Results 21,581-21,600 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Referral to Select Committee (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Business, Enterprise and Innovation pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3)(a) and 149(1).

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2018: Second Stage (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputies for their contributions and welcome the general expressions of support for the objectives of the Bill. Deputies Kelleher and Eugene Murphy referred to the book of quantum. At the time of publication of the Bill, the second and final report of the Personal Injuries Commission had not been published. This report was subsequently published on 18 September and its key...

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2018: Order for Second Stage (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2018: Second Stage (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018 before the House. It is an important Bill as the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, or PIAB as it is commonly known, facilitates the objective assessment of damages at a much lower delivery cost and in a far shorter timeframe than does litigation....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permits Applications (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Employment Permits section of my Department inform me that an application for a General Employment Permit for the person concerned was received on 24th September 2018. As the Employment Permits section is currently processing Standard applications received on 25th July 2018, this application should be considered within the next 9-10 weeks. The Employment Permits section has experienced...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Personal Contract Plans (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My colleague, the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Mr. Paschal Donohoe, TD, commissioned Mr. Michael G. Tutty to conduct a review of the current Personal Contract Plan (PCP) market and, in particular, to consider the adequacy of existing consumer protection in relation to PCPs in June 2018. Mr. Tutty’s report was published on the website of the Department of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Ireland Site Visits (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: IDA Ireland continues to highlight the benefits of expanding or locating in all counties of Ireland to its client base. It is important to remember, however, that the final decision as to where to invest always rests with the company concerned. It is also the case that site visit activity does not necessarily reflect investment potential, as almost 70% of all new foreign direct investment...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Supports (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Technical Working Group on State Aid has met 6 times since it was established in November 2017. The dates of these meetings are as follows: 20thNovember 2017 12thDecember 2017 19thFebruary 2018 23rdMarch 2018 26thApril 2018 26thJuly 2018 In addition, as part of the work of the Technical Group, a further meeting took place with DG Agriculture on 2 August 2018. In between all the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: White Collar Crime (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Government adopted a package of Measures to Enhance Ireland’s Corporate, Economic and Regulatory Framework in October of last year. One of the actions in that package was to establish the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (the ODCE) as an agency. The Law Reform Commission’s Report on Regulatory Powers and Corporate Offences commends that action and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Skills Shortages (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Access to a high quality, innovative and adaptable talent pool is critical for the sustainable growth of the Irish economy and keeping Ireland competitive. As a result, equipping the workforce with the skills required for the jobs of today and for those of tomorrow is a strategic priority for the Government. Meeting the growing skills needs of industry through investment in education and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Staff Data (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: There are three staff in the Economic Migration Policy Unit of my Department, comprising of 1 Assistant Principal, 1 Higher Executive Officer and 0.6 Executive Officer. This team has responsibility for economic migration policy, which is the framework within which the State’s employment permit system operates. Their key responsibilities include coordinating the implementation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Programme for Government Initiatives (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Programme for Partnership Government set a target of 200,000 new jobs to be created by 2020, with 135,000 of these outside of Dublin. Enterprise 2025 Renewed, launched on 9th March 2018, sets out a revised target to have at least 2.3 million people in employment by 2020. The objective is to ensure that, through effective policies, we realise employment growth that is sustainable over the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Gender Balance (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: In overall terms, Ireland is performing well compared to the EU in terms of female labour market participation. According to the Eurostat Labour Force Survey series, the 2017 activity rate for females aged 15 and over was 55.7% compared with an EU average of 51.8% (this is set out in further detail in the attached Table). In addition, female labour market participation is on a rising trend...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Economic Competitiveness (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: Improving our competitiveness and ensuring that Ireland is an attractive location to do business remains a key economic priority for this Government. We continue to monitor Ireland's competitiveness and analyse the factors that are crucial to attracting further investments in the country. The 2018 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index Report ranks Ireland 23rd most...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Personal Injuries Commission (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I was pleased to submit the Second and Final Report of the Personal Injuries Commission (PIC) to Government on the 18th September 2018. The publication of this Report now concludes the challenging work programme of the Personal Injuries Commission since its establishment in January 2017. The Report makes ten recommendations, the implementation of which will be a matter for each of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Support Schemes (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: My Department launched the first Call under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) on 29th June 2018 and Expressions of Interest were sought by the deadline of 3pm on Friday 17th August 2018. The Department received over 300 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for this first call for funding. Those EOIs that passed all seven eligibility criteria and reached the minimum threshold on the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Health and Safety Authority (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: There are currently 24 field inspectors who have been involved in farm safety inspections and campaigns throughout 2018. In 2017 the HSA undertook a recruitment campaign for 11 Inspector posts, 6 of which were for field inspection posts. These 6 Inspectors have been involved in farm inspection campaigns during 2018 thereby helping to ensure that farm inspection targets and farm safety...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Farm Safety Scheme (8 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together. The amount allocated by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) for farm safety initiatives in the years 2016 to 2018 and the anticipated expenditure for 2018 and the number of farm inspections and investigations 2016 - 2018 are set out in the attached appendix. While the HSA was originally allocated a budget of €384,000 for farm...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (7 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: The Industrial Relations Act 2015 provides a new framework under which proposals for wage setting in particular economic sectors can be considered. The 2015 Act allows for applications for Sectoral Employment Orders (SEOs) to be made to the Labour Court by a trade union or an employer body either individually or jointly. The Court must then examine and assess the application against the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Arms Trade (6 Nov 2018)

Heather Humphreys: I propose to take Questions Nos. 453 and 454 together. In 2008, the Council adopted Common Position 2008/944/CFSP defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment. The Common Position replaced an earlier political agreement, the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Exports. My Department is responsible for implementing these controls in Ireland. Under Irish law,...