Results 22,901-22,920 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Topical Issue Debate: Child Safety (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: I join the Deputy in offering my sympathy to the family so cruelly affected in this case. The National Consumer Agency, as part of its market surveillance responsibility for public safety, runs information campaigns, including a number of campaigns about this hazard. I refer to its website, www.consumerconnect.ie, which hosts a video and a list of safety precautions such as keeping beds,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: To be honest, there is much creative use of funds going on. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has announced a €2.5 billion stimulus fund made up of public private partnerships, which is an innovative way of using resources, and he is capitalising the flow of our national lottery. He has established an infrastructure fund within the pension reserve...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is not keen to accept these are ways-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Lawlor referred primarily to legislative matters, specifically the workplace relations Bill, legislation to merge the Competition Authority with the National Consumer Agency, and the Legal Services Regulation Bill. He also noted the failure to reach the IDA's regional target for the establishment of new companies. In securing 13 new start-ups, we fell a little short of the 15 fresh...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: We need to do some research before we can make a commitment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: The position is that women are grossly under-represented among those who start up businesses. I believe the ratio between men and women is approximately 4:1. There is an opportunity here and we are on to something that is worth pursuing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: I hear what the Deputy is saying. When the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, went into liquidation, it left creditors exposed. That is different from the Government deciding that companies which are trading as landlords and offering leases would have to reduce their rents. The two scenarios are different. If a company goes into liquidation, the creditors are left and their security...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: No, our commitment referred to 2016, and that remains our ambition and target. However, we did not pretend, and it would be naive to pretend, that this can be divided up into bundles of 5,000 jobs or 20,000 jobs. The economy does not work like that. We must repair the banking system and many of the sectors of the economy that have been damaged. We must put many things in place, which is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: First, I will deal with the point raised by Senator Quinn. We introduced an audit exemption, for example, which was about removing smaller companies, and we enhanced that last year. We look for that wherever we can. When it comes to environmental standards or wage rates there are certain criteria one expects to apply whether one is a large or small company. However, there is scope in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: I apologise, as I had meant to comment on this issue and thank the joint committee for the report, which contains many really good things. While some of them are outside my remit, the report refers to the need for a national youth strategy in entrepreneurship, and Deputy Lawlor also raised that issue. It is something the Department is considering. It will produce a policy paper on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: We will look at that as it evolves. We will seek to have people with expertise in particular areas that are matched to areas where we are trying to drive change.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is not. To be honest, what we have created by going cross-government is a new dynamic within the public service. We want to take that to another level by bringing people from outside the sector with particular knowledge in the areas we have identified to drive change. Hopefully, their role will evolve. They will certainly have a significant role in saying where Ireland's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: They will act as a group initially, but we will seek expertise in each one.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: It is across the whole action plan, but we hope their contribution would be most significant in the area where we have identified a significant change that we need to deliver.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: First of all, I would like to thank Deputy Tóibín for acknowledging that there is real progress going here. I refer to the success of Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and export-led recovery in the context of the creation of 10,000 net jobs - 25,000 gross - between the IDA and Enterprise Ireland this year. Consequently, we are really making good progress and have record exports. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: "Formidable", as they say in French. I will try to respond to each of the questions. Clearly our ambition to create 100,000 jobs will require a shift change from the status quo that is being projected on the existing performance of the economy. That is the reason for this initiative of "disruptive change" to break the patterns and trends, to open up new opportunities. This is about being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: It will probably be a committee consulting with the stakeholders rather than having de facto stakeholders on it. If so, it will be a group to analyse what we can do across Government, much like what we have done in other areas. The licensing review, for example, was done internally. The construction sector is a very important one, but it got too large during the boom. It went up to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs 2012 and 2013: Discussion with Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (26 Feb 2013)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Chairman. I do not know whether the committee is familiar with Mr. William Parnell and Ms Gráinne O'Carroll from the Department who have done a significant amount of work in putting this together. I need not tell the committee that the economy is undertaking a difficult transition from one that became far too dependent on construction, property and debt, and that we must...