Results 22,281-22,300 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I assume the Deputy is referring to foreign nationals defined in the Employment Permits Acts 2003 and 2006 as foreign nationals other than nationals of member states of the EEA and Switzerland. The law is clear on the employment of third country nationals. It is illegal for a third country national to be employed without the State's permission and the offence where a third country national...

Other Questions: Illegal Immigrants (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated, I expect to have a draft of the Bill soon. We are in the final stages of the process and it appears that we will have it imminently. I hope we will have it before the end of the session. We will certainly make it available for the very start of the new session. Mr. Justice Hogan reversed a Labour Court award having found that the contract of employment was illegal as Mr....

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Regional aid, also known as investment aid, is paid in the form of grants by the industrial development agencies to businesses in order to support new investment and new employment in productive projects in Europe's most disadvantaged regions. Such aid must be in accordance with each country’s regional aid map, as approved by the European Commission, which has responsibility for the...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Our negotiating position was closely co-ordinated with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland as we developed these proposals in order to make sure we protected the capacity of the IDA to promote regional development. The categories for large enterprises include new economic activity, new products and new process innovation. It is a broad range of areas where we can continue to support large...

Other Questions: IDA Supports (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: In terms of competitiveness with other countries, we have 51% of the country's population in the C regions. Overall, a lower percentage than that in all of Europe is covered by C regions. We have proportionately more C regions than the EU as a whole. We have much more than some very developed markets and much less than some of the emerging markets. I do not have the exact population...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy seems to have misunderstood what I said. The purpose of this group is to set the ball rolling. We will be engaging with thousands of women involved in business.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is not a board with any continuing role, rather it is a group tasked with starting the consultative process over a three month period. We will attempt in that very short timeframe to meet as many relevant persons as we can. I will be providing additional money this year for women in entrepreneurship by way of a competitive start fund confined to women. This is an area in which we are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The remit of the Entrepreneurship Forum, under the chairmanship of Mr. Seán O'Sullivan, is to provide advice on matters of policy in the area of entrepreneurship and to draft appropriate policy conclusions and recommendations which will support business start-ups, sustainable growth and long-term job creation. The forum will generate actions for the 2014 Action Plan for Jobs. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Entrepreneurship Forum (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is our intention to engage with thousands of women in this process. I could hardly be accused of discriminating against women in business because, for the first time, under my guidance we established a competitive start fund dedicated specifically to women entrepreneurs. I put €750,000 into that last year and it was massively oversubscribed. There are encouraging signs that women...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Unemployment Measures (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Tóibín keeps repeating the myth that we are failing. In the past 12 months we have 20,000 additional people at work, net. If we remove from the equation the fact the public sector figures are declining, the private sector has expanded employment by 2,000 jobs per month. That is in sharp contrast to the economy we inherited where there was a loss of jobs of 7,000 per month....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Unemployment Measures (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Sinn Féin seems to be of the view that it must talk down what is happening.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Unemployment Measures (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Tóibín is picking facts selectively. Some 20,000 more people are at work today than there were 12 months ago and there are many employment programmes designed to help young people get such jobs. JobBridge has been very successful and has dealt with 17,000 young people, resulting in a 60% employment take-up from the programme. Springboard has also been exceptionally...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Ireland's open economy needs to have the export of goods and services at the heart of its economic strategy. The excessive reliance on property in the years up to the crisis was not only unsustainable but also undermined Ireland's competitiveness in export markets and caused a steady decline in our export market share. The economic transition we are now undertaking must be founded solidly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: At EU level we put a strong emphasis on creating opportunities for growth in export markets during our Presidency. We successfully closed an agreement on a mandate for EU-US trade negotiations. These negotiations hold out the potential for increasing transatlantic trade between the EU and the US by 28%. If they can be concluded quickly they will offer good opportunities. Similarly,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Both Enterprise Ireland and the IDA track investment, employment and volume flows. The trends are quite positive. We have encountered some difficulties in export markets but the April figures have shown recovery. There is a positive outlook among purchasing managers in respect of service prospects for the export markets. They are monitoring the trends closely but the signals are diverse....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Youth Unemployment Measures (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The economic crisis has had a severe impact on young people in Ireland and the rest of the EU. Youth training, progression to employment and unemployment among young people continue to present a major challenge for Ireland, as they do for most member states. The aim of the Action Plan for Jobs is to develop a supportive environment for enterprise to create and sustain jobs. All of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights Issues (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Policy issues relating to childcare fall within the remit of my colleague, Ms Frances Fitzgerald T.D., Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. Issues relating to employment rights policy fall within my remit. Ireland's body of employment rights legislation protects all employees legally employed on an employer-employee basis in Ireland. Therefore, once it is clear that a person is working...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Relations Issues (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Government is committed to reform of the State's Workplace Relations Services. The system that developed over the last sixty years had become unwieldy and complex; it lacked consistency, involved long delays and in some cases proved expensive for users. In short, the system was no longer fit for purpose and it was for this reason that I have commenced a root-and-branch reform with the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Registered Employment Agreements (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: In the judgment delivered on 9 May last in McGowan and others v the Labour Court, Ireland and the Attorney General, the Supreme Court held that Part III of the Industrial Relations Act 1946 was invalid having regard to Article 15.2.1 of the Constitution. The Article provides, in effect, that the exclusive power to make laws is vested in the Oireachtas. The Supreme Court took the view that...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices Establishment (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: In February this year, priority drafting of the County Enterprise Boards (Dissolution) Bill, 2013 commenced. The purpose of the Bill is to dissolve the County Enterprise Boards and transfer their functions, assets and liabilities to Enterprise Ireland. Following extensive consultations with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG), officials from my...