Results 22,321-22,340 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Non-Resident Companies (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 50 together. I refer the Deputy to my response to Question 115 of 30 May 2013 in which I indicated that I understood from my colleague, the Minister for Finance, that he has been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the number of companies that are incorporated here but non-resident for tax purposes is not available as they are not separately...

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

Richard Bruton: My Department has played a central role in driving the overarching policy theme of our EU Presidency of “promoting sustainable economic growth and jobs and building Europe’s competitive advantage”. The issue of employment creation is one that is challenging all Member States across the Union. Under our Presidency we have made progress in a significant number of areas...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Research and Development Funding (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 38 and 47 together. I assume the Deputy is referring to Ireland’s research intensity target under the Europe 2020 Strategy which is to improve the conditions for research and development, in particular with the aim of raising combined public and private investment levels in this sector to 2.5% of GNP (approximately equivalent to 2.0% of GDP). The...

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

Richard Bruton: I am aware of the “Time to Go” report which Marian Harkin, MEP, launched on behalf of the National Youth Council earlier this year. This is a very useful piece of independent research on the phenomenon of emigration in Ireland today and outlines some of the positive and negative aspects of emigration amongst young people. The recommendations in the Report are, however, outside...

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

Richard Bruton: Crowdfunding, in respect of enterprise and other activities, is becoming an ever more popular alternative financial mechanism for businesses and promoters across the globe to access finance in a difficult financial market. In its various forms, crowdfunding allows individuals, businesses and promoters to solicit capital from funders, using social networks and crowdfunding platforms to...

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

Richard Bruton: The Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC) at the University of Limerick was officially launched on 1 July 2013. The total funding to the SSPC, through the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centres programme amounts to €40m to directly support 90 top-class researcher positions for the next six years. The SSPC will provide critical support to Ireland's pharmaceutical...

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

Richard Bruton: I welcomed the adoption of the Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention and Recommendation at the 2011 International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation. I recently attended this year’s International Labour Conference in Geneva and chaired an Informal Ministerial on the subject of Domestic Workers. Also as part of Ireland’s Presidency I ensured the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee Scheme Applications (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: When I introduced both these schemes to the House this time last year I clearly indicated that the take-up of both schemes is dependent on SME customer demand levels. The annual value of potential demand from SMEs is very difficult to assess. This makes the setting of an upper limit of annual lending capacity which ought to be made available via Schemes difficult to set precisely. From the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IFSC Clearing House Group (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The IFSC Clearing House Group has a critical role to play in bringing together high level representatives from the public and private sectors to debate and address issues facing the competiveness of the international financial services industry. It is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach. That Department also services the meetings and publishes the minutes of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: County and City Enterprise Boards Abolition (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Micro and small businesses are the engine of the Irish economy employing over 650,000 people. A key part of the Government’s plans for jobs and growth is ensuring that we deliver a truly world-class service for this sector. The purpose of restructuring the current model for the delivery of State supports to that sector is to rejuvenate and enhance the national model so as to ensure...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Businesses in Border Areas (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: North South economic co-operation is and will remain a priority of mine and of the Government. InterTradeIreland, the North South Implementation Body whose remit is to promote increased cross-border trade and business development, has a wide range of programmes to assist businesses on an all-island basis. Examples of InterTradeIreland's programmes that are having a significant impact are:...

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

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 56 together. The overall ambition associated with the Big Data disruptive reform is to “build on existing enterprise strengths to make Ireland a leading country in Europe in Big Data and data analytics”. It is estimated that data collected and generated by companies and governments is growing by approximately 40% per year. An...

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

Richard Bruton: Work on the drafting of the Consumer Protection and Competition Bill is progressing and I expect to publish the Bill during Q3 2013.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Ireland has been, and will continue to be, an integral part of Ireland's economic success. Foreign owned firms contribute substantially to Ireland's exports, jobs, expenditure in the Irish economy and to Exchequer funds. FDI plays a key role in stimulating the development of new sectors in Ireland, in enhancing our research, development and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Health and Safety Inspection Numbers (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the national statutory body with responsibility for enforcing occupational safety and health law, promoting and encouraging accident prevention, and providing information and advice to all companies, organisations and individuals. The Authority is also the national Competent Authority for REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Broadband Services Provision (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: Access to broadband in Ireland is a policy matter for my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte, T.D. who has recently announced the launch of a nationwide Broadband Mapping Project. This is a key step in delivering the National Broadband Plan which commits to broadband speeds of 30Mbps and, where possible, higher speeds to all parts of Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Joint Labour Committees Review (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The new Section 41A of Industrial Relations Act 1946 (inserted by Section 11 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012) provides that reviews of each Joint Labour Committee (JLC) will 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. In this context, the Labour Court appointed Ms Janet Hughes to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee Scheme Application Numbers (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) which commenced operation on 24 October last was designed to be capable of facilitating up to €150m of additional lending per annum. For 2013 to date 4% of this capacity has been utilised with 49 loans facilitated, valued at €6.4 million. I intend to publish the 2nd quarter Progress Report on the Scheme on the Department's website shortly. I...

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

Richard Bruton: The price of goods and services as and between Member States of the European Union can differ for a variety of reasons. Insofar as prices in this jurisdiction are concerned, the European Communities (Requirements to Indicate Product Prices) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 639 of 2002) require traders to indicate the selling price in Euros of products offered for sale. The Regulations, which are...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (10 Jul 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 151 together. The Government, in response to the allegations that Ireland is being used as a tax haven, has continued to refute these allegations and to outline how, since the 1950s, successive Governments have consistently agreed a competitive corporation tax rate as a means to attract investment and jobs to Ireland. IDA Ireland is the agency with...