Results 23,521-23,540 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: There will be new jobs. They will be outlined by other Ministers. Investing, through NewERA, in the assets we need for the future and being willing to sell older assets from the past will, even in a financially strained economy, create funds to drive new employment and infrastructures. That is an area where real progress is being made by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy refuses to see the positive things that are happening in the economy. This year, we had 95 high potential start-up companies. They were set up by predominantly young entrepreneurial people, men and women, who are setting up businesses that have the potential to grow to significant scale. We are backing those enterprises with preference shares, supports and mentoring. They are...

Other Questions: Unemployment Levels (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 49 , 55 and 62 together. In the three years prior to taking office, over 300,000 jobs were lost. The collapse of the property bubble brought our banking system to a point of collapse and employment in the construction sector fell by 60%. The surge in unemployment is the direct consequence of these failed policies. A huge task of economic transformation...

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Commission's ability to fund more initiatives in the youth unemployment area will depend on the European Social Fund budget. However, it is clearly Commissioner Andor's intention that there will be a shift in emphasis towards youth unemployment and youth guarantees. That is the implication of what he is seeking to do. With regard to the domestic economy, I take Deputy Wallace's point....

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The European Commission has signalled its intention to bring forward proposals to combat youth unemployment and support transition to work through a range of measures such as youth guarantees, activation measures targeting young people, the quality of traineeships, and youth mobility. The proposed measures follow upon the call by the European Council on 29 June that urged member states to...

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: With respect to Deputy Calleary, the question he put down was on the EU Presidency and asking a supplementary question about a national initiative-----

Other Questions: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The position in regard to the Presidency is that it is seeking to have a youth guarantee scheme adopted but there is no financial mechanism attached to it. What it is considering is that it would be embodied in the reviews by the EU of the employment policies of different countries. They will be looking to see to what extent countries are embodying youth initiatives. The Government has a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Enterprise Offices (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Unfortunately, the grouping has already been determined. These are taken in order as people have won priority. I must answer them in order. This question is specifically about the youth guarantee and the EU Presidency, and therefore it has not been grouped with other questions on youth unemployment. Questions that relate just to youth unemployment have been grouped.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Enterprise Offices (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Yes.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Expenditure (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Calleary knows that budgetary decisions are collective decisions taken by the Cabinet. There is a consultative process and the Minister is open to consultation and giving groups the opportunity to make submissions. The groups have made submissions which, as the Deputy knows, signal that within small businesses, the absence rate is but a little over 2%. This is contrasted with the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Expenditure (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Decisions by the Cabinet will be taken collectively and we will consider the evidence. No Minister comes to the table with a view that is closed. These issues will be debated and we will take decisions in due course. This is the approach that any Government must take. I am acutely conscious of the needs of business to remain competitive. We must promote employment and be wary of anything...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Issues (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Acting Chairman for allowing the supplementary questions. I wish to make it clear that we are undertaking a massive transformation, as Deputy Tóibín pointed out. Construction collapsed and 60% of employment in this sector was wiped out. A total of 160,000 mainly male employees became unemployed. There is a huge job to create a new economy that will absorb people from...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Issues (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy has got it wrong. The food sector is one of the sectors that is doing very well. If one looks at the employment numbers within Enterprise Ireland, it has grown by something like 4% in the past 12 months. This is a sector that is growing and it is building its strength on innovation, new green products and breaking open new markets. If one looks at the data, one will see that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sick Pay Scheme Expenditure (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 45 and 46 together. Earlier this year, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, who has policy responsibility for the sick pay scheme, held a consultative meeting to discuss potential changes to the scheme in Ireland. The meeting was held in the context of the growing cost of, and dependence on, State-funded sickness benefit schemes and the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Issues (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Ireland suffered a fall of more than 300,000 in the number of people in employment in the three years to March 2011. The private sector experienced the brunt of the job losses, with the construction sector alone losing 150,000 jobs in the period. To reverse this trend and deliver our target of 100,000 extra jobs by 2016 will require a major transformation in the economy. The new economy...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Guarantee Scheme Applications (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: My Department has launched two new credit schemes. While these schemes were considered by the previous Minister, he did not deliver them. My Department has delivered two new instruments, the microfinance scheme which was launched last week and the loan guarantee scheme which will be, as stated in my reply, launched imminently, which means within the next fortnight. There are huge problems...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Guarantee Scheme Applications (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: Before the clock starts, I take the opportunity to welcome Deputy Calleary to his new role as this is the first time we have had an opportunity to speak in the House. As Deputies will be aware, the Oireachtas enacted the Credit Guarantee Act 2012 in July 2012. I signed a commencement order on 30 August 2012. Since the Bill passed, considerable work has been undertaken to prepare the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Issues (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government inherited a situation where 300,000 jobs had been lost in the three years prior to March 2011, our banking system had all but collapsed, and we were in the middle of a world-wide economic downturn. Previous Governments had become too dependent on a small number of sectors to support economic performance – an approach that was neither wise nor sustainable. This...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Youth Unemployment Numbers (2 Oct 2012)

Richard Bruton: The rise in youth unemployment as a result of the global economic downturn is a challenge for most EU countries. Comparative figures from Eurostat show that Ireland had a youth unemployment rate of 30.5% at the end of last year. The EU average was 22.1%, with several countries having a higher youth unemployment rate than Ireland. The Government is tackling unemployment generally...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Workplace Relations Services Provision (2 Oct 2012)

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 committed to delivering a root-and-branch...