Results 20,721-20,740 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cross-Border Co-operation (17 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: I very much welcome the publication of the recent OECD report which I discussed with my counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive, Ms. Arlene Foster MLA, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, and with InterTrade Ireland,earlier this year in Armagh, at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council - Trade & Business Development Sectoral. I also participated in an event...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Relations (17 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: There are no such cases pending, before any of the bodies mentioned, against my Department. While the CPSA is not within my remit I can confirm that there are no such cases involving staff of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Minimum Wage (17 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: The National Minimum Wage (€8.65 per hour for experienced adult worker) applies to all hours of work, including those where a care assistant is required to sleep over. The term "working hours" is defined in the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 as follows; 'total hours during which the employee carries out or performs the activities of his or her work at the employee's place of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Staff Expenses (17 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: The table below sets out the amounts spent on staff subsistence payments and staff taxi payments for the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 as requested by the Deputy. These payments are made in accordance with the rates governed by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Travel claims by staff are in compliance with my Department's Travel and Subsistence Policy and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permit Appeals (17 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: An application in respect of the person named by the Deputy was refused by my Department on 11th April 2014 for the following reasons. It appeared from the information received supporting the application that the position on offer was one of the occupations currently ineligible for a new employment permit. In addition it appeared that insufficient efforts were made to recruit an Irish or...

Seanad: Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Bill provides for the staff of Forfás to transfer to various bodies under terms and conditions of service relating to remuneration no less favourable than those they currently enjoy. This provision is in line with other recent legislation relating to public sector reorganisations. However, Forfás staff and their representative bodies expressed concerns that the provision...

Seanad: Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: It is important to note that Forfás had additional functions other than the policy function for which it is best known, all of which are being delegated to IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and other appropriate locations. To give an example, one of its function was to operate the Irish National Accreditation Board, which is now moving, as a unit, to the Health and Safety Authority. In...

Seanad: Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senators for facilitating the progress of this legislation. These amendments are essentially technical in nature and follow on from the good debate we had on Second Stage. The provisions contained in the Bill represent a piece of work that needed to be done to improve the capacity of the Department to execute policy across the system, encompassing not just agencies under its remit,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 99 to 103, inclusive, together. It is important to note that there is no legal definition of an au pair in Irish legislation. However Ireland’s body of employment rights legislation protects all employees who are legally employed on an employer-employee basis, regardless of what title is given to them. Therefore, once it is clear that a person is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Staff Data (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: As part of the Employment Control Framework (ECF), which is the mechanism for the management of the reduction of overall public sector staff numbers, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sets an annual target for my Department and our agencies to meet. Staff departures are managed within this ECF framework and business units are organised accordingly. In this regard, therefore, I...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Appointments (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: The establishment of a new standalone State body to oversee the implementation of the proposed regulations of certain practices in the grocery goods sector would not, in the current economic climate, be feasible for reasons of scarce financial resources, duplication with enforcement of existing legislation in the Competition (Amendment) Act 2006 on activities that prevent, restrict or distort...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: Developing enterprise and helping to create new jobs remains the top priority for Government. Our primary objective is to create the environment for continued economic recovery through competitiveness as part of the ongoing implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs process, whose implementation continues to be at the forefront of the Enterprise Development agencies under my Department. ...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (12 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: Developing enterprise and the creation and retention of jobs remains the top priority for Government. Our primary objective is to create the environment for continued economic recovery through competitiveness as part of the ongoing implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs process, whose implementation continues to be at the forefront of the Enterprise Development agencies under my...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Support Services Expenditure (11 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) provide financial supports in the form of priming grants, business expansion grants and feasibility study grants. The maximum priming grant or business expansion grant payable is 50% of the investment or €150,000, whichever is the lesser. Grants over €80,000 and up to €150,000 are the exception and only apply in the case of projects...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Regulations (11 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: As part of the State Aid Modernisation (SAM) process, the Commission recently adopted a new, expanded Group or General Block Exemption Regulation, which will come into place on 01 July. The Regulation allows Member States to bring certain State aid schemes into place without prior notification to the EU Commission, provided that they are within the parameters set out in the regulation. The...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permit Appeals (11 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: A notification of a decision to revoke the permit issued to the person named by the Deputy on 15 May 2014. In accordance with Section 16 (3) and Section 16(4) of the Employment Permits Act 2006, the decision to revoke the permit in question would not take effect until the expiry of a 28 day period following the notification of the decision to revoke. This was in order to allow either the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: European Commission Country Specific Recommendations: Discussion (10 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: I do not accept the thesis that nothing is happening. The employment numbers show very clearly that in the past two years, employment in the south east has increased by 14,000. That is substantial progress and as good a performance as that of any region in the country at the moment. I accept that unemployment levels are still far too high. The reason Waterford has been singled out for an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: European Commission Country Specific Recommendations: Discussion (10 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: Looking at the south east, it is not as simple as that. There are structural problems in the south east that all we know about and that need to be addressed as well. It is not down to something I ignored in 1997 or whenever it was. We face a much more fundamental issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: European Commission Country Specific Recommendations: Discussion (10 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Chairman, Deputy Deasy and Senator Cullinane for raising this matter. This is an exceptionally difficult situation for the workers affected. This started back in August 2013 when Valeant took over Bausch and Lomb. It was signalled in the media at the time that Valeant was undertaking a root-and-branch examination of costs and that there would be pressure on different plants to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: European Commission Country Specific Recommendations: Discussion (10 Jun 2014)

Richard Bruton: That is a fair point and it forms part of the thinking behind the establishment of the strategic investment bank which is to provide a vehicle to make it easier for us to draw on funding from the European Investment Bank or KfW, the German equivalent. Investors need to have an appetite for risk with regard to SMEs. These funds may sound great in principle but often the level of risk...