Results 20,001-20,020 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Legislative Measures (5 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The following is the list of all Bills introduced by my Department between 2009 and 31stOctober 2014 Bills Published 1stJanuary 2009 – 31stDecember 2009 Title of Bill Bill drafted by Civil Servant/Office of the Parliamentary Counsel Companies (Amendment) Bill 2009 Drafted by Office of the Parliamentary Counsel Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009 Drafted by Office of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Appointments to State Boards (5 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: As a basis, it should be noted that not all vacancies arising on the boards of agencies within my Department’s remit are within my full discretion. Of the 108 appointments I have made since coming to Office in March 2011, only 41 were new appointments that could be considered as such. 24 appointments were reappointments and the remaining 43 were allocated under legislation to...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: In this area we must provide legal protections that are general in their application. Not all agency workers are low paid - some agency workers are quite highly paid and in some professions working through an agency gives higher pay. As Senator Healy Eames rightly says, some agency workers are vulnerable to being treated very badly. That is why we passed legislation in 2012, which I...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: Yes, in terms of pay. Pay is defined as basic pay-----

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: -----and pay in excess of the basic pay in respect of shiftwork, piecework, overtime, unsocial hours worked or hours worked on a Sunday. It covers the pay element, but it does not cover pensions, and those sorts of-----

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: Or sick pay. However, this is an arrangement whereby these people are working on a short-term agency basis. That does not suit everyone but it does suit some people and we are seeking to recognise that this is a flexible option that suits some people and some employers but one cannot demand of an employer who has a temporary assignment that it will endure. They often do not know how long...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: We can only provide a general provision, as we are doing, but we are different from the UK in that where people are required to be available they are guaranteed the 25% or 15 hours even if they do not work. We are looking again at the zero-hours contract. I will ensure that the officials in my Department who are initiating that study of zero-hours contracts will look at the sort of cases...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. There is no doubt that pay and conditions form a continuing issue to which my Department gives very careful attention. One of the first things we did on entering Government was to increase the minimum wage, which had been reduced under pressure in the previous negotiations with the troika. We restored that minimum wage. We have also been...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Construction Contracts (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Government approved the transfer of responsibility for implementation of the Construction Contracts Act 2013 to Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash, TD, from 20 October 2014. The commencement of the Construction Contracts Act 2013 is dependent on a number of factors contained within the Act itself. These include the appointment by the Minister of the Panel of Adjudicators,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The scope of the EU Commission’s mandate to negotiate with the US on TTIP is publicly available since 9 October 2014, and can be found on the EU Council’s website at The mandate includes sustainable development objectives, such as those included in the European Parliament’s resolution of 23 May 2013 on the EU trade and investment negotiations with the United States of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permit Appeals (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The initial decision to revoke the work permit held by the person named by the Deputy was based on evidence supplied to my Department that the employee had not been getting the remuneration stated on his employment permit which was the basis for granting of the permit. A review of this revocation decision was sought and following consultation with the employer my Department cancelled the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: Article 1 of the agreement stipulates that the respect for democratic principles and the fundamental human rights, as laid down by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and for the principle of the rule of law is an "essential element" of the Agreement. This means that a failure to respect Human Rights and democratic principles would constitute a "material breach" of the Agreement...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the study commissioned by my Department is to examine the economic and other impacts of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and related potential opportunities for Ireland. The focus of this study is to identify key areas and sectors of the economy that will be impacted by TTIP. This will help to inform our input to the European Union’s negotiating...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The matter is still under active consideration and the position as outlined in my answer of 16 October is unchanged.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Statement of Government Priorities 2014-2016 includes a commitment to conduct a study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts among Irish employers, their impact on employees and to make policy recommendations to Government on foot of the study. I confirm that my Department has been drawing up terms of reference for the study, which is to be carried out by external consultants. In this...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Irish Water Administration (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: On 13th December last, I held a meeting with a number of State bodies to discuss economic infrastructure provision in the context of the current and future requirements of Ireland’s enterprise base. The presence of reliable economic infrastructure to meet the capacity requirements of businesses is critical in attracting and retaining foreign direct investment, as well as in supporting...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Microenterprise Loan Fund Expenditure (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: My officials have been actively engaged in discussions with stakeholders, representative organisations, the various banks, the credit union movement, Microfinance Ireland and the Local Enterprise Office on the review as committed to in Section 22 of the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012 over the last 3 months. A range of topics have been raised during these discussions which included,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Innovation Vouchers Initiative (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher Initiative was introduced in 2007 in order to drive an on-going innovation culture shift within small enterprise by promoting and encouraging knowledge transfer between Ireland’s public knowledge providers and the small business community and creating greater synergies between the two. Under the initiative, vouchers worth €5,000 are...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Data (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on the numbers of jobs created and lost in companies that are supported by the enterprise development agencies. Data is collected on an annualised basis and figures for 2014 will not be available until year end. The survey shows that in the 3 year period 2011 to 2013, inclusive, there were a total of 618 jobs created in IDA Ireland client...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices Remit (4 Nov 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the first-stop-shop front line service assisting in delivering business growth and jobs for the micro-enterprise sector. They pull together all the players – other Government Departments and Agencies - to support everyone with a good business idea and strengthen the enterprise sector in the local area. The LEOs are the first port of call in terms...