Results 24,361-24,380 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: It was recently filled by public advertisement.

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Senators for a very good debate. The original debate on this was probably in 1776, when Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, in which he said it was to not the virtue of the butcher, the baker or the candlestick maker that we owed our dinner, but to the invisible hand of competition. He also commented that business people never come together but to collude against the...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I did not interrupt the Senator's own flight.

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: That is the difficulty. It was not just this Attorney General but the Attorney General who advised the Senator's party in Government who took this view. We cannot decide that a certain behaviour is criminal and then say we are going to pursue it in a different way. That is the ultimate difficulty with the case for civil fines. Several people have quoted the EU and the IMF elements of the...

Seanad: Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I imagine it is.

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 83 together. The National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) case management system facilitates the capturing of details in respect of employers inspected in various sectors, including construction and electrical. It does not capture details in respect of individual employers which may, as part of their overall business, have been engaged in public...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (7 Mar 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 a permit being applied for in respect of the named individual. I wish to advise the Deputy that it is current Government policy to issue new employment...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (7 Mar 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 companies.

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: As I have pointed out on many occasions, the Government does not create jobs – entrepreneurs and successful businesses do. However, the Government has a key role to play in providing the environment where businesses can start-up, expand and create jobs. The Action Plan for Jobs, which was launched on 13th February, aims to transform the operating environment for business in order to...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 99 together. The Quarterly National Household Survey for the fourth quarter of 2011 shows that 60% of those who are unemployed have been out of work for 12 months or more. Unemployment amongst people under 25 years of age is running at approximately 30%. The Government has recognised that these levels of unemployment could become a structural problem...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 93 together. International benchmarking statistics reveal that Ireland imposes a relatively low burden of regulation on business. The Forfás Competitiveness Scoreboard 2011 states that Ireland's regulatory environment is one of the least restrictive in the OECD in relation to product market regulation, the time taken to comply with tax payments is one...

Written Answers — Credit Availability: Credit Availability (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: A key priority of the Programme for Government is to ensure that an adequate supply of credit is available to fund small and medium sized businesses. The Government's restructuring of the main pillar banks last year was designed to ensure a better flow of credit to viable businesses. In addition the Government has four distinct measures it is delivering to supplement the more traditional...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 2011 was published on 22 December 2011. The Bill has completed Second Stage in the Dáil and is currently awaiting Committee Stage. The main purpose of the Bill is to implement the commitment in the Programme for Government to reform the Joint Labour Committee system. The reform of the legal framework for our statutory wage setting mechanisms...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: It has been the consistent policy of successive Irish Governments to promote collective bargaining through the laws of this country and through the development of an institutional framework supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations that is premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association. There is an extensive range of statutory provisions designed to back up the...

Written Answers — National Minimum Wage: National Minimum Wage (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: Ireland, along with nineteen other countries among the EU's 27 Member States, has national legislation setting a minimum wage. There are large differences in the level of the national minimum wage across countries with the highest minimum wage in euro terms (both hourly and monthly) being more than 10 times higher than the lowest. In January 2012, the gross minimum monthly wage in the EU...

Written Answers — Public Service Reform: Public Service Reform (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: Last November, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform launched the Public Service Reform Plan, which was based on increasing efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility in the Public Service. There is an onus on the Public Service to ensure that it provides real value for money in the services it provides. One of the key themes of the Reform Plan is to maximise new and innovative...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 96 together. Employment policies that promote labour market flexibility together with tax and benefit systems that reward work and provide a pathway to employment, education and training opportunities for those who have lost their jobs are a necessary prerequisite for progress. The measures in the Government's Action Plan on Jobs together with those to...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government has an ambition to make Ireland the best small country in the world in which to do business by 2016. To achieve this objective, we must improve our international competitiveness and the competitiveness of companies based here. Competitiveness is determined by a variety of factors, including business costs, increased productivity, the availability of skilled labour, good...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: As Minister with responsibility for Enterprise Policy, I have recently announced in the Action Plan for Jobs that a new "one-stop-shop" micro enterprise support structure will be established through the dissolution of the existing CEB structures and the creation of a new Micro Enterprise and Small Business Unit in Enterprise Ireland. EI will work with the Local Authorities to establish a new...

Written Answers — Grocery Industry: Grocery Industry (7 Mar 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Programme for Government contains a specific commitment to enact legislation to regulate certain practices in the grocery goods sector. I intend to give effect to this commitment by including a specific enabling provision in the legislation currently being prepared by my Department to merge the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority, which will allow for the introduction...