Results 20,961-20,980 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The State is acting in the public interest and negotiating terms and conditions. It sets a fee but this is in the same way it does not enter into negotiations with suppliers of electricity on price.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: Competition law does not provide for the Minister to adjudicate as whether he or she likes the cut of one's jib. There is a very clear line derived from the treaties at the foundation of the European Union. The relevant elements were the old articles 81 and 82. At the heart of that is the distinction between an employee and an undertaking, and undertakings cannot in effect seek to set...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The legislation is in its current state for a good reason. If a dominant group of purchasers is dealing with a dispersed group on the other side of a deal, it would be caught under the provisions of abuse of dominance, which limits what it can do. The group cannot collude either. There would be two restrictions on the more dominant "oligopoly", as the Deputy described it, as it cannot...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The market rule is very clear and traders cannot collude or combine to seek to set fees. That is true in the case outlined by the Deputy, involving two or three suppliers, or when it involves 40, 50 or 1,000 suppliers. The rule is they cannot collude to set fees. The Competition Authority has extra resources for enforcement and it can take cases either where it believes there is collusion...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: I move amendment No. 1: In page 8, line 6, to delete "section 33" and substitute "section 34".This is a technical amendment to insert the correct reference to the definition of authorised officers in the interpretation section.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: Regrettably, I am not in a position to accept this amendment. Under EU and Irish competition legislation, self-employed persons, including professionals who are not employees, are regarded as undertakings. There is ample evidence of EU case law in the European Court of Justice, which has determined that professionals are regarded as undertakings from an EU competition law angle. Section 4...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: If one is an employee of the State, one can negotiate through a trade union. If one is a self-employed, independent operator, however, one can negotiate on all issues other than fees, in which regard one is only permitted to consult. Deputy Tóibín asked whether this was a fair balance. The State is not regarded as a monopoly in that sense. It represents the public and is not...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: There is a clear dividing line on fees. All non-fee terms and conditions can be negotiated. The dividing line is between employees, who can negotiate on wages, and incorporated or self-employed people, who cannot. Anyone operating as an independent, large undertaking would probably be regarded as a cartel if it decided to fix a price in negotiations with the State. The dividing line is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Regional Development (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: I very much welcome the publication of the recent OECD report and I participated in an event to mark its launch, with my counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive, Ms. Arlene Foster MLA, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, earlier this year, in Armagh. This report looked at cross border innovation linkages across the island of Ireland and I very pleased that it gave a very...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Regional Aid (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Regional Aid Guidelines enable the State to grant State Aid, at enhanced rates, to businesses in order to support new investment and new employment in productive projects in Ireland's most disadvantaged regions. This helps the convergence of these regions with the more advantaged regions of the Union. Regional aid is also provided under schemes for tourism grants, marine tourism, urban...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Initiatives (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The establishment of the South East Region Employment Action Plan was initiated in 2011 as a result of a major and unexpected company closure, i.e. the Talk Talkcall centre, with the loss of 575 jobs. This company had been one of the most significant employers in Waterford City. In addition, in 2011, the South East Region had the highest Unemployment rate in the State, significantly higher...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Medical Aids and Appliances Provision (15 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The provision of Automated External Defibrillators (‘AEDs’) in the workplace is recommended by the Irish Heart Foundation and the Health and Safety Authority, and is a facility which has been made increasingly available by employers, including the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (DJEI). The use and maintenance of AED is covered by my Department’s AED...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Proposed Legislation (14 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Government is committed to reform of the State’s existing Workplace Relations Services. The system that developed over the last eighty years had become unwieldy and complex and was no longer fit for purpose. Indeed, there was universal acceptance of the need for a root-and-branch reform of the existing structures. My objective is to deliver a world-class workplace relations...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Company Registration (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 316 to 318, inclusive, together. I am advised by the Companies Registration Office (CRO) that the company referred to by the Deputy was struck off the companies register for failure to file Annual Returns and dissolved in December 1998.The company made an application to the High Court in 2007 for restoration to the register. As is standard in such cases, the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Bodies (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that none of the bodies under the aegis of my Department is a commercial semi-State company.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Jobs Data (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: For a variety of reasons not all projects won by IDA Ireland are publicly announced. For example while IDA Ireland secured 164 investments during 2013 there were only 58 announcements. There is no direct correlation between the number of jobs announced in any one year and the actual number of jobs created in that same year. Depending on the individual company’s business plan jobs...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Disputes (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: I understand that the issues in dispute have been referred to the Labour Court. Ireland’s system of industrial relations is voluntary in nature and responsibility for the resolution of industrial relations issues lies ultimately with employers and workers and their respective representatives as appropriate. As the Deputy is aware, the State provides industrial relations mechanisms to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Ireland Properties (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: Enterprise Ireland owns 8 sites/properties located in the following areas: - Glasnevin - Shannon Laboratories - Dundalk - Athlone - Waterford - Cork - Sligo - Galway Enterprise Ireland does not assess the market value of its properties on an ongoing basis. However, the total Net Book Value of the above properties in Enterprise Ireland’s Accounts for 2013 was €2,669.000.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Communications (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: My Department's phone systems do not currently provide for recording of calls into or out of the Department. Between 2007 and September 2012 calls coming into the call centre of the National Employment Rights Authority in Carlow were routinely recorded, but the recording was deleted automatically if the operator did not choose to save the call before the call ended. Staff members in the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (13 May 2014)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will appreciate, I cannot provide legal advice in relation to the employment law rights applying to any individual’s specific circumstances. Independent legal advice should be sought in relation to any concerns an individual may have about their situation. In Irish legislation, the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007 lay down criteria by which the fairness or otherwise...