Results 21,261-21,280 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: I fully agree with the Deputy that monitoring is vital, although it is not done by my Department but by a monitoring committee, including the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. It is a whole-of-Government approach to monitoring. As they say in the United States, biting with the president's teeth is very important in delivering performance across all the silos. This year we have had...

Other Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: This continues to be a central concern for me, as it does also for the Deputy. I monitor the new lending figures by sector as well as the refusal rates which thankfully have shown some signs of improvement. I also monitor the decisions of the Companies Registration Office and the picture remains one whereby the banks have not properly adjusted to their role in supporting SMEs. They still...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: I am conscious of the challenges facing the south-east and that is why I commissioned Forfás to undertake the south-east regional employment action plan. I initiated the south-east forum which bring together the agencies and stakeholders involved. Work is going on to implement that plan and significant progress has been made. Since 2011, there have been 79 IDA-sposored site visits by...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 11 together. My Department tracks the agency supported enterprises in regional towns and their hinterlands. Our agencies have regional offices who seek to promote the assets of the region and develop their enterprises. Forfás has conducted research on the regional strengths and weaknesses’ from an enterprise perspective. However, most of...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: The timelines are published but I do not have them with me. It is either the third or fourth quarter this year. This is the first time there has been an attempt to develop a strategy with a number of county LEOs. We will also have the IDA and Enterprise Ireland strategies and we will seek to have a genuine forum in which other stakeholders such as local authorities can engage with us on...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: This is our first iteration of this and we have to be realistic. We must build on what we know about, which is enterprise start-up, attracting foreign direct investment, mentoring and running enterprise centres. The question will be how we do a better job of driving enterprise growth in the region. Regions will be based on the traditional IDA model. We recognise towns and the LEOs will...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: I do not accept that there has been too much focus on FDI. We had to have an export-led recovery. The domestic economy has been on the floor for the past four years and this has not been easy to correct because of the State finances and finances of individuals and so on. Our focus on Irish companies exporting abroad and attracting new investment continues to be absolutely vital. I agree...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: The target for foreign direct investment is 50% outside Dublin and Cork. It is not a specific regional target of so much investment here, there and yonder because that is not realistic. It has not been possible to achieve this target but this year we improved on last year so we are heading in the right direction.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: Regional aid is one of the tools we use to try to achieve a greater spread. We give greater grant support to an overseas investor in certain parts of the country than to those in others, and that has been a conscious policy to try to spread the investment more widely. We also introduced the Connect Ireland initiative, which is an adjunct to the traditional way the IDA does business, and it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: Yes, but it is supported by State money. There is State allocation of funds to any successful connector. That is the way it works.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: We are supporting with public money a scheme developed by a private individual and there is nothing wrong with that. I will take ideas from anyone. I will take them from the Deputy.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: The issue of clusters is very valid. We seek to build clusters around particular sectors, be it in the food sector or in the medical devices sector, and the latter sector is a good example. It is regionally spread. Deputy Naughten will know that because he lives within an area where the medical devices sector is very strong. We seek to build clusters in regions as well.

Other Questions: Job Protection (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: The position regarding the potential developments at the two operations which formerly formed part of the original MBNA-Bank of America facility in Carrick-on-Shannon is essentially unchanged over recent months. The former MBNA credit card processing facility in Carrick-on-Shannon now comprises two operations. First, a new operation called AvantCard was established following the purchase of...

Other Questions: Job Protection (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: Clearly, any decision by Bank of Ireland in America of this business is one that it takes. We take every opportunity to seek to ensure we protect the employment there. I met senior executives of Bank of America only a few months ago to again take the opportunity to stress that. We make every effort to promote the employment package in Carrick-on-Shannon and to try to protect those jobs but...

Other Questions: Job Protection (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: Clearly, I would have to say that from our discussions with the senior executives of Bank of America, they have been very positive, very well disposed towards the workforce and very pleased with the quality of work that is done there. They want to retain that. The Deputy will note that during recent years, although having announced their intention to sell, they have stuck with the business...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Construction Sector Strategy (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: On the employment front, construction during 2013 increased for the first time in six years, although it was a small increase. The last quarter was weak, with the previous one being stronger. Part of that may be attributable to poor weather during that quarter. There seems to be opportunity emerging. The Taoiseach has been central to co-ordinating the new strategy, which will be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Construction Sector Strategy (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: There are a number of things which are already in the Action Plan for Jobs, such as the new director of public procurement reviewing the contract letters issued in terms of public procurement. A fresh look is being taken at whether smaller businesses, SMEs, are getting a fair crack. Equally, the Deputy will see that in the water contract, there was an unbundling of the contract to try to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: The question asked does not relate to that specific issue. It asked about the counties to which new first-time investments by IDA were attracted.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: New investment in respect of the IDA probably represents perhaps 0.25% of employment in the whole country, so focusing on a tiny proportion does not address the whole issue of regional development, something to which we can return. The Forfás annual employment survey reports on the numbers of jobs gained and lost in the enterprise development agencies' client companies. During 2013,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (13 Mar 2014)

Richard Bruton: If we want to have a debate about regional development, we have to focus on the competitive advantage of a region. Having the debate about how we develop a regional strategy in the way the Deputy seeks to focus, which is on new emerging companies which, as he knows, are predominantly in the digital space, the expectation is that they will get a regional spread and that there will be one in...