Results 22,581-22,600 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Registered Employment Agreements (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: I accept that but I presume that the REAs must renew under the new legislation.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Tax Reliefs Application (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: The special assignee relief programme, SARP, is a tax concession for the temporary placement in Ireland of senior executives currently employed elsewhere by a multinational company. In essence, if we can attract the correct strategic senior executives to Ireland, he or she may bring hundreds more jobs. The business case for SARP is to make it easier for companies to locate strategic...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Proposed Legislation (22 May 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: Foreign Direct Investment (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: Forfás recently produced a report for Government entitled “Costs of Doing Business in Ireland 2012”. This Report concluded that “While Ireland has already regained some cost competitiveness, further progress is required if Ireland is to return to strong economic and employment growth”. Total labour costs include wages, taxes on income and employer and...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Issues (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: In light of reductions in manufacturing demand for certain pharmaceutical products that have become generic or are nearing the end of their commercial life, Alkermes made the decision recently to review resources at their Athlone facility. This review has led the company to conclude that they need to reduce the number of staff in Athlone by between 100 and 130 staff, from their present...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Pharmaceutical Sector (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: The last 18 months have seen a reduction in employment levels in some Pharmaceutical companies in Ireland due to the expiry of patent protections, combined with increased competition from other overseas sites. IDA is aware of these factors and has been working for many years to diversify the pharmaceutical base here in Ireland. Patents on blockbuster drugs have expired in the previous...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: International Workplace Safety Standards (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: The collapse of the factory building in Dhaka is an appalling tragedy. I am shocked that over a thousand workers have lost their lives. The disaster has affected many, many more people by the loss of spouses, relatives and indeed family bread winners. I want to extend my sympathies to all that have lost loved ones and that have been hurt by the catastrophe. At a meeting on May 8th of the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: Gross operating surplus is the balance available to an enterprise which allows it to provide a return to shareholders, to pay taxes and to finance all or part of its investment. Gross operating surplus as a percentage of turnover is a measure of the profitability for an enterprise. The Central Statistics Office published in November 2012 a report “Business in Ireland 2010”,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland support 349 client companies which employ 10,834 people in full and in part time employment in the North West counties of Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. IDA Ireland prioritises the promotion of Letterkenny and Sligo and also promotes other locations in the region as part of its marketing efforts and in response to specific client requirements. In line with...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices Establishment (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: Significant progress to implement the Government Decision on the reform has been made. A new Micro and Small Business Division has been established in Enterprise Ireland and via a Centre of Excellence will be responsible for developing an improved environment for small and micro business and utilise Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) experience and specialised sectoral approaches to business...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Initiatives (22 May 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....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Registered Employment Agreements (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 21, 53 and 54 together. In recent years there has been a continuing series of legal challenges to the JLC and REA systems, including the 2011 Grace Fried Chicken case that resulted in the High Court striking down all Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) and the recent Supreme Court ruling in relation to Registered Employment Agreements (REAs). As the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: Following an initiative which I undertook last year, in the context of the Action Plan for Jobs, where I asked Forfás to undertake a detailed strategy for the Manufacturing Strategy in Ireland up to 2020, I was delighted to have had the opportunity last month to launch that finalised strategy, which sets out a range of steps necessary to consolidate and develop that sector. This...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: EU Directives (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: My Department is proactive in ensuring that good performance on the transposition of Directives is consistently maintained. Within my Department transposition is monitored through a customised intranet database which is used as a central management and information tool to track the implementation of Directives on an ongoing basis. This complements the central tracking and monitoring of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights Issues (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 55 together. Genuine au pairs live as part of the host family. They receive free food and lodging and are normally expected to perform light household duties – normally childcare - for a limited number of hours per week, while having appropriate opportunities to learn about the language and culture of the host country. They should receive an...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Relations Issues (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: The enforcement of Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) determinations and Labour Court rulings under employment legislation are a matter for the courts. In cases other than those covered by the Payment of Wages Act, the Enforcement Services Unit of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) has some capacity to have a determination of the EAT enforced through the civil courts. In...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Guarantee Scheme Implementation (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) began operating on 24 October 2012. As at 10 May 2013 thirty six (36) live CGS facilities have been put in place resulting in €3,661,100 being sanctioned through the scheme by participating lenders and it is expected that 190 new jobs will be created and 115 jobs maintained under these facilities. My Department, the scheme operator, Capita, and the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Targets (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: 2012 was a particularly good year for job creation in Agency-supported companies, with IDA client companies creating a total of 12,722 gross new full time jobs (6,750 net new jobs). The IDA client base in Ireland now employs 152,785 people, a level last recorded before the global financial crisis began in 2008. Meanwhile, clients of Enterprise Ireland (EI) created 12,861 gross new jobs...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Protection (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: The process regarding the sale of Bank of America’s (BOA’s) UK credit card businesses remains ongoing. The former MBNA Credit Card Processing facility in Carrick-on-Shannon now comprises of two operations. The first business, following the purchase by global management company Apollo of the part of BOA’s Credit Card portfolio which services the Irish Card customers, is a...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Credit Availability (22 May 2013)

Richard Bruton: I have established two targeted initiatives to support an additional flow of credit into the economy by filling gaps where specific market failures in the supply of credit to SMEs exists, namely: the Microenterprise Loan Fund and the Credit Guarantee Scheme. Microfinance Ireland (MFI) was established as a private limited company with a Board of Directors, to administer the Microenterprise...