Results 22,301-22,320 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Prompt Payments (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Prompt Payments for goods and services rendered is critical to the effective working of any economy and is an issue on which this Government places great emphasis. In an effort to help ease cash flow difficulties for Irish small businesses operating under the current economic environment, while at the same time, setting an example for businesses in the private sector to improve their payment...

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

Richard Bruton: In the period between Quarter 1 2008 and Quarter 1 2012 the economy experienced the loss of 321,000 jobs. Throughout this period, those sectors which rely mainly on trading in the domestic market suffered the greatest job losses. For example, the Construction sector directly accounted for over 150,000 job losses between 2008 and 2012, while 48,000 jobs were lost in the Wholesale and Retail...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Microenterprise Loan Fund Issues (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 48 together. Microfinance Ireland (MFI) offers loans for 3 or more years at 8.8% fixed rate for all types of business needs including working capital and financing of business equipment to people who have been refused credit by the Banks. The Banks are offering standard variable rates for business loans and overdrafts for working capital at interest...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Retention (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The process regarding the sale of Bank of America’s (BOA's) UK credit card businesses is ongoing. The former MBNA Credit Card Processing facility in Carrick-on-Shannon now comprises two operations. The first, following the purchase of part of BOA's Credit Card portfolio by Apollo, is a new operation called AvantCard, which employs approximately 250 staff which transferred from BOA to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Numbers (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Enterprise Ireland launched the new Enterprise Ireland €375K Competitive Feasibility Fund on Monday 1st July 2013 aimed at stimulating new start-ups, or expansion of existing business activity in the aviation sector. This fund, which can provide up to €25,000 per project for 15 projects, is now open for applications, and will remain open until Monday 16th September 2013. It...

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

Richard Bruton: Following agreement at the Trade Council that I chaired on 14 June, the Commission now has a mandate to open negotiations with the U.S. on an historic Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).The formal negotiations between the EU and the US are due to begin on 8 July 2013. While it is far too early to anticipate the eventual negotiated outcomeof the Agreement, the negotiating...

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

Richard Bruton: My Department and its development agencies continuously monitor job gains and losses to ensure that the Government's offering to business in both the domestic and multinational sectors is attuned closely to the needs of business. Details of job gains and losses are set out at Tables 1 and 2. The outcome of this close monitoring is to be seen through the Action Plan for Jobs 2013 which...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Numbers (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Forfás Employment Survey for 2012 shows that there were 511 companies supported by IDA Ireland in Dublin which employed 55,344 employees. In 2012, 6,839 new jobs were created in IDA client companies in Dublin while 3,059 were lost. The Survey does not provide data for County Dublin by postal district. Comparable figures for 2013 will be available following the completion of the...

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

Richard Bruton: The achievement of balanced regional growth is a core objective of Government. Promoting entrepreneurship, attracting inward investment and facilitating the key infrastructural needs of Irish enterprise across all regions is vital to ensuring a vigorous pipeline of new business leaders, new business ideas and entrepreneurial activity. The Action Plan for Jobs is a whole of Government,...

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

Richard Bruton: It has been the consistent policy of successive Irish Governments, including this one, to promote collective bargaining through the development of an institutional framework supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations that is premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association and underpinned by a legislative framework, including the Trade Union and Industrial Relations...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Export Growth (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Priority Question No 1 (33643/13) earlier in this afternoon’s Session. Ireland's open economy needs to have the export of goods and services at the heart of its economic strategy. The excessive growth in the reliance on property in the years up the crisis was not only unsustainable but it undermined Ireland's competitiveness in export markets and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Losses (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: In relation to Covidien, IDA Ireland is unaware of any current issues in relation to the facility in Athlone. However, on 29 September 2011, the company announced 100 voluntary redundancies at the facility. The redundancies were a result of a manufacturing line for one product being transferred to Thailand. The redundancies were to take place over a two year period and the company is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Aircraft Leasing Sector (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 46 together. Details of the number of employees in the aircraft leasing sector are not available as, for statistical purposes, that sector is included with others to form the financial services sector in which there were 16,803 people employed in 2012. I am mindful, however, that the aviation sector contributes approximately €4.1 billion...

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

Richard Bruton: The Labour Court conducts hearings on trade disputes and issues recommendations setting out its opinion on the dispute and the terms on which it should be settled. The Labour Court is a court of last resort in the industrial relations process, and it is expected that the parties come to the process in good faith and consequently are prepared to give serious consideration to the Court’s...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Minimum Wage (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The current Programme for Government contained a commitment to reverse the €1 per hour reduction in the National Minimum Wage introduced by the previous Government on 1 February 2011. The increase was provided for in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2011 and effected by the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 (Section 11) (No. 2) Order 2011 from 1 July 2011. The restoration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Public Procurement Regulations (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Jobs includes a number of measures to support SMEs to access public procurement opportunities. These measures are being delivered by various bodies, including Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland, the National Procurement Service (NPS) and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The NPS and Enterprise Ireland are continuing to encourage SMEs to register on the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Live Register Numbers (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: In the three years prior to the Government coming into office, over 300,000 people had lost their jobs, including 145,000 people under the age of 25. By comparison, in the last two years, there has been a significant slow-down in the decline in the number of young people at work. Recent labour market figures published by the CSO indicate that the number of people under 25 years of age in...

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

Richard Bruton: The customer contact industry continues to be an invaluable source of employment creation from multinational companies locating in Ireland across a range of industry sectors including finance, IT, life sciences and e-commerce. As an increasingly important component in the way companies differentiate themselves, the customer contact centre has evolved into a multi-functional, multi-lingual...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Numbers (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The most recent Quarterly National Accounts published by the Central Statistics Office on 27 June indicate that for the first Quarter of this year, Ireland’s GDP declined by 0.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2012. This follows on from contractions in the last two quarters of 2012. The contraction in GDP in the first quarter of 2013 is attributable to the fall in consumer...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Targets (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: At a macro level the Government's strategy is to re-build the economy and accelerate the transition to a sustainable, jobs-rich economy based on enterprise, innovation and exports. It is in this way that we will create the environment in which sustainable jobs will be created, living standards will be raised and Ireland will be regarded as an attractive location in which to live and work. ...