Results 21,881-21,900 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: That will emerge from the EU?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I would say it will be across the areas that they recommended previously. It would include active labour market policy, which is very much the area in which the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, is actively involved, which covers the matters we have been discussing, those of education, training and traineeships. I doubt that wage setting mechanisms will be an issue for us as we have reformed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Progress on EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Negotiations: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: In trade negotiations the European Commission represents the member states but it works on a mandate provided by the member states. In June the Council of Ministers gave the Commission a mandate to start the negotiations on an EU-US trade agreement. The US is Europe's biggest trading partner. The EU-US corridor represents two thirds of all global trade. It is a significant area of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: There is no doubt that the boom damaged the traineeship model.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Yes. That will have to be grown over time. The MOMENTUM programme is interesting and operates more along the lines of an apprenticeship model. It runs from 20 weeks to 40 weeks and there are 6,500 places available on it. The jury is still out with regard to how successful it can be. However, I am of the view that it can serve as a very useful bridge. Germany has a much more structured,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I will give the Deputy an honest answer but I do not know whether it is the right one. One can waste a great deal of time restructuring institutions. What is required is joined-up thinking on policy. In the context of the process relating to Action Plan for Jobs, we are trying to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength rather than engaging in a huge structural reorganisation. I am...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: We were initially in favour of a closed list, but the consensus is now moving towards an open list, with a Commission verification that what is being put into the open list is not unreasonable. That is the direction in which the proposals are moving and it is a consensus we would be happy to support. I accept there is a problem in regard to registered employment agreements in light of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Workers will be protected in our law under the REAs when the latter are restored. The existence of legally backed agreements is recognised under European Union law and ensures, in accordance with the posting of workers directive, that contractors from outside jurisdictions who may be using employees from lower wage economies do not obtain an advantage over local contractors in terms of wage...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: There is nothing essentially new in the communication to which I referred. As I understand it, it is simply a matter of reviewing established practices in this area. An example of an existing practice would be the requirement to work one stamp in order to activate one's record from country to country. There are several of these types of restrictions in operation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: No, it is merely a review of existing practices. No proposal for a legislative initiative has been brought forward. The communication is essentially a research exercise.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy's contribution certainly deserves a response. As he knows, my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, is actively engaged on this issue and is examining how we can fulfil our obligations in this regard. An implementation plan is due at the end of the year. The Minister is examining issues such as social clauses and there is a commitment to introduce...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: It should be adopted before the June elections, which is the target. It is not my direct area of responsibility but I understand that a review of apprenticeships is under way which will report shortly. While this is a framework across member states, Ireland will be taking action with the review of apprenticeships and the establishment of SOLAS. There will be national initiatives as well as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I will begin with Senator Cullinane's last question. We have had extraordinarily strong employment performance in the past 12 months. The figures are suggesting 3.2% growth in employment against a pretty subdued GDP growth background. At the moment, I think GNP is a better indicator of true activity because of the impact of the so-called patent cliff on nominal values of pharmaceutical...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I agree with Deputy Calleary that the employment numbers today were encouraging, with 58,000 additional people at work. The public sector continued to shed about 4,000 workers in the period while almost 62,000 additional people are at work in the private sector, in the sectors which are strongly export oriented. It shows that the economy is making a transition to the sectors that are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Forthcoming Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The ESPCO Council is on 9 December. The agenda falls into some legislative and non-legislative items. I will deal with the items that fall into my remit. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, and the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, can be involved in different parts of the council. The agenda is still a little fluid, but the key...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Banking (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The value of services provided by my Department to the public, in respect of which a charge is applied under a merchant agreement relating to the use of debit or credit cards, is as follows: Office of DJEI Value of services provided to the public by DJEI and entities reporting to DJEI, where a payment is accepted by debit or credit cards in 2012 € % of charge applied to transactions...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Support Schemes (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The main sources of direct support through my Department are Enterprise Ireland and the City and County Enterprise Boards (CEBs). Entrepreneurs can access a range of pre-investment supports from Enterprise Ireland which enable them to investigate the viability and potential of a business idea and to help accelerate their business development. These supports are accessible to entrepreneurs...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Companies Law Issues (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Neither the Companies Bill 2012 nor the Companies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2013 include provisions on mandatory disclosure of beneficial ownership of Irish companies. There are developments elsewhere on this issue. Firstly, in February 2013, the European Commission adopted a Proposal for a Directive on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Data (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Central Statistics Office does not compile statistics on jobs created on a monthly, sectoral or county basis. Appendix 1, accompanying this reply, sets out details of persons over 15 years of age employed in the main economic sectors throughout the country. As regards the Enterprise Development Agencies which operate under the aegis of my Department, I have provided in Appendices 2,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Data (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Tables 1 - 3 below set out the number of jobs created and lost in counties Longford and Westmeath in respect of client companies of: IDA Ireland; Enterprise Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards (CEB’s) over the past three years,i.e. 2010, 2011 and 2012. IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Longford and Westmeath County Enterprise Boards are all working to promote enterprise...