Results 20,041-20,060 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services Provision (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: I am disappointed because Wicklow has one of the very good local enterprise offices, which I visited recently. It is the one stop shop we have established, one of 31 across the country. That would be their first port of call. It is exceptionally well run and managed and would help the individual within the Bray Chamber of Commerce. At national level, all three of us are involved in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: Our ambition is huge. I believe that during 2015 we will exceed our target of 100,000 additional people at work. The vast majority of those jobs will be created in small and medium-sized enterprises. We are also ambitious when it comes to driving access to finance as a means of resuscitating the growth of companies. This is the first Government to have put innovative funds in place right...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: They are being rolled out as we speak. As I have indicated, over €150 million from my own few funds is going out the door. That compares with €2 billion in new lending from the whole banking system. These significant and ambitious changes are changing the landscape of choices that are available to SMEs as they grow. That is the environment we are now in. We are putting in...

Other Questions: Military Exports (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: My Department is responsible for controls on the export of military items from Ireland. Under Irish law, military export licences have to be sought in respect of the goods and technology, and any components thereof, listed in the annex to the Control of Exports (Goods and Technology) Order, SI 216 of 2012, which reflects the EU common military list. The EU common military list includes...

Other Questions: Military Exports (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: When applications for export licences come from individual companies, we have to look at the ultimate users and so on. There is a process whereby each licence is assessed on its individual merits. That is the system that is in place. It might bore the Deputy that I am explaining the system to him, but he asked me about the system that is in place.

Other Questions: Military Exports (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: When we have identified the end user and the country of final destination, we have to look at key issues in that country, such as its respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, the internal situation there as a function of the existence of tensions and armed conflicts, and the preservation of regional peace, security and stability. This range of tests focuses on the...

Other Questions: Military Exports (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: I am trying to explain to the Deputy that these applications are assessed on an individual basis. An assessment is made in each case. Some applications are approved and some are refused. This system is not based on picking countries that one does not like. It is based on established and published criteria. As I have indicated, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade must be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Guarantee Scheme Application Numbers (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: I will certainly consider that suggestion. We will make legislative provision for it, but it will require state aid approval if we extend support to SMEs dealing with banks which are exiting. There is another step besides improving the legislation. The Deputy is right that one of the lessons we have learned is that the way in which banks manage internally the credit guarantee scheme and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Guarantee Scheme Application Numbers (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: Clearly, it is up to banks in terms of the application of the scheme. The paperwork is not what has held it back. In my view and that of the review group, the real impediments have been some of the conditions attached. A three year loan is not sufficient. We will streamline the scheme, but the formal letter of decline was an impediment and we are removing it. There are elements which...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: As I stated previously, the Government has made more than €2 billion in financial supports available to Irish SMEs to support growth and job creation in the economy. Through the seed and venture capital scheme 2013 to 2018, the microenterprise loan fund and the renewed credit guarantee scheme, we are making more than €1.6 billion available in the coming years to SMEs through...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: I will make two points. Across the schemes €150 million in new facilities has been put in place by my Department alone under the Government's initiatives. This is very significant. New finance from the banking sector is only at €2 billion. We are making a significant impact in that we now have the Strategic Bank Corportation of Ireland and the SME funds from the National...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: It has been well catalogued that Ireland lost a considerable amount of competitiveness between 2000 and 2010. Since 2011, Ireland's international competitiveness rankings have improved in the International Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness Yearbook from 24th to 15th and from 29th to 25th in the WEF global competitiveness report. This is the third consecutive year...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: It is true that we have improved in the competitiveness rankings in the past three or four years. Compared with where we were prior to the crisis, much has changed, including in our public finances. There has been tangible progress in certain respects. Unit wage costs have improved relative to our competitors by approximately 20% and property costs have improved dramatically. We have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Economic Competitiveness (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: I am glad to report that we received sanction last year to strengthen the Competition Authority. It is taking on new enforcement staff and ten effective resources. This year, we also strengthened the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE. As such, and in sympathy with the concerns expressed by the Deputy, we have strengthened both agencies that ensure good corporate and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Guarantee Scheme Application Numbers (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy was unavoidably unable to attend, but we had an opportunity to present to the committee last week. We are seeking to proceed with the legislation with all haste. The small to medium-sized enterprise, SME, guarantee scheme was launched in October 2012 in response to numerous calls from business interests. In the Irish context, it is a novel scheme that is continuing to develop a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy knows that the international environment for tax provisions is changing. What we are doing here is moving ahead of the competition. We are anticipating those changes and putting Ireland in a position to provide certainty to our investors and to have best-in-class competitive tax structures. The Minister for Finance has signalled that he will legislate next year for a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Calleary is seeking to present this in a very distorted way. We are taking a competitive lead in this area. We will have a best-in-class knowledge box and the best environment for bringing talent to Ireland to engage in research and development from an Irish base.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: We will have certainty for those companies that have been using taxation structures whose days are clearly numbered. They will have a long lead-in time to deal with that. We are offering a very competitive environment that in a post-BEPS world will make us a country that is best placed to win international investment.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: The question tabled is slightly different from that just asked by the Deputy.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (16 Oct 2014)

Richard Bruton: I presume the context remains the same. The question refers to the Department’s policy statement on foreign direct investment which was published at the end of July. It sets out the strategic direction for foreign direct investment to 2020 and the 14 areas of strategic action needed to enhance Ireland’s attractiveness and business environment in the context of intensified...