Results 46,181-46,200 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Groceries Order. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: The issue of alcohol is multifaceted and the advisory group established by the Minster for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is examining a range of issues. I took this opportunity to put the groceries order debate in context. Much alcohol is now imported and there are issues such as unit cost and selling price, which are provisions defined in legislation. There is significant difficulty in...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment, FDI, to Ireland and its regions. The marketing of individual areas for new or expansion FDI investments and jobs is a day-to-day operational matter for the agency. During 2007, the latest period for which data are available, 9,216 new jobs were created in IDA supported companies, of which...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: What target is the Deputy referring to?

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: Are we talking about strategic sites?

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: No.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: That is strategic. I will explain.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: I did not anticipate Deputy Penrose endeavouring to outdo Senator Cassidy on the virtues of Mullingar. Deputy Mary O'Rourke is keeping a watchful eye on both of you in terms of job creation in Westmeath.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: The objective of 50% was for new greenfield projects. The general question the Deputy asked was about jobs created.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: That was always the objective. I will go through that in a moment.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: The 16% I mentioned is of all new jobs created, that is, 9,216 in 2007. How many existing companies create additional jobs by new project expansions and so on? Quite a number of the 9,000 jobs would be expansions to existing facilities and the operations of companies that already exist in Ireland. The greenfield ones are new projects. Substantial progress was achieved during the period...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: It shows the following — 45% in 2000, 43% in 2001, 44% in 2002, 46% in 2003, 41% in 2004, 39% in 2005 and 36% in 2006. Very significant progress was made by the IDA in the BMW region and there were very significant projects across the region. In reply to Deputy Penrose's question, the IDA has business parks across the country, including a substantial one for which I dug the sod in...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: I would refer the Deputy to Carlow. I spent a number of years going there and took many heated attacks and so on in regard to our inability——

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: In the space of four or five months we had the announcement of Merck Sharp & Dohme for Carlow and two weeks ago, an internationally traded service company, Unum. The idea of having property solutions is very important. The strategic serviced sites to which I referred are a new development by the IDA in terms of major sites with all the utilities in place and the planning permission secured...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: I am mindful of the claims of Mullingar to inward investment, given its centrality to the nation. I will continue to work with the IDA to try to bring investment there.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: Not miserably.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy is representing his leader very well. He is even prepared to go to Carlow and sacrifice his own constituency.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: The Forfás annual employment survey shows that in five-year period from 2003 to 2007 the net gain in the numbers of new jobs created in IDA supported companies amounted to 4,623. This relatively small net gain masks the fact that there has been a considerable churn in employment in client companies. The significance of foreign direct investment to Ireland's current economic prosperity and...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: The question asks about the net gain. That is a fair question because it amassed some of the bigger issues. A total of 53,976 jobs was created over that period.

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: That is a huge number. Unfortunately 49,300 odd jobs were lost. That reflects the churn in the economy. Fortunately, over the past decade we have been in the strong position where we created many jobs in services and the indigenous sector improved. We have had record job creation figures of 80,000 last year and 90,000 the previous year. We have created more jobs than we have lost. In...

Job Creation. (28 Feb 2008)

Micheál Martin: Watch this space in regard to Kerry. We do not like putting targets on it because although I understand fully the Deputy's sincerity, I know what he would do with them if we did not reach them. The IDA, of course, has benchmarks and targets for the different sectors.