Results 25,261-25,280 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: Question No. 239, another question tabled by Deputy Durkan.

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: In 2009 there were major reductions in industrial jobs around the world - the number of new industrial jobs was low - and Ireland was not immune from these developments. The main cause of the job losses which occurred was excess capacity in the international recession and arose from a restructuring process which went on in industry in Ireland and around the world. Overall job numbers in...

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: While no specific study is being carried out at present, the turnover in companies is a feature of technology moving on. The pharmaceutical sector began by processing bulk chemicals and it gradually became more sophisticated. Ireland had the knack to continually move up the value chain. The problem that continues to arise is that the more routine elements of each sector become commodities...

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: My Department and its agencies maintain an early warning monitor on issues that adversely affect sectors of the economy. Through the agencies, we ensure we are positioned to meet the rising tides either through research and development investment or by anticipating change. Ireland's offering, which used to be plentiful cheap labour and tax incentives, has become more sophisticated. We have...

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I understand there are approximately 1,200 placements on the internships scheme. Perhaps they have not yet been tied down and completed but the programme has been very successful and the Minister for Social Protection is pleased with the progress made thus far. It is one of our success stories. It started on 1 July and even though we are not yet three weeks into the month, there is already...

Employment Support Services (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: The Government is acutely aware of the scale of the challenge we face in combating unemployment and emigration, with more than 440,000 people on the live register. This crisis was created by years of bad economic policies and it will take considerable time to correct. The new Government is committed to getting people back to work. As the Deputy will be aware, on 10 May the Government...

Employment Support Services (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I regret the 21,000 proposed activation places were not included in the budget and they are entirely new. As the Deputy knows - he was very critical of this - they needed to be funded by way of new sources of revenue. So these were not planned. The programme had an additional 5,000 places under Tús, which the Minister has now put into practice. That would be 5,000 in addition to the...

Employment Support Services (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy knows, the Government is developing several initiatives designed to get companies that have not been exporting to access the export market. That the Government has also taken great strides to improve access to credit for small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, is a significant element. The Government is examining the potential for a strategic bank to provide new sources of...

Job Protection (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 23 together. As the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, I am keen to ensure that the cost base for business is competitive to enable enterprises to grow and to support job creation. While there has been a welcome improvement in cost competitiveness in the past two years, including in the energy field, any reversal of these trends would be...

Job Protection (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I agree with the Deputy. Cost competitiveness is an issue across the range. For example, the Government is committed to tackling rents, to which end the Department of Justice and Equality proposes legislation to address the issue of upward-only rent reviews. While the cost of professional services has been decreasing, the National Competitiveness Council, NCC, has highlighted the fact that...

Job Protection (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: The ECB, under statute from the European Union, decides its interest rates policy with an eye on inflation across the eurozone.

Job Protection (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: Politicians may express their views that current interest rate policy is inappropriate for Irish circumstances - there is no doubt that rising interest rates do not suit us - but, on the other hand, the ECB is clearly established under legislation. We can look at the issue the Deputy raised of the difficulty for Irish SMEs in getting loans. That is why the Government restructured the banks...

State Agencies (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: As part of the Forfás annual employment survey, the overall cost per job is calculated each year by reference to the cost of jobs created during and sustained to the end of a seven-year period. The accepted accounting measure for the cost per job is cost per job sustained. This is calculated by taking into account all direct agency expenditure on all Enterprise Ireland client companies in...

State Agencies (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I do not think it is a fair judgment that these were bad choices. Internationally, the recession we have experienced has been unprecedented. Anyone who has part of his or her business in the Irish market has suffered a 20% drop, while world markets have dropped by about 10%. This has been an exceptional maelstrom for Irish business. While I was not party to the decision to provide...

State Agencies (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: This was not the subject of the question.

State Agencies (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: My understanding is that the vast majority of Enterprise Ireland's staff are customer-facing. In other words, they are dealing daily with businesses, either on their research or marketing needs. This is not a huge, top-heavy administrative operation. Obviously, every section of this Department will have to be under scrutiny. We are under an obligation to reduce the numbers employed in...

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: Digital gaming is one of a number of key sectors which I see as offering strong potential for growth and increased employment in Ireland. The global video games market was valued at $55.5 billion in 2010 and is expected to grow to $82.5 billion by 2015, making it the fastest growing segment of the wider entertainment and media sector. It is eclipsing music and box office figures at this...

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I do not really accept what the Deputy is saying. Like any business, it depends on a number of elements of government to make it right. In my discussions with representatives of the sector, it was made clear that they want to see the skills flow. The interpretation of research and development tax credits is obviously important for them as well, which is also a revenue function. Support...

Job Creation (19 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: I had a joint meeting with the Minister for Education and Skills only recently to discuss specifically education and training skills gaps. He is bringing forward proposals to increase the graduate intake into areas with skills gaps, while under the Springboard initiative he wants to switch people with different skills into these areas. We are very conscious of the opportunity for networking...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (14 Jul 2011)

Richard Bruton: The EU's General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC), transposed into Irish law by S.I. No. 199 of 2004, places the onus on all operators, manufacturers, distributors, importers etc. to ensure that only safe products are placed on the market. If operators become aware that products on the market present a potential hazard they must take appropriate measures up to and including recall of the...