Results 48,041-48,060 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Petrol Station Closures: Petrol Station Closures (24 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: Consumers benefit from competition in the market and the Government is committed to fostering competition in all sectors of the economy. The national markets in which oil companies and petrol stations operate are no exception. I am aware of instances where petrol filling stations have been sold for alternative use indeed this practice is not just confined to petrol filling stations and one...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (19 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: The average search and retrieval fee charged in respect of Freedom of Information requests made to my Department between 2002 and 2005 was €63.77, €57.99, €40.25 and €45.83 respectively, averaged over all cases where a search and retrieval fee was charged. The equivalent figure for the first nine months of 2006 was €64.67. The median search and retrieval fee in respect of each of...

Written Answers — EU Enlargement: EU Enlargement (19 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: As the Deputy is aware the Employment Permits Act 2006 provides for the following three options as regards access to the Irish labour market for nationals of Bulgaria and Romania on their accession to the EU on 1st January 2007. These are: (i) continue to require work permits with the current requirement for a labour market test to establish that the positions cannot be filled from within...

Written Answers — Equal Opportunities Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (19 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: The number of persons employed by my Department recorded as having a disability is currently 44, which represents 4.27% of the current total staff number. My Department therefore exceeds the 3% target for the employment of people with disabilities required of all Government Departments. My Department is committed to developing the careers of its staff with disabilities, a commitment which is...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (18 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: Under the Industrial Development Acts, IDA Ireland is the agency charged with the attraction of foreign direct investment to this country, its regions and its areas, with the exception of the Shannon Free Zone, which is the responsibility of Shannon Development. Responsibility for the provision of industrial property solutions within the Mid West region also lies with Shannon Development and...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (18 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I understand from IDA Ireland that the company in question has not made any closure announcement. Unfortunately, six people were let go on 6 October 2006, due to difficult market conditions and related problems which the company is experiencing. The agency is maintaining close contact with the company which has agreed to notify IDA Ireland of any future developments. The agency has also...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 405 and 413 together. The Employment Permits Act 2006 explicitly grants the Minister the power to refuse an application for an employment permit if a permit has been granted to that worker within the previous twelve months. This allows me as Minister to exercise my discretion to balance the rights of the employer who will have gone through an amount of effort...

Written Answers — Research Funding: Research Funding (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 406 to 408, inclusive, together. The information requested falls within the statutory remit of Enterprise Ireland, an agency under the aegis of my Department. I have asked the agency to collate the information and when it is completed forward it on to you.

Written Answers — Employment Statistics: Employment Statistics (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am informed by the Central Statistics Office that the exact information as requested by the Deputy is not available. Statistics on employment and unemployment are compiled, at a regional level, from the Quarterly National Household Survey. There are eight regions in the State; Border, Midland, West, Dublin, Mid-East, Mid-West, South-East and South-West. Sub-regional statistics, of the...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: International indicators of competitiveness are produced by a number of international organisations. Many of these are based on a combination of survey and statistical data and they give us broad pointers to competitiveness and where we stand vis a vis other countries. In 2004 the World Economic Forum placed Ireland 26th. in its international competitiveness league a rise of four places on...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: People in Ireland who wish to establish their own business are facilitated in doing so through the promotion by the Government of an economic environment that is supportive of entrepreneurial activity combined with a wide range of targeted interventions by various State enterprise development agencies. There are, in the first instance, thirty-five City and County Enterprise Boards (CEBs)...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: Given the number of records to be examined for the period concerned, my Department is unable to supply the material sought by the Deputy within the timescale required. Officials in my Department are undertaking an examination of relevant Departmental records at present and I will forward the information to the Deputy shortly.

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (17 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 414 and 415 together. It is evident from international research that the availability of suitable property solutions is key to the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). IDA Ireland's property portfolio has been a fundamental pillar in helping sell Ireland as a location for mobile inward investment since the 1960's and remains so to the present day....

Written Answers — Grant Payments: Grant Payments (12 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 121 together. I should point out that responsibility for the poultry sector rests with the Minister for Agriculture and Food. However, I have been in contact with the Minister in regard to the future of the company in question. My Ministerial colleague met with a group representing the producers that supply live chickens to the company on 3 October...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (12 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 119 together. The number of job losses in 2005 in Donegal, for IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland supported companies, totals 578, the majority of which were in the textile sector. It should also be noted that 648 jobs were created in IDA and EI supported companies in 2005. 2006 figures are not yet available. A breakdown of sectoral employment for...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (12 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: Community Employment (CE) is an active labour market programme designed to provide eligible long term unemployed people and other disadvantaged persons with an opportunity to engage in useful work within their communities on a temporary basis. CE helps unemployed people to re-enter the open labour market by breaking their experience of unemployment through a return to a work routine and to...

Company Closures. (11 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Collins and Deputy Neville for raising this important matter. Like the Deputies, I was disappointed to hear about the situation at the company in question. I am conscious of the effect the job losses will have on the workers involved and their families as well as the community in the surrounding area. This is distressing news for those who will lose their jobs. I assure the...

Company Closures. (11 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: Unfortunately, the situation is a voluntary engagement between employer and employee, but we will pursue that issue in so far as we can with the employer, as we undertook today in our meetings with the workers' representatives. As the Deputies know, Microtherm was established in Ireland in 1975 and employs 46 people in Bruff, County Limerick, where it manufactures thermostats for the white...

Company Closures. (11 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: A central goal for the industrial development agencies is the achievement of balanced regional development. The attractiveness of Limerick lies in its position as a regional gateway, with the critical mass and infrastructure necessary to attract mobile investment to the region. Both the Government and the agencies recognise the need to provide high-volume employment opportunities in...

Company Closures. (11 Oct 2006)

Micheál Martin: I thank Deputy Boyle for raising this issue and I accept his absolute commitment, and that of all public representatives in the city of Cork, in respect of it. As the Deputy is aware, the issue of the retail workers in question and their jobs concerns the transfer of a lease. The parties involved have been unable to reach agreement on the matter. On Thursday and Friday last, we met the...