Results 23,301-23,320 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Proposed Legislation (27 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: My Department provides a legislative basis for a number of different corporate entities, including companies, industrial and provident societies and trade unions. There is no legislative obligation on representative federations or associations to register, although many do so to avail of the various protections and privileges offered by the corporate form. The Trade Union Acts, in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Rights Commissioner Service (27 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I understand that the matter to which your constituent refers relates to a claim before the Rights Commissioner Service under the Unfair Dismissals Acts. The Rights Commissioner Service which is operated by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) is independent in the exercise of its quasi-judicial function and I have no direct involvement in the day to day exercise of its functions. Where...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sewage Treatment Systems (27 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: The company in question manufacture a whole range of treatment plants. The National Standards Authority of Ireland certified one of the range, namely "Biofilter Package sewage treatment system". It was certified until March 2009, when it was withdrawn at the manufacturer’s request. The Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government use NSAI Agrément as a...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (27 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 346 and 347 together. I am informed by IDA Ireland that in the period 1st January 2011 to 31st October 2012 there were two IDA sponsored site visits by potential investors to County Kerry. Through its network of overseas offices IDA Ireland markets the linked hub locations of Killarney in South Kerry and Tralee in North Kerry for new foreign direct...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Agencies (27 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: The following table sets out details of the new State Agencies, Forums and Task Forces that I have established in 2012 and the associated number of new employees in each case. Name of New State Agency / Forum / Task Force No. of New Employees Implementation Working Group on Restructuring of the County and City Enterprise Boards 0 Shannon Airport Development  Change Management...

Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: As regards Deputy Tóibín's point, I will investigate what the problem is with Lean for that company in Inishowen. I am not familiar with a difficulty but if the Deputy provides me with the details I will follow it up. While electricity costs are not a matter for my Department, they obviously depend on the power and continuity required by a customer. There are problems with...

Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 15 together. To some extent, I dealt with a good deal of this answer in the earlier reply where I outlined the establishment of a manufacturing development forum and its ongoing work to produce a strategic plan in the new year. Rather than repeat that, I suppose it is worth saying-----

Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I will read-----

Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: To amplify that, it is worth saying that both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland continue to develop policy interventions to support the manufacturing sector. As I stated, under the Action Plan for Jobs there are a number of measures to improve productivity, extend innovation, introduce lean systems, enhance management skills, develop collaboration in new technologies and enhance access to...

Other Questions: Enterprise Support Services (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I agree with Deputy Calleary. One of the results that came out of the national tour we did with the Action Plan for Jobs was that there is insufficient knowledge out there. On foot of that we have produced a simple and easy-to-use brochure which we have online. We have been promoting it through the Company Registration Office, chambers of commerce and county enterprise boards. We are...

Other Questions: Job Retention (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: To take Deputy Naughten's point. As recently as in the past three weeks the IDA met with the company. We are keeping alert to any possible developments. I will not speculate on what is the strategy of Bank of America. It has made significant decisions and disposals already but we are ensuring that we seek to protect this. Deputy Tóibín raised a much wider issue about regional...

Other Questions: Job Retention (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: The process regarding the sale of Bank of America’s card businesses is ongoing but there have been no significant recent developments and the employment levels at the facility in Carrick-on-Shannon have been maintained. Earlier this year negotiations regarding the sale of the Ireland portfolio culminated in its sale by Bank of America to Apollo Global Management, a leading global...

Other Questions: Job Retention (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I would love to be able to give all those categorical assurances about the future of this loan book. However, as the Deputy knows Bank of America was badly affected by the financial crisis and it announced extensive restructuring throughout its organisation. At that time it announced its plan to exit entirely the international credit card business. That was a strategic decision to focus on...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Property (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I will follow up on the Deputy's suggestion.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: That was hardly a question at all. The Deputy is living in a dream world. We experienced an extraordinary economic shock of incredible proportions when 16% of our employment was wiped out. We are, however, stabilising that. While the Deputy refers to a 33,000 job loss, only 3,000 of those were in the private sector. The sectors we need to grow for the future are stabilising....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Property (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: The property in question, Carrisbrook House, was acquired by AnCO in 1969 on a 65 year full-repairing lease, commencing on 1 August 1969 and expiring on 31 July 2034. There is no provision for lease breaks and the rent is due for review every seven years. The Industrial Development Authority, IDA, acquired assignment of the lease in 1976. Since the relocation of the IDA to Wilton Park...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Property (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: I do not think in time left I could deal with the lessons that have been learnt from the property problems we inherited. Numerous lessons have been learnt, as the Deputy knows. The Office of Public Works, OPW, which manages all public office property, has been notified of this building on repeated occasions. The OPW has signalled that there is not a demand for the type of accommodation on...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Industrial Development (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: Manufacturing is a key priority of enterprise policy. Employment in the sector makes up 64% of Enterprise Ireland supported jobs and over 50% of IDA supported jobs. Manufacturing employment grew by 1.1% in 2011, an increase of almost 2,200 jobs. This reverses a trend of four continuous years of job losses, when almost 45,000 jobs were lost in manufacturing. The bulk of the growth was in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Industrial Development (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: The most reliable figures are the agency figures because seasonal factors come into play in respect of the QNHS. Since we entered Government, we have had a focus on the sector. It is growing, in sharp contrast to the history of the sector. There were misgivings in the area in 2006 when the manufacturing sector was having problems. There was inactivity in the Department and no action was...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (22 Nov 2012)

Richard Bruton: In the action plan for jobs, the Government set an ambitious target of having 100,000 more people at work by 2016. Achieving this target requires a transformational change to our economy. This Government, when it came into office, was starting from a position where more than 300,000 jobs had been lost in the previous three years. Of those job losses, 150,000 were in the construction sector...