Results 10,421-10,440 of 13,254 for speaker:Seán Sherlock

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I am bringing in a series of targeted initiatives to make it easier for micro-enterprises and small and medium enterprises to access credit. The micro-enterprise loan fund scheme, which is expected to be operational from early autumn, will facilitate up to €40 million in additional lending to micro-enterprises over the next five years. The Government is in the process of introducing the...

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The Deputy referred to ISME's report, but there is also a Mazars report. The Credit Review Office, CRO, is our benchmark, but should not be viewed as a permanent fixture. According to a figure in the Mazars report, a demand survey showed that only 36% of SMEs sought credit in the April-September period. As the domestic economy recovers and SMEs seek to increase working capital, the demand...

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The relatively poor capital and liquidity conditions of some SMEs following three years of a flat-lining domestic economy is one of the factors. Some of the SMEs that bank with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC, will seek new credit and will need to be moved to new banks. If those banks are unwilling or unable to provide that credit when the upturn arrives, it will be another...

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The economic management council, EMC, engages with the banks to ensure that they deliver. The Deputy must acknowledge that they have delivered on their 2011 lending targets. I am struggling to find the figures on the percentages in terms of credit. They were to hand.

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The report compiled by the accounting firm Mazars showed that 67% of completed credit applications were approved by the banks, representing an increase of 2% on the previous year's report, with the rate of refusals falling by a corresponding amount of approximately 28%. Despite the downturn, the report indicates that some companies are still in a position to protect their finances from...

Written Answers — Intellectual Property: Intellectual Property (11 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I assume the consultation to which the Deputy refers is part of the current review of copyright legislation. An independent Copyright Review Committee was established on 9 May, 2011 to examine the existing Irish copyright and legislative framework to identify any areas that might be deemed to create barriers to innovation and to make recommendations to resolve any problems identified. The...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: As a Corkman, I am looking forward to the game against Wexford. No one should pre-empt the outcome of that match. While I accept the points Senators have made, the bottom line is that the Bills introduced by Sinn Féin and the Fianna Fáil Party were not sufficiently comprehensive to address the issues being addressed in this legislation. They were too weak to provide the robust and...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I am pleased to present the Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011 for the consideration of the House. The main purpose of the Bill is twofold. First, it implements the commitment in the programme for Government to reform the joint labour committee, JLC, system. Second, following the High Court ruling in the John Grace Fried Chicken case of July 2011, the Government has...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Second Stage (10 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The adult wage rates that may be proposed by a JLC will also be linked to sub-minimum rates that will apply in the same proportions as were originally fixed under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 in respect of employees aged under 18 years, first-time job entrants, and employees undergoing training. JLCs will no longer set certain conditions of employment that are already provided for in...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (5 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The Government's strategy in relation to funding research and development in Ireland through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is to foster the long term development and competitiveness of enterprise and industry in the State. SFI was established to build a world class research capability in support of this strategy, and the Foundation has been successful in building human and physical...

Written Answers — State Agencies: State Agencies (5 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: The Board of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) appointed Prof Mark Ferguson earlier this year following an extensive international recruitment process. Prof Ferguson has an extensive track record over the past three decades in both the academic and commercial spheres. Upon joining SFI, Prof Ferguson, as required of all employees, signed the Code of Business Conduct for Employees which sets...

Education (Amendment) (Protection of Schools) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: In February, we debated the budget measures in regard to teacher staffing schedules for schools. The debate over the past two evenings has been a rerun of that debate. While Deputy Flanagan's Bill is well intended, it is fundamentally misconceived. I do not say that in a disrespectful way. The proposals the Deputy advances would keep schools open even if there were not enough pupils to...

Education (Amendment) (Protection of Schools) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: We should bear in mind that one third of public sector employees in the State work in the education sector. It is, therefore, not possible to exempt staffing in education completely from the Government's need to reduce expenditure. This is particularly the case at a time when the school-going population is increasing. There will be more difficult decisions in the next budget and the one...

Education (Amendment) (Protection of Schools) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: -----I find it very hard to take. There is nobody more in tune with the needs of rural Ireland than Deputies and Ministers such as me. We represent the very people in question and are doing our best to defend, when we can, the rights of the schools concerned.

Education (Amendment) (Protection of Schools) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I will take no lectures from the likes of Deputy Boyd Barrett who, on every occasion, manipulates people in the Visitors Gallery for his cynical aims. He is no more a socialist than the man in the moon. He is a cynic and manipulates public discourse for his own ends. He knows nothing about rural Ireland or its people.

Education (Amendment) (Protection of Schools) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I remember that episode.

School Transport (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: That is a lateral and imaginative view. I respectfully suggest that the Deputy should table a parliamentary question or discuss the issue with the Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. It has been noted on the record of the House. There may be individual vagaries relating to counties Tipperary and Cavan. The Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, has specific responsibility for this area....

Industrial Relations (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I understand the issues involved concern the outcome of a tendering process for the running of a bar in Terminal 1 of Dublin Airport. The Dublin Airport Authority has confirmed that the tender process for the outlets in question was conducted through the Official Journal of the European Union's system for public procurement and was fully compliant...

Industrial Relations (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I agree with everything Deputy Lyons has said. Let us be frank and honest about it. The issue at hand here is one of corporate social responsibility, a term we bandy around from time to time and can use quite easily. If there is a transfer of undertakings here, as Deputy Lyons stated, it says something about the morality of the company. There is a strong sense here of an obligation on the...

School Transport (4 Jul 2012)

Seán Sherlock: I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on the Department's behalf and more than 82 million km are covered annually. In the region of 113,000 children, including more than 8,000 children with special needs, are transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout...