Results 421-440 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: For clarity, I want to return to one of the matters that was raised by Ms Barry. I very specifically mentioned the Dublin hotels and emphasised them as a group, that consideration was being given to exclude them from the reduced VAT rate because of their behaviour. It was not the restaurant sector or the rest of the hospitality sector, because as Ms Barry rightly pointed out, that sector is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: As a consequence of that, people who regularly come to the city to do business cannot get a room and they get cheesed off. The point I am trying to make is it is counter-productive for the whole sector. I am trying to send a strong signal to the hotels that do it to desist or the Government will be encouraged, certainly by me, to take action that the sector will feel.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: Fair enough. On the issue of red tape, it is too late now but perhaps the witnesses could think about it and make a written submission to the committee on how we can reduce it. We would be very interested in being as supportive as possible on that. I could not agree more about the complexity involved in tendering for SMEs. Some of the complexities are ridiculous for the small amounts of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I welcome our guests. I do not know if they were listening to our previous exchanges with the Small Firms Association, IBEC and the food industry representatives. They came with many suggestions on how to reduce red tape, which we would welcome. We also welcome the input of the Irish Hotels Federation. I hope that we may have an opportunity to collate all of the suggestions together at a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: We need to be clear that the argument does not stack up. The average rate quoted is a rate per annum and it does not catch the peaks, which I call "the peaks of abuse". What they are based on is what the hotels feel the market and the customer will bear. That is the long and the short of it. I have a lot of time for the hotel industry, which is a hugely important one to our tourism. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I will be happy to hear what they have to say. I do not mean to be confrontational, but I think we need to be realistic. We should have a proper discussion about this issue, rather than pretending it is not a problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I thank Mr. Fenn and Mr. Dolan for their presentations. I hope they understand that we are raising these issues in the interests of protecting the hotel, hospitality and tourism industries. I think they will acknowledge that a great deal of business, notwithstanding the hard-nosed end of it, is based on sentiment. This is particularly true in the tourism industry. People might not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: How many of the federation's members are hotels and how many are guesthouses?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: No, it is not fair. I am very glad that the Chairman has brought this discussion back to the issue of rates and, indeed, other costs. One of the questions I have concerns the manner in which the industry is assessed and whether there is a form of discount. For many hotels outside of Dublin and the bigger urban conurbations, the tourist season de facto stops in October and kicks off again...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: That six months' rent is spread out over the year as an average.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: Is the federation happy with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: What of the big hotels in places like Killarney?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: Based on overhead falling income?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Cost of Doing Business in Ireland: Discussion (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I am sorry to cut across the Chairman, but can we invite the hotel industry to make a further submission on how we could reduce red tape as we did with the previous-----

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I sympathise with those who lost loved ones in yesterday's storm. I join other Senators in commending the members of the emergency services and first responders who did sterling work yesterday and who will continue to do such work for some days. I also commend the Government on its preparedness and the preparations that took place, without which the loss of life would have been greater. I...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (12 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: As spokesman for jobs in the Seanad, I welcome the fact that Sparkasse Bank is attending a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. It has made an interesting proposal that I believe could be of great value to many SMEs. Like Senator Kieran O'Donnell, I wish to raise the issue of pensions. It is a fact that 23,000 women are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation, Irish Rural Link and Public Banking Forum of Ireland (12 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh na daoine as Irish Rural Link. Willkommen und guten Tagto the people from Sparkassen. The Chairman might say at some point that I have never shown my face at this committee before but as a spokesperson, for jobs and enterprise, I am very much interested in what the witnesses have said and their model, or at least what I know of it. The witnesses may...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation, Irish Rural Link and Public Banking Forum of Ireland (12 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: On a more serious note, what is the range of loan size given out? I suppose this applies more to the people from Sparkassen. Is the minimum €20,000, for example, and the maximum €500,000? I am not clear on that. I know Mr. Maye has alluded to it but what would be the relationship with credit unions? Would it be collaborative, complementary or competitive? Supervision and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland (Resumed): Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation, Irish Rural Link and Public Banking Forum of Ireland (12 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I do not want to delay the meeting but I just wish to point out that the credit unions would be well reassured by what Mr. Boland has said. I would go so far as saying, without putting words in his mouth, that this represents a real opportunity for them. This is because they are cash rich, have an organisation and skill set, and are a natural partner in terms of the main branch and having...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Oct 2017)

James Reilly: I point out to Senator Billy Lawless that while optometrists can deliver very valuable services, there are also many that they cannot. Outpatients departments cover the entirety of services, which is why they provide a slightly more expensive service. I would like to make some quick responses to the comments made by the leader of Fianna Fáil in the House on the issue of housing....