early provision of a legislative framework for the exploration for and development of geothermal energy. Accordingly, I have instructed my Department to prioritise...

Written Answers — Telecommunications Services: Telecommunications Services (25 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 53 for answer on 13th October 2009. I would however add, that I will shortly be announcing the outcome of the BenefIT 2 eInclusion grant scheme, which I launched in September this year. As a result of grant assistance to the successful projects under this scheme from the Department, it is envisaged that approximately 7,000 training opportunities...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (25 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: As outlined to the House in response to question No. 394 on 10 November 2009, under Section 14 (1) of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1999, the Central Fisheries Board is obliged to submit draft annual accounts to the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) no later than three months after the end of each accounting period year. The Board is then obliged to submit to the Department as soon as may...

Written Answers — Offshore Exploration: Offshore Exploration (26 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 270 and 272 together. There are a total of 27 active Petroleum Exploration Licences and 3 Licensing Options at present. Exploration activity related to the agreed work programmes for each licence is ongoing. The majority of exploration activity takes place outside of the winter months and as a result there are no applications with the Department to undertake...

Written Answers — Mineral Exploration: Mineral Exploration (26 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: Minerals exploration and development is undertaken by private enterprise and regulated under the Minerals Development Acts, 1940 to 1999. New exploration is continually undertaken as part of my requirements to holders of Prospecting Licences, of which there are currently 483. Details of these Licenses can be found in the six-monthly report to the Oireachtas, which I am obliged to lay...

Written Answers — Inland Fisheries: Inland Fisheries (26 Nov 2009)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 to 286, inclusive, together. The Deputy will be aware that there is an Eel Management Plan in place for each river basin district, prepared in compliance with EC Regulation 1100/2007 establishing measures for the recovery of the stock of European eel. These plans were approved by the EU Commission, on the advice of the International Council for Exploration...