Results 24,461-24,480 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Trade Missions (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I will have to get the Deputy a separate briefing on that. In general terms, Enterprise Ireland has about 31 locations overseas and they support export missions. Under the new arrangement, we are also seeking to mobilise diplomatic representation. In those individual countries, there is a collective group which I acknowledge was introduced by the previous government. Representatives of...

Redundancy Payments (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The cases referred to specifically by the Deputy relate to a range of circumstances for which several legislative provisions exist. In the cases of Vita Cortex and Lagan Brick, the issues at the heart of the disputes fall primarily in the industrial relations sphere. While I remain concerned the issues at the centre of these disputes have yet to be resolved, I believe the parties to each of...

Redundancy Payments (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I sought to draw attention to the fact the disputes in question are different in their nature. I signalled we need to look again at the law in the cases of the Jane Norman and La Senza disputes where effectively an administration decision in the UK courts led to these companies closing. There is an exemption in law from the terms of the Protection of Employment Act 1977 where a company is...

Redundancy Payments (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy raised this issue on the previous occasion and I have checked it out. What happened in respect of Jane Norman is that some of the outlets were sold to an entirely new company by the administrator when it was appointed. The new company also purchased the brand "Jane Norman". Jane Norman Limited remained the company that had a responsibility to the workers employed. The new...

Redundancy Payments (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Yes, but the company is operating legally.

Redundancy Payments (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Many issues have been raised. The Minister for Social Protection has been intimately involved with the Vita Cortex situation and moved rapidly to ensure that the process that is in place under law where an employer is unable to pay was triggered. I acknowledge that there is a long waiting list for redundancy payments but in this case the Minister intervened directly to ensure that there...

Social Welfare Code (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated to the House in reply to Questions Nos. 129 to 131, inclusive, from Deputy Willie O'Dea on 6 December last, I asked Forfás to examine the potential impact on competitiveness and employment of statutory sick pay, if such a scheme were to be introduced in this country. I indicated at the time that it would be premature of me to comment on the report provided to me by Forfás...

Social Welfare Code (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is well aware that Government discussions are privileged and are not made known. Where decisions of this nature occur for consideration they are rightly protected by Cabinet confidentiality and collective responsibility, which are very important. Any presentation of such a proposal will be accompanied in the usual way by a regulatory impact assessment. Whatever information is...

Social Welfare Code (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: As the Taoiseach stated last week when the Deputy's leader asked this question, absenteeism is a greater problem in the public service, which generally accounts for a relatively small proportion of PRSI. We need to examine this issue. Most small businesses do not have a sick scheme and this would be a fresh burden were it applied to them. On the other side of the discussion, the OECD shows...

Job Creation (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 42 together. The development capital scheme as outlined in the Action Plan for Jobs 2012 has been developed to complement the existing range of financial supports offered by Enterprise Ireland. Other initiatives are already in place for the provision of capital at the early stage and scaling phases and a clear market failure was identified in the...

Job Creation (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The proposal on a strategic investment bank is being studied within Government. A series of banking products are emerging from the Government, for example, the micro-finance product, the partial loan guarantee product, the development capital product and the innovation funds. We are providing products across the range of SME needs to respond to what is recognised as a market failure in the...

Job Creation (29 Feb 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. Even in good times, businesses close and jobs are lost so, as the Deputy recognises, a significantly larger number of new jobs will clearly need to be generated on a gross basis over the period in question to achieve the target. Such jobs are not created by my...

Job Creation (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: As I explained, we have a figure of more than 100,000 gross in respect of the agencies - IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland - and there is a figure in respect of county enterprise boards. There is also a figure which has been used as to the multiplier effect of one job - the supply chain impact. We are indicating approximately 250,000 across that set of the economy. Of course, we are not...

Job Creation (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy has raised a number of points. As I pointed out in my reply - I am sorry but perhaps I glossed over it - there is no reliable data on gross job creation in the economy. The CSO did a once-off study, which is worth looking at, where it estimated that in 2010, gross job creation was approximately 12%. I suppose that would be equivalent to a little over 200,000 jobs in that year....

County Enterprise Boards (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The new structure of local enterprise offices, LEOs, will build on the significant work done by the county enterprise boards to date. It will be achieved through the dissolution of the existing CEBs and the creation of a new micro enterprise and small business unit within Enterprise Ireland that will work with the local authorities to establish a local enterprise office in each local...

County Enterprise Boards (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I could not agree more with the Deputy. The implication of this is vital. There are two dimensions, one of which is creating a strong small business unit in Enterprise Ireland, which will create excellence and standards, allocate budgets and hold local authorities to benchmarks of business friendly standards. There will be that level of engagement from a centre of excellence in Enterprise...

County Enterprise Boards (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Nurturing social enterprise and commercial enterprise at local level is vital. Much of what county enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland do is demand-led. We must nurture but we must also see them come forward with proposals. There is a strong regional mandate of Enterprise Ireland to nurture businesses. In the south east, we put in extra resources to create a better seedbed for...

County Enterprise Boards (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: There are 105 Enterprise Ireland community enterprise centres.

County Enterprise Boards (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The action plan for jobs has the objective of supporting the creation of 100,000 net new jobs over the period to 2016, with a longer-term objective of having 2 million people at work by 2020. The action plan does not pretend to be an instant solution to the scale of the unemployment problems we are facing. It is, rather, about addressing the fundamental requirements to enable businesses to...

County Enterprise Boards (29 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I do not know whether Deputy Healy got a chance to go to the Mansion House today, where 92 of the most exciting companies in Ireland committed to create 1,600 jobs over the next two and half years across every region. They are the sort of people who will create the economic future of this country. Their story needs to be celebrated more. It would do the Deputy a power of good to go down...