Results 1,701-1,720 of 4,073 for speaker:Mary Mitchell O'Connor

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: State Bodies Data (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Currently there are vacancies on two of the State Boards under the remit of my Department. IDA There are currently two vacancies on the Board of the IDA. Following a PAS recruitment process, I have been provided with a list of prospective candidates, however, I have not yet taken a decision on these appointments. IDA is a Category 2 Board and the fee payable to the Chairperson is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Funding (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I wish to confirm to the Deputy that neither my Department nor any of the Agencies operating under its aegis provide funding to assist developers to buy land for the purposes of enabling them to build houses.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Company Closures (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The former Suir Pharma facility is currently in liquidation, and Grant Thornton, as liquidators, are responsible for the site until that process is concluded. The position is that when a company goes into liquidation, the liquidator takes the place of the employer for the purposes of administering redundancy payments. Payments are made from the Social Insurance Fund, which is mostly funded...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: As the Deputy is aware, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory independent body responsible for the enforcement of domestic and EU competition law in the State. Section 9 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 provides that the Commission is independent in the performance of its functions, including carrying out investigations of alleged...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Regulations (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Geo-blocking refers to practises used by online sellers that result in the denial of access to websites from other States. It also includes situations where access to a website is granted, but the customer from abroad is prevented from accessing the product or service in question or being asked to pay with a debit or credit card from a certain country. Some forms of geo-blocking are...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: By definition, it is difficult to estimate the prevalence of cartels as a lot of effort is expended by their participants in keeping them hidden. All efforts to estimate the harm of hidden cartels suffers from the problem that it is impossible to know the number of cartels in existence. Academic research tells us that the cost overcharge that results from hidden cartels is in the range of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: As the Deputy is aware, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory independent body responsible for the enforcement of domestic and EU competition law in the State. Section 9 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 provides that the Commission is independent in the performance of its functions, including carrying out investigations of alleged...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Directives (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: My Department is proactive in ensuring that good performance on the transposition of Directives is consistently maintained. Within my Department, transposition is monitored through a customised intranet database which is used as a central management and information tool to track the implementation of Directives on an ongoing basis. This complements the central tracking and monitoring of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Directives (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel has recently completed drafting of the Companies (Accounting) Bill 2016. I intend to seek Government approval to publish and initiate the Bill in the Houses of the Oireachtas shortly. The European Commission issued a Reasoned Opinion on 16 June 2016. This Opinion is on account of Ireland's failure to notify measures for the transposal of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Corporation Tax (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: On 24 June we published a contingency plan outlining our whole of Government response which was immediately activated. Government is addressing the implications for Ireland of the UK leaving the EU by actively taking forward the contingency plan to ensure that we respond appropriately. The Government and my Department and its agencies are taking concrete actions to address potential...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Proposed Legislation (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: As the Deputy is aware, the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2016 is a Private Member’s Bill which was introduced into Seanad Eireann in January 2016. Second Stage in Seanad Eireann was taken on 20 January 2016 while Committee Stage was taken on 6 July 2016. I understand from the Order Paper of Seanad Eireann, dated 12 July 2016, that Report Stage is now scheduled to take place on the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Ministerial Advisers Data (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The numbers and grades of politically or personally appointed staff in respect of Ministers’ Offices are governed by “Instructions” issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). In that context, sanction has been received for the following: Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Name Role Salary Qualifications / Experience Mr Alan Cantwell...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Retention (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Programme for a Partnership Government sets an ambitious target to have an additional 200,000 at work by 2020, with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent. Achieving this ambitious target is premised on the creation of a range of employment and career opportunities across a broad spectrum of skills across all sectors of the economy, including manufacturing and services activities....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Grocery Industry Regulation (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I presume the Deputy’s question refers to the implementation of the grocery goods regulations which came into force on 30 April of this year. There are no plans to establish a separate Ombudsman to implement the regulations. As the Deputy is aware, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) was charged by the Oireachtas, under the Competition and Consumer...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss the benefits of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada. Over the past few months I have answered a number of parliamentary questions on the matter, which shows the interest of the House in exploring many of the issues that had to be addressed during negotiations to ensure the best agreement for our businesses, employees,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Commercial Rates (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Supporting enterprise development in all regions of the country in order to support job creation is a key objective of the Government, with initiatives such as the Regional Action Plans for Jobs seeking to build on the capabilities and strengths of each region to maximise enterprise growth and job creation. Since the start of the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2012, employment has increased...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Staff Recruitment (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: My Department is staffed by civil servants principally recruited through the Public Appointments Service (PAS). I understand that the information on the number of staff who entered the civil service is being replied to by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Staff Remuneration (19 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: On 2nd December 2010 the Government approved the reduction by 10% of the salary scale for new entrants to traditional recruitment grades in the public service, with effect from 1st January, 2011. Insofar as my Department is concerned, the estimated cost of implementing a pay increase for those recruited in these traditional recruitment grades, post 1 January, 2011 is as follows. A pay...

Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (20 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Ireland's competitiveness has improved considerably over the past five years. Ireland has moved from 7th in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Yearbook, up from 16th. Our improved competitiveness has been central to recent strong economic growth. However, as the National Competitiveness Council has warned in recent months, the global outlook is precarious. The recent UK referendum...

Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (20 Jul 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I thank the Deputy. There is huge uncertainty around this issue. The Deputy asked me about capital gains tax and corporation tax. I can assure him that I am working with the Minister for Finance and the Department of Finance. We have put in a submission, as have other interested parties, and we will be following up that in the budget.