Results 22,021-22,040 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Financial Resolutions 2014: No. 6: Income Tax (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I am only telling the figures to the Deputies. They can interpret as they wish, and elasticity is only a term of description. It is not charged with anything else. The truth is there has not been a mass exodus from insurance. Another factor to bear in mind is that medical inflation is quite low and despite that, health insurance premia are rising rapidly, so the Minister for Health is...

Financial Resolutions 2014: No. 6: Income Tax (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is an issue about which we must be conscious and I hope a measure like this will bring about a more cost-conscious insurance sector responding in a market-effective way. Against a background of what we are trying to achieve in this budget, which is to exit the bailout, make room for positive employment creation measures and get more people contributing to our economy to build a better...

Financial Resolutions 2014: No. 6: Income Tax (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies who contributed to the debate which strayed well beyond what is a tax measure.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98 and 99 together. IDA Ireland actively markets Ireland as an investment location for international companies in the green energy/renewable technologies space and sees this sector as a growth area into the future. This particular area differs from many of the other sectors which IDA Ireland promotes because of the growing domestic market opportunity around...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Jobs Data (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos.100 and 101 together. The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on job gains and losses in companies that are supported by the enterprise development agencies. The Survey tracks employment by NACE codes i.e a pan-European classification system which groups organisations according to their business activities. Customer support jobs fall within the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU-US Trade (15 Oct 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 was due to have taken place in Brussels from 7-11 October, but this was cancelled at the request of the U.S. due to difficulties caused by the partial...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Funding (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 106 together. The total Exchequer allocation for IDA for the year 2013, as published in Revised Estimates Allocation for 2013 (REV) is €117.447 m. made up of €38.447m. in current monies and €79m in capital monies. Amid significant economic challenges globally and locally, IDA Ireland achieved a strong FDI performance in recent...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Staff (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: Information in relation to employees of IDA Ireland is a day to day operational matter for the agency and I have requested that IDA Ireland respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Job Numbers (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on job gains and losses on companies that are supported by the industrial development agencies. Figures are compiled on an annual basis and aggregated at county level. Information is provided by companies on a confidential basis for statistical purposes only. The survey does not track job gains and losses by salary. The attached tabular...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Joint Labour Committees Abolition (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: On 1 October last, I published the Report of the Labour Court’s Review of the Joint Labour Committee (JLC) system. The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012 provides that reviews of each JLC be carried out by the Labour Court, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the Act, and at least once every 5 years thereafter. The review assisted the Labour Court’s...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Tax Compliance (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I requested that the matter of loss of audit exemption due to late filing of annual returns be examined by the Company Law Review Group (CLRG) in 2011. This request was with a view to receiving a recommendation on whether any change should be made to the combined regime of late filing penalties and loss of audit exemption for qualifying companies in the case of late filing. The CLRG, which is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Companies Law Issues (15 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: Audit exemption was first introduced under the Companies (Amendment) (No.2) Act 1999, allowing private companies which satisfy certain conditions to be exempt from the audit requirements. Currently, to avail of the exemption, the amount of the turnover of the company must not exceed €8.8million and the balance sheet total of the company must not exceed €4.4million. Both these...

Other Questions: Seed Capital Scheme (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: I agree that crowd-funding is an interesting area. I am aware of one such initiative in Ireland and recently met with the sponsors of it. It is beginning to have a track record. What I found interesting was that much of the funding came from the local customer base rather than from remote locations. As such, a community of interest was built around a business so that people were not only...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: There is a lot in the Deputy's questions. I thank both Opposition parties for their support for the two initiatives - microfinance and the credit loan guarantee. They are new and have not been tried before. We are determined to improve them, and the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, has outlined the position concerning microfinance. There is also a later question about the credit loan...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises Supports (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: When the Deputy says "bail out developers", the truth is that no developer has received any bailout. As the Deputy knows from newspaper reports, developers are being continuously pursued for assets by State agencies. Of course, we have had to keep the banks open. Bank shareholders have been wiped out, but the banks continue, and we need to rebuild solid lending institutions focused on the...

Other Questions: Seed Capital Scheme (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: Last May, I announced a new call for expressions of interest under the €175 million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2013-18, which will see the continuation of the Government’s support for innovative Irish SMEs. The scheme is targeting an additional €525 million in funding from the private sector, which will mean a total fund of €700 million available for...

Other Questions: Seed Capital Scheme (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: These programmes, of their nature, take time to evaluate. An evaluation of the scheme that is coming to an end would not be complete at this stage. However, sample indications from 69 companies suggest a total employment of 691 to date. Typically, these companies are export oriented. Total direct employment in companies in 2009 was 9,733. Generally speaking, these are high growth...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: IDA Site Visits (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: The challenge facing IDA Ireland is to continue winning top quality investment for Ireland in a difficult and competitive global environment. It also seeks to secure a required spread of investment across the regions. Investors usually come with quite clearly specified requirements and the IDA offers regional locations that meet those requirements in the choices for scheduled visits. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: IDA Site Visits (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy speaks for many other Deputies who want to see a broader spread of IDA projects. I am mindful of the need to try to address those as best we can. There is considerable pressure on the IDA to do so. An in-depth analysis of our FDI strategy is being undertaken. One of its dimensions will be a consideration of how to achieve a better regional spread. Often, we compete for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: IDA Site Visits (10 Oct 2013)

Richard Bruton: The truth is, we need to be able to build on regional strengths, whatever they may be. Some companies will come for deep labour market pools. They identify their needs early. Either Ireland delivers on those needs or we lose the projects. This can result in a narrow choice of regional locations. However, this is not the case with other projects. Clearly, we need to develop a better flow...