Results 1,581-1,600 of 4,073 for speaker:Mary Mitchell O'Connor

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Local enterprise offices do not fund Childminding Ireland. That is not their area.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: It is funded by Pobal but it is not a matter for this Department.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: There will be another day. The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, and I will attend on another day to answer those specific questions about quality of jobs, low pay and so on.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: My understanding is that it is a matter for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: If Deputy Niall Collins does not object, I will push that question to the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, who is in charge of the area. The Deputy also asked about income from Enterprise Ireland and income earned by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: No, they do not borrow money. They have their own resources and income and they get some of that from property, share sales or dividend income. They do not borrow money. However, they do leverage funding from the private sector in the area of venture capital. For example, Enterprise Ireland will invest €175 million over six years from 2014 to 2019 and then the private sector will...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked if anything was not working. The answer is no. I was asked about the funding for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE. Its funding has not seen a reduction. There was a return to 26 fortnightly pay periods in 2016, compared to 27 in 2015. Therefore, there was no cut. There was a small reduction in the level of unused ODCE legal...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Yes, we are, but, as I said, we are looking to employ more staff. However, we have the difficulty I have outlined. On the one stop shop and LEOs, we are pretty happy. Of course, there are issues in some of the LEOs. For example, some staff had retired and there was an embargo on recruitment to replace them. Therefore, when the LEOs were taken over by the local authorities, there was a...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I wish to respond to queries by Deputies Neville and Donnelly. Earlier Deputy Donnelly spoke about his friend who sought help. The LEOs are not one-stop shops, rather they provide signposting to tell people where to go. I heard what Deputy Neville said. It is very important for businesses out there. We have a very good portal on our website, www.djei.ie, especially for people seeking...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised) (21 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I thank the Deputy for his praise of the Department. We evaluate our programmes and we are pretty happy. We would like more money for research and innovation and we would like to do more there. We will be pushing towards that. I am telling all my ministerial friends at the Cabinet table that we will be seeking more money in the 2017 budget to ensure we can further reduce the 7.8%...

Topical Issue Debate: Unemployment Levels (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I thank the Deputy and acknowledge he has raised this matter with me a number of times. It also has been raised on the floor of this House. I am aware the economic crisis hit job numbers in the south east badly, with the loss of 37,800 jobs between 2007 and 2012. However, through the focused collaborative approach and a range of reforms delivered in the region in recent years, the...

Topical Issue Debate: Unemployment Levels (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I will be visiting the Deputy's constituency and I hope to meet him there along with other Oireachtas Members. I have been in touch with the regional director who has been specifically appointed there. She is Ms Anne-Marie Tierney-Le Roux. She was appointed in January 2015. I know that the Cork IDA Ireland office was managing the south east. She has assured me that the south east is...

Topical Issue Debate: Unemployment Levels (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: -----over five years for the bioanalytical company, Eurofins, in Dungarvan. The solution to the problem is to make sure that jobs come into the area. The Deputy has made very fine points that the area is above the national average, and even in parts of his own constituency it is way above that again. I will be making sure that happens. If the Deputy does not mind, I wish to mention...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Company Closures (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The recent High Court appointment of a provisional liquidator to this company involved a very specific legal process. I do not consider that it would be appropriate for either my Department or IDA Ireland to engage with the liquidator on the issue referred to in the question. My focus and that of the IDA is on finding a new potential investor for this premises and thereby to pursue...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Ministerial Functions (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Public Service Management Act 1997 states that a Minister is responsible for the performance of functions assigned to his/her Department and that the Secretary General of a Department has the authority to assign responsibility for functions performed on behalf of the Minister to appropriate officials within the Department. Under the terms of the Public Service Management Act...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: There is no separate legal definition of the term “au pair” in Irish legislation, and individuals described as “au pairs”, “nannies” or “child-minders” are not exempted or treated as separate categories of workers under Irish employment law. Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation protects all employees who are legally...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Pension Provisions (22 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I fully appreciate the concerns of retired and deferred members of pension schemes whose schemes are being restructured, particularly where such restructuring may impact on existing or potential pension benefits. In this regard, the question of pensioner groups having access to the State’s industrial relations machinery in pursuing pension scheme grievances is an issue to which...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (23 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 300 and 301 together. The Review of Public Service Allowances and Premium Payments undertaken by the previous administration in 2011/2012 required Government Departments and Public Sector Bodies to provide justifications by way of a stated business case for the retention of allowances and premium payments. Whilst the outcome of the review resulted in the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Programmes (23 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 302 to 305, inclusive, together. My Department, and previous Ministers, have been in receipt of correspondence from the individual concerned over many years in relation to the issues raised by the Deputy in his Questions. There have been a number of Departments and statutorily independent Offices involved in considering different aspects of the issues...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Prompt Payments (23 Jun 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The 15 day prompt payment requirement applies to the public sector only. It does not apply to non-public sectors. It is an administrative requirement based on a Government Decision, whereby all Government Departments, State Agencies and the wider Public Service are obliged to pay their suppliers within 15 days of receipt of a valid invoice. The 15 day prompt payment requirement does not...