Results 48,501-48,520 of 51,299 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The details sought in respect of those bodies under the aegis of my Department which have a regulatory function are as follows: The Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB) is the national body with responsibility for accreditation in accordance with the relevant International Organisation for Standardisation ISO 17000 series of standards and guides and the harmonised EN 45000 series of...

Written Answers — Employment Vacancies: Employment Vacancies (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The ESRI carry out a monthly employment and vacancies survey for FÁS. This survey provides very useful up-to-date information on how the labour market is performing. The May survey did show a decline in the number of firms reporting vacancies from 22% to 16%. However, this does not indicate a decline in vacancy activity in the labour market. The previous months figure of 22% was unusually...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Department advised the company by letter dated April 4th 2006 that the material which had recently been supplied by them did not enable the establishment of the factual position in relation to payment of outstanding monies to workers. The company was asked again to supply the missing information. Papers purporting to show that the company has discharged the financial obligations to...

Written Answers — Skill Shortages: Skill Shortages (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The recently published Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report SME Management Development in Ireland concluded that while there was no evidence that Irish SME managers were less skilled or competent than those in other countries, enhanced capabilities are required to meet future business challenges. It therefore recommended that both the incidence and effectiveness of management...

Written Answers — Competition Authority: Competition Authority (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Competition Authority is an independent statutory agency responsible for the enforcement of competition law across all sectors of the Irish economy. Its mandate and functions are contained in the Competition Act, 2002, as amended. Section 42 of the Competition Act, 2002 provides that the Authority shall publish an annual report of its activities within two months of the end of each...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: Under the Government's decentralisation programme, FÁS is due to transfer its head office including 383 staff to Birr, County Offaly with a target date of 2009. The recent industrial action by SIPTU members in relation to the Birr relocation has ended on the basis that all the issues involved will be the subject of discussion under the aegis of the Labour Relations Commission. Under the LRC...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: Ireland is not unique in terms of recent employment losses in manufacturing. Employment in manufacturing is falling globally and this trend is not limited to developed countries. ILO and UNIDO employment estimates for key non-OECD countries such as Brazil, China and Russia show that manufacturing employment has also declined in these countries. A recent study cites a net job loss of more than...

Written Answers — Enterprise Strategy Group: Enterprise Strategy Group (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: Implementation of the Enterprise Strategy Group Report is ongoing. The implementation process is overseen by the Enterprise Advisory Group (EAG), consisting of representatives of the business community under the chairmanship of Michael Buckley with the participation of Secretaries General from relevant Government Departments. The EAG is currently finalising its first progress report which...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 102 together. I have provided funding of more than €30m to the County and City Enterprise Boards this year. This represents an increase of nearly 8% on the allocation provided in 2005. In addition to the Exchequer funding provided, the CEBs have an increasing flow of funds available to them from repayments of refundable grants provided in earlier...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The basic criteria under which the County Enterprise Boards have been operating since their inception in 1993, and under which funding is available, is based primarily on factors such as the sector of the economy in which an enterprise is operating or intends to operate and the size or proposed size of the enterprise. CEBs can assist, through either financial or non-financial means, in the...

Written Answers — Fair Trade Products: Fair Trade Products (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: My Department's offices are spread over 8 separate buildings, none of which have cafeterias or restaurants. My Department has only a medium sized canteen in Davitt House and a very small canteen in Kildare Street. As indicated in my reply to a similar question by Deputy McManus last month, the tea, coffee, sugar and other products served in those two canteens are not confined to Fair Trade...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: There are currently a total of twenty-seven Directives to be transposed by this Department. Of these, 16 remain to be transposed up to the end of 2006, details of which are given in the Table below. Another 11 Directives require to be transposed in 2007 and subsequent years. Regulations to implement Directive 2001/84 (Resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art) were...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: Support for job creation and investment in individual counties and regions is a day-to-day operational matter for the development agencies as part of their responsibility under the Industrial Development Acts. While I may give general policy directives to the agencies I am precluded under the Industrial Development Acts from giving directives regarding individual undertakings or from giving...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 167 together. My Department is required to move 250 posts to Carlow under the Government's Decentralisation Programme. In addition, four of the Agencies under the aegis of my Department are due to decentralise as follows: FÁS is to move 383 posts to Birr, Co. Offaly; Enterprise Ireland is to move 292 posts to Shannon; The Health and Safety Authority...

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: Quarterly results need to be interpreted with caution. Quarterly Indices are best compared to performance relative to the corresponding quarter of the previous year rather than relative to the preceding quarter. Furthermore, quarterly indices tend to fluctuate frequently and should more appropriately be viewed in the context of overall annual performance. The manufacturing sector in Ireland...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: A public call for submissions by any interested party to the Business Regulation Forum was carried out by means of advertisements in national newspapers on 23 and 24 March 2006. This was supplemented by a direct invitation to submit sent to 152 public and private sector entities on 25 May 2006. In response, 28 submissions have been received to date. The purpose of the call for submissions is,...

Written Answers — Skill Shortages: Skill Shortages (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: In a tight labour market such as exists in Ireland, it is understandable that there will be some difficulty at times for individual companies in recruiting suitable personnel for their vacancies. However, I think it is valid to claim that in Ireland, more than in most countries, there is a sustained commitment to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the necessary pool of qualified and...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: My Department operates an internal Early Warning System of potential job losses and firms in difficulty, based on material provided on a confidential basis by IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development. This information includes details as to why each particular situation has developed. While the number of redundancies was higher in the first three months of 2006 than the...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: A budget of €974.375 million has been allocated to FÁS for 2006. Expenditure by FÁS for the years 1997 to 2005 was as follows: Year €m 1997 498.648 1998: 517.101 1999 577.935 2000 674.732 2001 792.061 2002 850.680 2003 814.602 2004 815.576 2005 903.769 Funding has almost doubled over the period. While some of this increase is due to inflation,...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (21 Jun 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Government recently decided that the current Spousal Work Permits Scheme would be expanded to include Spouses of all Employment Permit Holders. These new arrangements will give greater ease of access to employment for spouses who have been admitted to the State under Family Reunification. The Work Permits section is currently finalising the administrative details of the extended scheme....