Results 2,241-2,260 of 4,073 for speaker:Mary Mitchell O'Connor

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I will.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I agree with Deputy Tom Neville. There are many operating from the ground up. I am going to call on Ludgate, Skibbereen, and PorterShed, Galway. There are many other examples. I have been in Offaly and other counties and have seen what those concerned are doing. The impetus is from the grassroots and communities. I was recently invited to my own little village, Milltown, which has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I will give members a sense of what we are doing first, if they do not mind.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Turning to programme area B, the object of this expenditure is to foster and embed a world-class innovation system. This investment underpins enterprise development and drives commercialisation of research to build national competitive advantage across our economy. In 2016, the programme will provide funding of over €330 million to support strategic investments in research,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Can I answer that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: First of all, I absolutely reject the allegation of propaganda. Second, we believe in what we are doing. We believe that innovation is hugely important. We have been involved in it for the last 15 years and we are seeing a payback. I can assure the Deputy that when Enterprise Ireland and the IDA are bringing FDI companies to our country, one of the first questions FDI companies ask...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: STEM subjects comprise one of the areas that Science Foundation Ireland is pushing. That is one of the areas that I will push at every meeting and opening I attend. I assure the Deputy that when I meet these companies and we announce jobs, they often tell me that innovation expertise is so important. We build up that human capital and our programmes work in creating jobs. The proof is in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: What I will say is that Ireland has been ranked 14th in the world in science, which is up from 36th place in 2003. We are continuously climbing there. We are investing in innovation and education, including postgraduate degrees, to ensure that we have researchers who are at the cutting edge of technology and innovation. I never mentioned the word "excellent" - the Deputy did so. I never...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: What might be useful, just to help out here-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: When the committee is working out its work programme, perhaps it should meet representatives of the agencies to put the points if it would help.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I have still not heard from the Deputy what he believes is not working.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Deputy is throwing this across the committee table.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Deputy asked this question at the last meeting. We are talking to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on the issue. I understand there are public money constraints. It is very difficult to imagine Oxford professors working in research for €32,000. There are constraints and we are talking to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to try to improve that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Senator asked about patents. Companies are deciding to patent outside the country. We are doing well in the country, but we want to do better, which is why we need more investment. We want to be a global innovation leader, which is why we have the Innovation 2020 strategy, but we need more investment. I believe Deputy Donnelly asked about the shift from enterprise and research.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: It is not as much as we anecdotally hear and I will provide some figures. Funding for basic research comes from many sources, including through the block grant from the Department of Education and Skills through the Higher Education Authority. That source provides about €190 million. The latest figures available to me show that for the academic year 2012-13 a little more than half...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The metrics we use and those that are published are internationally accepted and acknowledged metrics. In respect of whether we are happy, we always want to be better.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The third expenditure programme area funded in my Department's Vote is the area of regulation. The regulation programme funds the activities of a number of offices within my Department, such as the Companies Registration Office, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, the Labour Court, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, which is coming to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I will deal with the national minimum wage. Any decision made on the national minimum wage will be a collective Government decision considered in the context of the budget. The Low Pay Commission is independent and was set up by the former Minister of State, Gerald Nash, in 2015. It examined all issues before making the recommendation. Deputy Smith is right. It was a split decision....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Vote 32 - Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (22 Sep 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Independent. Data on the impact of the last rise in the national minimum wage to €9.15 has not yet become available. The national minimum wage affects many small Irish businesses in the retail, hospitality and food sector which often operate in rural areas and whose profit margins can be very low. These were the aspects that were taken into consideration. The Low Pay Commission...