Results 21,901-21,920 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs (26 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 308 and 309 together. The Action Plan for Jobs is a whole of Government programme, with individual actions for completion by all Government Departments and 46 State bodies. The aim of the Action Plan is to create a supportive environment for the enterprise sector in order to allow employment to grow across all sectors and for people of all abilities. ...

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

Richard Bruton: The levying and collection of commercial rates is a reserved function of the Local Authorities which come under the policy remit of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan, T.D. The Annual Rate of Valuation (ARV) is decided by the elected members of each Local Authority in their annual budget. The monies raised by Local Authorities through payment of...

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

Richard Bruton: The Government recognises the jobs challenge facing Ireland at this time, most particularly for small and medium sized business. SMEs make up over 99% of businesses in the enterprise economy in Ireland and account for almost 70% of people employed. That is why within the Action Plan for Jobs process Government has ensured that there is a particular focus on supporting small businesses and...

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

Richard Bruton: The County and City Enterprise boards provide support for micro-enterprise in the start-up and expansion phases, promote and develop indigenous micro-enterprise potential and stimulate economic activity and entrepreneurship at local level. Their primary role is to support individuals and firms in achieving commercial viability, with priority given to those engaged in manufacturing and...

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

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to inform the Deputy that IDA Ireland’s mid-year results, announced in July last, showed that foreign direct investment into Ireland was very strong in the first half of this year. In the first six months of 2013, there was an increased number of investments, with approximately 7,000 associated jobs to be created as companies implement and complete their investment...

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

Richard Bruton: Policy responsibility for maternity benefit, illness benefit and PRSI is a matter for the Minster for Social Protection. Changes to these schemes were announced as part of Budget 2014. The change to the illness benefit scheme means that the number of days a person must wait before receiving illness benefit from the Department of Social Protection is being increased from three days to six...

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

Richard Bruton: The Succeed in Ireland Initiative, which was launched in March 2012, was one of the key Q1 commitments in the Action Plan for Jobs 2012. The initiative aims to create 5,000 jobs over five years. The project is being administered by Connect Ireland, a subsidiary of the Taxback Group, under a contract with IDA Ireland. The scheme is designed to complement, not compete with, the work of IDA...

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

Richard Bruton: Overall staffing levels for Departments and associated non-commercial State agencies are currently subject to annual employment control framework limits set down by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Against that backdrop, exemptions to the moratorium on the filling of vacancies in the public service are subject to the sanction of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform....

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

Richard Bruton: Successful entrepreneurship is critical to Irish economic development, and consequently, supporting entrepreneurship is a central part of our Action Plan for Jobs. 67% of all new job-creation comes from businesses in the first five years of existence. A continuous and steady flow of new business start-ups plays a crucial role in creating jobs and sustainable economic growth and will be...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Expenditure (21 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: 2014 Allocations The Exchequer DJEI capital allocation for 2014 is €442m, which, it is expected, together with both capital carryover and reinvestment of income generated by agencies, will maintain IDA, EI, SFI, ITI and CEB allocations broadly in line with 2013 expenditure. The issue of capital carryover will be decided in the context of the Revised Estimates Volume that will be...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Community Enterprise Centres (21 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy might be aware that my Department through Enterprise Ireland has, in the past, approved funding towards Community Enterprise Centres in the Fingal and Dublin City areas, including centres at Swords, Ballymun, Coolock and Darndale, which are in close proximity to Baldoyle. Enterprise Ireland has no current call for Community Enterprise Centres. No further capital funding for a...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Appointments to State Boards (21 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Since coming to Office, I have made 74 appointments to the Boards of Agencies under my Department’s remit. It should be noted that of these, only 25 of these were new appointments within my discretion. Nineteen appointments were reappointments and the remaining 30 were allocated under legislation to Department Representatives, social partners, nominees of other Ministers, nominees of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Bodies Data (20 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The following are the State Bodies/Boards under the aegis of my Department. 1. Enterprise Ireland 2. IDA Ireland 3. Science Foundation Ireland 4. Shannon Development 5. County and City Enterprise Boards (35) 6. National Standards Authority of Ireland 7. Forfás 8. National Consumer Agency 9. The Competition Authority 10. Irish Auditing and Accounting Standards Authority 11....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The political agreement reached on the key elements of a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada was announced on 18 October 2013 by EU Commission President Barroso and Canadian Prime Minister Harper. There will now be further technical discussions based on this political agreement, which are necessary to finalise the legal text of the agreement. The...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Negotiations between the EU and the US on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) began formally in July, with the first round of negotiations held in Washington in the week beginning 8th July 2013. The second round of negotiations concluded in Brussels on the 15th November. The third round of negotiations is scheduled to take place during week commencing 16th December in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights Issues (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Supreme Court in its judgment in McGowan & others -v- Labour Court Ireland & others on 9 May 2013 declared that "the provisions of Part III of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 are invalid having regard to the provisions of Article 15.2.1 of the Constitution of Ireland". The judgment had the effect of striking down Registered Employment Agreements put in place under the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Government actions to support small and medium sized enterprises are set out in the Action Plan for Jobs. Since the Action Plan process was launched in 2012, a significant number of initiatives have been introduced to support the SME sector. These include: - tackling the issue of late payments by transposing the EU Late Payment Directive into Irish legislation; - the introduction of new...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Appeals Tribunal (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: I have been informed by NERA that efforts have been made to have payment made on foot of the Employment Appeals Tribunal award concerned. This proved problematic; the main difficulty encountered being that there are no assets remaining in the company the subject of the award and, as such, securing payment has not been possible. In addition, as the company the subject of the award was not in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Pharmaceutical Industry is an enormously important and highly valued sector in Ireland, employing 25,000+ people directly in Ireland with an equivalent number employed in service provision to the sector. Ireland has an enviable history of success in this field, attracting some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, and is home to a thriving domestic sector. 9 out of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights Issues (19 Nov 2013)

Richard Bruton: Zero hour contracts are covered by contract law. A zero hour contract must be entered into freely between the employer and the employee – it cannot be forced upon an employee. Zero hour contracts are, normally found in sectors such as retail, healthcare and hospitality. I am very conscious that in certain circumstances, they may be of great benefit to both employers and employees....