Results 24,281-24,300 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I understand from Enterprise Ireland that the agency received a communication from the promoter concerned on 4 February last. I am informed that an uncharacteristic delay of two weeks occurred in responding to this communication. As soon as this was brought to the attention of the agency, they acted immediately. The agency has offered to meet with the promoter to discuss his proposals in...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy's question concerns a dispute between the company and twenty employees in relation to a claim for enhanced redundancy terms in excess of the employees' statutory redundancy entitlement, following the acquisition of the company and the closure of its Dublin offices in 2011. I understand that the company has complied with its obligations in respect of statutory redundancy payments...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: On the 22 March last, Vodafone Ireland announced that it had completed a review of the company's current contracted mobile call centre operations. The company has stated that it will be adopting a new model for its mobile customer care, resulting in a move to a new provider, Teleperformance. As part of the changes, 27 Vodafone roles and 290 contract roles currently provided by Rigney Dolphin...

Written Answers — Departmental Strategies: Departmental Strategies (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The retail sector has been impacted by a shift in consumer spending patterns and an overall reduction in the level of consumer spending as a result of the recession. Statistics published by the Central Statistics Office at the end of March show that the volume of retail sales - including the motor trade - decreased by 1.9% over the period February 2011 to February 2012. Nonetheless, the...

Written Answers — Parliamentary Questions: Parliamentary Questions (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I provided 328 written answers to 372 Parliamentary Questions in the period 1 January, 2012 to 31 March, 2012 (in cases where similar PQs were asked, they were grouped and answered in a single reply). Concerning the other aspects of the Deputy's question, this information is not readily available and would entail the investment of scarce resources to compile the information requested. A...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Officials from my Department have contacted representatives of the Administrator of the company on several occasions since the announcement of the closure of the stores. The representatives confirmed that the business and assets of the company were sold on 1 April 2012. Despite this sale, the company remains insolvent. The purchaser has indicated that, for economic reasons, it does not...

Written Answers — Company Closures: Company Closures (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Rents are just one element of overhead costs that affect businesses. The National Competitiveness Council reported in its Competitiveness Scorecard 2011 that Ireland experienced a fall of 22% in rental costs for prime industrial sites in 2010, with a decline of 12.3% in prime office space rental costs. These were the largest annual declines experienced across the countries benchmarked, and...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I have no plans to bring forward legislation to reform the law relating to collective redundancies. I believe that the existing provisions relating to collective redundancies, as expressed in the Protection of Employment Act 1977, give sufficient protection to employees. The statutory rights of employees, insofar as they relate to redundancy payments, are a matter for my colleague, the...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I have recently published a detailed document, Blueprint to Deliver a World-Class Workplace Relations Service, that sets out in detail the structures and processes that I intend to legislate for and establish by the end of this year. Publication of this document provides a further opportunity for consultation. I will shortly seek a Government decision for the priority drafting of the...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Equality Tribunal continues for the moment to be within the remit of the Department of Justice. Pending the planned transfer of this body to my Department as part of the Workplace Reform Programme questions concerning the Tribunal should be addressed to my colleague the Minister for Justice. The Labour Relations Commission is a statutory body that is independent of me in the performance...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Equality Tribunal continues for the moment to be within the remit of the Department of Justice. Pending the planned transfer of this body to my Department as part of the Workplace Reform Programme questions concerning the Tribunal should be addressed to my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality. The Labour Relations Commission is a statutory body that is independent of me in the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The total amount paid to mobile telephone companies in my Department in the years 2007 to 2011 inclusive is set out in a tabular statement. Year Company Amount Paid € 2007 Vodafone 48,689.62 O2 44,046.12 2008 Vodafone 296,361.70 O2 35,872.16 2009 Vodafone 218,595.23 O2 23,231.17 2010 Vodafone 186,301.93 O2 20,883.95 2011 Vodafone 158,413.22 O2 104.07 The mobile phone operator...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Jobs has set a target of supporting the creation of 100,000 net new jobs over the period 2012 to 2016, with the longer term objective of having 2 million people at work by 2020. In order to reach this target it will be necessary to implement radical reform across Government and the economy to make it easier for businesses to establish, thrive and create jobs. IDA Ireland...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: An Exchequer allocation is provided each year under the Estimates process for the funding of the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs). Allocation of funding to individual CEBs is conducted each year by the Central Coordination Unit (CCU) within Enterprise Ireland. In determining these allocations, a systematic approach is adopted by the CCU to ensure the maximum degree of objectivity and...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Action Plan for Jobs has set a target of supporting the creation of 100,000 net new jobs over the period 2012 to 2016, with the longer term objective of having 2 million people at work by 2020. In order to reach this target it will be necessary to implement radical reform across Government and the economy to make it easier for businesses to establish, thrive and create jobs. With...

Written Answers — Consultancy Contracts: Consultancy Contracts (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Tables 1 and 2 provide details of the costs associated with the consultancy contracts administered by my Department, and the names of the individuals / firms involved in the period specified by the Deputy. Table 1: DJEI Consultancy Contracts – 2011 Name of Company Amount Barberry Ltd, trading as Keating & Associates €862 IKEN Software €4,532 Four Point Software Development...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: In the matter referred to, officials from my Department have been in touch with representatives of the Administrator of the company on several occasions since the announcement of the closure of the stores and I have been appraised of developments. While any dispute of this nature is regrettable, the role of the State in such circumstances is to provide supports that allow the parties to...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I wish to advise the Deputy that this Work Permit application was refused on the 23rd February 2012 on the grounds that it is current Government policy to issue new employment permits only in respect of: · highly skilled, highly paid positions or; · non-EEA nationals who are already legally resident in the State on valid employment permits or; · positions requiring specialist or...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Member States are required to transpose Directive 2011/7/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment in commercial transactions (Recast) into national law by 16 March 2013. My Department is currently drafting a Consultation Paper on transposing the Directive. I expect to start this public consultation process in the coming weeks, with a view...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (18 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: My Department processes applications in respect of the different types of employment permits and all applications are processed in line with the Employment Permits Act 2006. The Employment Permits Section informs me that it has no record of permits being applied for or issued in respect of the named individual.