Results 21,841-21,860 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Funding (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Ross for acknowledging the progress made on the employment front. It is always difficult to discern cause and effect but there is no doubt that the IDA, for example, is deemed internationally to be one of the most effective agencies at delivering employment opportunities in a very competitive environment for foreign direct investment. Equally, following the collapse the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Funding (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The size of the boards are set out in statute. One would have to go back to read the wisdom of the Oireachtas originally.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Funding (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I did not promise to change the statutes and to introduce 12 new Bills to try to change boards without any analysis of the merit of such a case. The Deputy is putting forward the case that we should reduce the size of the boards but he has not offered any coherent argument.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Funding (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I am willing to listen to argument. Let us take the case of the IDA board. It includes such people as Lionel Alexander of Hewlett-Packard (Manufacturing) Limited, Liam O’Mahony of CRH plc., Paul Duffy of Pfizer and so on. Many of them have waived their fees for participation on the board. They are people of considerable quality in sectors we need to bring to bear in the work of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Development Capital Scheme (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The establishment of the development capital scheme is an innovative initiative under the Action Plan for Jobs and has the objective of increasing the availability of risk capital and closing the ‘equity gap’ experienced by SMEs seeking risk capital in the region of €2 million to €12 million. That has been identified by Enterprise Ireland as an obstacle to Irish...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Development Capital Scheme (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: To reassure the Deputy, the MML fund is fully subscribed. The fund has a total of €125 million. Two managers have been appointed in this country who are now in a position to enter into agreements with companies who have ambitious growth plans. The need for such investment has been identified by Enterprise Ireland. Companies that are not in the gazelle league favoured by venture...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Funding (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The total value of grants paid by agencies of my Department in the years 2011 to 2013 is €641 million. This comprises €268 million by IDA Ireland, €313 million by Enterprise Ireland, €42 million by the county enterprise boards, and €18 million by InterTradeIreland. The total gross number of jobs created in those years assisted by the IDA and EI comes to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Reform (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy is aware, responsibility for the illness benefit scheme rests with the Minister for Social Protection. The benefit is paid to employees who are unable to work due to illness and who meet certain qualifying conditions. Changes to the illness benefit scheme announced in budget 2014 mean that the number of days that a person must wait before receiving illness benefit from the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Reform (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The reality is that small businesses have been well protected by this Government. We were the first Government to appoint a Minister of State, Deputy John Perry, with specific responsibility for small business. We have taken a very vigorous approach in seeking to increase access to finance and introducing many tax measures that have been specifically targeted at small business, including...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Reform (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is wrong about this. The increase from three to six days in this measure is an increase that affects the worker who has to wait six days before he or she can assess social protection benefit. The vast majority of small businesses do not have sick pay schemes of the sort that some larger employers provide.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Reform (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Therefore, they will not be affected at all by this scheme, and that should be pointed out. This is not a measure directed in any way at small businesses. It is unfortunate that we have had to reduce sick cover for workers in the way that it has occurred but, against a background of a very difficult economic situation and a need to balance to balance our public books, this is a measure that...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Protection (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 32 together. Both Pratt and Whitney and Lufthansa have had to undertake a global review of their operations. In Pratt and Whitney’s case, a decision was taken by the parent company to transfer dwindling customer requirements to a site in the US. This has resulted in the phasing out of older technologies and products. However, the company still...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: One of the key means to expanding market access in the US will be the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The decision by the EU Trade Council last June to formally launch negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US was the outcome of a key Government objective for Ireland’s EU Presidency. Now that the negotiations are underway, we...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Life Sciences sector is central to the Action Plan for Jobs and in particular for Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) strategy to support their indigenous Irish clients to create jobs. As far as EI clients are concerned, the approval of a number of new drugs by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2013 is expected to provide limited opportunity for the indigenous pharmaceutical companies...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The EU-Mercosur trade negotiations take place in the context of the EU’s common commercial policy. The EU Commission leads the talks for the EU. Negotiations on an EU-Mercosur Association Agreement were launched in 2000, suspended in 2004 due to substantial differences on the trade part of the agreement, and resumed again in May 2010. Since then, nine negotiating rounds were held, the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights Issues (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Government is committed to reform of the State’s existing Workplace Relations Services. Shortly after entering office, I committed to a fundamental reform of the workplace relations system. The overall objectives are to promote harmonious and productive employment relationships and to encourage early resolution of disputes, the vindication of employees’ rights and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a broad ranging economic agreement being negotiated between the EU and the US. This agreement with the U.S. is very significant not only for the EU but also for Ireland given the scale of U.S. investment here and the deep historic ties we have with America. In 2012, U.S. firms had investments worth over $200 billion in our country and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Data (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: My Department does not undertake employment forecasts. However, the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs has set the objective of supporting the creation of 100,000 extra jobs in the economy over the period 2012 to 2016 with an overall target of 2 million people in sustainable employment by 2020, through a series of annual measures aimed at improving Ireland’s competitiveness and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Business Regulation (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: My Department and its Agencies continue to focus on reducing administrative burdens on business, with a reduction of 25% already having been achieved; this amounts to annual potential savings for business of over €207 million. Details of all the initiatives making up this total are available on my Department’s website. Successful initiatives resulting in significant savings...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (27 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The EU Council of Ministers gave a mandate to the EU Commission to negotiate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The scope of that mandate is wide ranging and allows the EU Commission to enter into negotiations with the US on many issues, including Investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms. It is very early days in the negotiations, and far too early to say whether, and...