Results 21,461-21,480 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Proposed Legislation (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: On 12 June 2018, the Government approved the drafting of the Unfair Contract Terms (Gift Vouchers) Bill 2018. The Bill provides, first, that gift vouchers must be valid for a minimum term of five years and, secondly, that the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, would have power to set fees for the issue and replacement of gift vouchers and for inactive balances on gift vouchers...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Export Controls (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Ireland is not opposing EU export controls on surveillance software. On the contrary, Ireland fully supports and implements all EU controls on the export of surveillance software to countries outside of the EU. The EU operates an export control regime designed to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to support regional stability and to protect human rights. My...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Rural Regeneration and Development Fund (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Urban Regeneration and Development Fund and the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund form part of Project Ireland 2040, and will help in delivering the Government's ambition to transform communities of all sizes through imaginative regeneration bringing life back into cities, towns and villages. It should be noted that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government has...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Ireland Data (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department and its agencies are working towards ambitious targets to ensure that employment and investment are distributed as evenly as possible across the country. This includes Counties Galway and Roscommon, which the IDA markets as part of the West region. There are approximately 19,000 people employed in 85 foreign direct investment companies across Galway and Roscommon. From 2015 to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Regional Development Initiatives (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I note the release of the results of the Labour Force Survey for Q3 2018 as issued by the CSO Tuesday November 20th. Overall the release is very positive. Figures show that employment continues to grow strongly with 66,700 jobs created in the year from Q3 2017 to Q3 2018. This brings total employment to 2,273,200. The number of people in employment has increased in six of the eight...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Arms Trade (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Information on export licences issued by my Department during 2017 are contained in the annual report for 2017, which I published in August 2018, as required by the Control of Exports Act 2008. These data, updated with the corresponding data for the first 6 months of 2018, are set out in Table 1. Table 1: Individual Export Licences 2017 Jan-Jun 2018 Number of licences Value of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Supports (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department and its agencies are working as part of a coherent cross-government approach to helping businesses and the country to prepare for a worst-case Brexit scenario, while continuing to work with our EU partners on securing the best possible Brexit outcome. As the Deputy is aware, this Government has placed preparing for Brexit at the top of the Budget 2019 priorities. I have...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permits Applications (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Employment Permits section of my Department is experiencing high levels of demand for employment permits this year and this has contributed to increased processing times for applications. At end October 2018, 13,953 applications had been received, a 28% increase on the same time last year. The Department regrets these unacceptable delays, and those involved are working hard to bring...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Development Plan Data (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department launched the first call of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund on 29 June 2018 and Expressions of Interest were sought by the deadline of 3pm on Friday, 17 August 2018. Information on the fund and how to apply was provided by my Department with the support of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. Expressions of Interest were sought for funding...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Supports (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department and its agencies are providing extensive supports, schemes and advice to ensure that businesses are prepared for Brexit. These measures aim to assist businesses in identifying key risk areas and the practical preparatory actions to be taken over the coming months. My Department and I have been very active in the 'Getting Ireland Brexit Ready' public information campaign....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement Investigations (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The account of the investigative shortcomings identified by Judge Aylmer was published today on the website of my Department. The purpose of publishing the account is to understand the factors that led to such investigative shortcomings and to take appropriate steps to address them. These steps include ongoing reform within the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, including...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Aviation Industry (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department has long recognised the major contribution that the aviation sector plays in Ireland’s economy. The sector provides skilled, quality jobs around the country. In addition, as an island nation it is essential for our tourism industry and trading relationships to connect Ireland with the rest of the world. The aircraft manufacturing industry is increasingly moving...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: One of the actions in the Government's package of Measures to Enhance Ireland’s Corporate, Economic and Regulatory Framework, published in November 2017, is the establishment of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) as an agency. Work on the development of the legislative framework for the establishment of the ODCE as an agency is well advanced. I intend to bring...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Ireland Data (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: As Minister, my objective is to create the best possible environment for enterprise, entrepreneurship, innovation and investment. Ireland continues to perform very strongly in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) and encouraging further FDI from multinational companies remains a major priority of mine. The pipeline of FDI into Dublin continues to be very strong. There are...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Issues (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department and its agencies are providing extensive supports to ensure that businesses are prepared for Brexit. These supports aim to assist businesses in identifying key risk areas and the practical preparatory actions to be taken over the coming months. As part of its work in assessing where supports are most needed, my Department regularly surveys companies to determine the Brexit...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Ireland has made significant strides in improving our national infrastructure over recent decades, which is partly why overseas firms continue to locate here. While there is no doubt that we need to improve in some areas, I believe the levels of investment that we continue to attract here reflect the continuing confidence that international companies have in our economy and infrastructure. ...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Research and Development Funding (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The current Cycle 5 of the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions (PRTLI) was announced in 2010 and has involved exchequer expenditure of approx. €277m with a further €59m of private investment. Cycle 5 projects have now been completed and my Department is addressing the remaining payments associated with these awards. In addition to supporting the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Ireland Data (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Government is doing everything possible to ensure the best possible distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) across the country. Progress is being made towards that goal. In 2017, for example, IDA Ireland secured 99 regional investments with 45% of all new jobs created outside Dublin. The last three years have also seen 30,000 new FDI jobs created outside Dublin. The...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Funding (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I can confirm that my Department has not provided any funding or grant aid to the Football Association of Ireland from 1 January 2008 to date in 2018

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Contracts Data (4 Dec 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department considers hiring external consultants in cases where there is not the necessary expertise to deliver the project in-house, in cases where an external assessment is deemed essential, or in cases where a project must be completed within a short time scale, and although the expertise or experience may be available in-house, performing the task would involve a prohibitive...