Results 49,721-49,740 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: In the past few years, conditions in the global economy have been difficult, and Irish firms have had to win business against a backdrop of difficult external demand conditions, pricing pressures, and an increasingly competitive international environment. These have affected employment trends in companies assisted by the enterprise development agencies. While the net increase in employment in...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: In pursuit of the objectives of the national spatial strategy, the efforts of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the city and county enterprise boards are directed towards the promotion of employment and investment in all areas of the country. As regards helping those who are unemployed to enter the labour market, under the national employment action plan, FÁS engages intensively those who...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: Ireland's economy is undergoing fundamental change, which is affecting all sectors of our economy. Ireland can no longer be seen as a low cost location for investment as our strengths and competitive advantages have inexorably changed. High output and productivity together with high returns to labour in the form of wages, salaries and better living standards now typify Ireland's economy....

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 702 and 704 together. The number of people in the labour force has reached an all time high as indicated by the latest quarterly national household survey recently released. There are now over 2 million people in the labour force, giving an annual increase of 94,500. Over the past ten years the labour force has grown by over 38%. The growth in the labour force...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: The work permits section of my Department received an average of 578 applications per week over the 12 month period up to 27 September 2005. This compares with an average of 713 applications received per week in the preceding 12 months. Approximately 75% of all applications are now for the renewal of earlier permits. The number of new, first time permits issued is expected to decrease by over...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 708 and 710 together. The work permits section of my Department received 32,518 work permit applications in the 12 months up to 31 August 2005 and processed 31,246 applications in that period. Of the applications received, 29,417 were approved, 1,829 were rejected and there were 632 applications pending. Applications for work permits are currently taking 15...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: Set out in the table are permits issued to employers in respect of new employees over the past three years and in 2005 to date. Year First Time Permits 2002 19,529 2003 18,513 2004 7,950 2005 to date 5,304 It should be noted that some of the employees included above may already be in the State but changing to a new employer.

Grocery Industry. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: A decision will be made in October. It was important to allow a two-month public consultation programme prior to 31 July, as we did. We received a significant number of submissions which totalled 521. As I stated in replies to other questions, the order was introduced a long time ago, the situation has changed quite dramatically since then and the retail market has transformed. The...

Grocery Industry. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: Is the Deputy playing the RGDATA game? It is interesting that——

Grocery Industry. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: I accept that. Of the submissions, 44% came from the symbol groups. It may be interesting for the House to hear that approximately 398 of the submissions favoured retention of the order, 153 favoured revocation while the remaining ten sought amendments or raised other issues. Not surprisingly, the submissions favouring retention came from the industry while the majority of those favouring...

Grocery Industry. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should wait to hear the answer. One of the key pluses of the Competition Act 2002 was to take politics out of the operations of the Competition Authority in terms of its activities, particularly in terms of the chairman. He has a specific statutory remit and within that are provisions to deal with abuse of dominance.

Grocery Industry. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: There might be a number of factors as to why a case was not taken. In terms of pricing for a range of foodstuffs, for example, we are higher in that regard than most other member states. We know anecdotally that the price differential between one store and another can be substantial, yet significant sectors of the market do not appear to be concerned about that.

Grocery Industry. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: That is the point I am making. There is no evidence of a predatory pricing agenda but I do get evidence, and it is even obvious from the submissions, that there are significant differentials now, depending on the type of store, in terms of what one will pay. The problem with the groceries order is that it prohibits selling at anything below net invoice price.

Employment Conditions. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: On a point of order, my understanding is that this is part of the insurance reform programme. Regulatory matters of general insurance issues are the responsibility of the Department of Finance, car insurance is the responsibility of the Department of Transport and my Department has retained responsibility for the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. We do not have responsibility for general...

Employment Conditions. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: It is the responsibility of the Deputy to put down the right question to the right Department.

Employment Conditions. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy should table it to the correct Department.

Employment Conditions. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: I have not seen that question.

Industrial Disputes. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: Allegations of non-compliance with labour legislation in respect of a major construction firm were raised in this House on 8 February last by Deputy Joe Higgins. Those allegations were that certain non-national construction workers were required to work excessive hours and that such workers were in receipt of pay of between €2 and €3 per hour in contravention of the statutory minimums...

Industrial Disputes. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: In regard to the details pertaining to each worker, our officials, in particular our labour inspectors, worked hard to secure as many personal details as possible about each worker. They contacted SIPTU and Deputy Joe Higgins for names and so on. We also worked out formulae regarding workers' entitlements for previous and current work and overtime. The overtime issue was ultimately dealt with...

Industrial Disputes. (28 Sep 2005)

Micheál Martin: We cannot attempt to prejudice a tender on notions we have based on experience or occurrences. I do not control the tendering process. Companies present the REA rates and so on as part of the tender submission. The key issue is that, on winning a contract, the company should do what the tender document says. Trust and observance of the law are also important issues in this regard. With regard...