Results 48,361-48,380 of 51,015 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2005: Second Stage. (24 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am not sure of the entitlements with regard to fees.

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2005: Second Stage. (24 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I will take the point on board and discuss it with the Minister, Deputy Hanafin. Part of our agenda in that respect will be to move people into the labour force. It would not be a good experience if people had to move out of the justice system — the accommodation centres, for example — on to social welfare. That is the case at the moment but we are anxious to act on this fairly quickly....

Seanad: Employment Permits Bill 2005: Second Stage. (24 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: This Bill passed all Stages in the Dáil following a constructive and wide-ranging debate. We were happy to take on board a number of Opposition amendments where we felt they made genuine improvements to the Bill. In overall terms, the Bill provides a framework within which there is the flexibility to adapt and use different migration policy instruments to respond to changes in the economy...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (23 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland. Under the Industrial Development Acts I am precluded from giving directives to the Agency regarding individual undertakings or from giving preference to one area over others. I understand from IDA Ireland that since January 2005 the agency has brought five companies on site...

Written Answers — Official Hospitality: Official Hospitality (23 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: My Department does not have a wine cellar. A review carried out on foot of the Deputy's question identified only six bottles of wine. Four bottles are a 2002 Italian Cabernet Sauvignon. They were bought in Mitchell & Son's Wine Merchants in 2004 and the cost was 9.05 euro per bottle. In addition, there are two bottles of a 2003 Australian Shiraz. It is not clear where these were acquired....

Written Answers — Insurance Industry: Insurance Industry (23 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Competition Act 2002 prohibits anti-competitive arrangements between "undertakings" and the abuse of a dominant position by undertakings. From the information provided, it appears that this issue may relate to an alleged restriction on competition. The Competition Authority is an independent statutory body responsible for the enforcement of competition law in the State. Any evidence of an...

Written Answers — Ministerial Responsibilities: Ministerial Responsibilities (18 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: On 7th December, 2004, Ministerial Functions were delegated to Minister of State Deputy Tony Killeen, who has responsibility for Labour Affairs, under the Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 2004 (S.I. No. 809 of 2004) in respect of the following pieces of legislation: Enactments ∙Trade Union Acts 1871 to 1990 ∙Conspiracy and Protection of Property...

Order of Business. (18 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: No one protested about the Deputy's comments.

Written Answers — Official Languages Act: Official Languages Act (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: My Department has not yet been notified to prepare a Statutory Scheme under Section 11 of the Official Languages Act, 2003. However, since 2003 my Department has complied with all the appropriate sections of the Act that have commenced, namely, Section 9.2 relating to correspondence etc, received in the Department in the Irish language and Section 10 relating to publishing key policy...

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

Micheál Martin: IDA Ireland is the agency with statutory responsibility for the attraction of foreign direct investment to Ireland. Under the Industrial Development Acts I am precluded from giving directives to the Agency regarding individual undertakings or from giving preference to one area over others. IDA Ireland assures me that it is actively promoting County Kerry and the advantages of locating in...

Written Answers — Manufacturing Sector: Manufacturing Sector (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The manufacturing sector in Ireland continues to perform strongly, both in terms of increasing turnover (monetary value) and production (volumes of units produced). According to the latest CSO Release — Industrial Production and Turnover (dated 12th May 2006), overall turnover in 2005 is up 13 percent relative to 2000 in manufacturing industries. Industrial Turnover Index 2000-2005 (Base...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 94, 98, and 143 together. The Social Partners, and the various Government Departments concerned, have been carefully considering a range of options that will underpin an enhanced employment rights compliance regime. The staffing and resourcing of the Labour Inspectorate in the context of a possible new employment rights compliance model is just one feature...

Written Answers — Grocery Industry: Grocery Industry (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 146 together. The Groceries Order was in place for many years and was abolished less than 2 months ago. I believe it is much too early at this stage to expect to see any significant impact on the grocery sector. However, I have asked the Competition Authority to monitor the sector and the Authority is currently putting in place a monitoring mechanism to...

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

Micheál Martin: Ireland has enjoyed substantial economic growth since the 1980s. In particular, the period since the mid-1990s saw a surge in Irish economic growth, as a result of both improved productivity and increased employment. While Ireland's productivity growth as measured by GNP per worker has been strong relative to other countries, between 2000 and 2005 it slowed down significantly. This was in...

Written Answers — Energy Costs: Energy Costs (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 102 together. Escalating energy costs are affecting the cost structure of all sectors of the economy, including households. Global energy markets have seen sustained increases in price levels for the past two years. No consumer, whether industrial, commercial or personal is immune from the impact of higher oil, gas and electricity prices as a result of...

Written Answers — Departmental Investigations: Departmental Investigations (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The costs incurred since 1997 on company investigations initiated by or on behalf of my Department currently amount to approximately €11.3 million. This amount does not include the salary costs of civil service staff who worked on a number of these investigations or those legal costs borne by the Vote of the Chief State Solicitor. Costs of some €9.3million were incurred by High Court...

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

Micheál Martin: In its Competitiveness Challenge 2005 (launched in November last year) the National Competitiveness Council emphasised the importance of the strategic direction enterprise policy is now taking. The NCC also suggested a range of policy choices for which my Department would be responsible and others that fall under the remit of other Government Departments. The NCC gave policy advice and...

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

Micheál Martin: We do not currently have precise statistics in relation to the total number of new small and medium sized enterprises established each year. However, during the period 1st May 2005 to 30th April 2006 a total of 17, 707 companies were registered with the Companies Registration Office, which operates under the aegis of my Department. The vast majority of these would have been small or...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 123 together. The first stage in the strategy of ensuring that the regimes that regulate business are proportionate, effective and efficient is to gather evidence as a basis for framing and delivering reform. I set up two complementary bodies to achieve this end, the Business Regulation Forum and the Small Business Forum: Business Regulation Forum The...

Written Answers — Export Markets: Export Markets (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The most recent annual trade figures published by the Central Statistics Office show that the value of Irish exports for 2005 increased by 5% from 2004 and this followed a 2% rise the previous year. This increase of 5% in 2005 continues the upward trend in the value of exports, which, with the exception of the global economic slowdown, which occurred around 2002, has been a feature of our...