Results 10,701-10,720 of 13,254 for speaker:Seán Sherlock

Industrial Development (1 Dec 2011)

Seán Sherlock: I take what the Deputy said in good faith. Given that Mullingar has a strong stakeholder forum, I respectfully suggest it should take up the cudgel through its local public representatives to forge a closer link or dynamic with the IDA in respect of the issues he has outlined. With regard to a site visit, I can bring this to the attention of the Minister. I have visited AIT and NUIM. They...

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (29 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: The public consultation process referred to attracted more than 50 submissions from interested parties on this subject. Several of these submissions contained legal arguments in regard to the issue as well as comments in respect of the draft statutory instrument which was published as part of the consultation process. These comments were forwarded by my Department to the Office of the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (24 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: While the areas around which public R&D budgets have been oriented to date (ICT, biotechnology, aspects of energy policy) were appropriate for building a broad base of national expertise in fundamental, underpinning science and technology we now need to leverage the strengths that have emerged from the investment that has taken place. We need to target investment so that we have critical...

Commercial Rates: Motion (Resumed) (23 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: Methinks the Deputy is a bit of a cynic. He is neither a socialist nor a revolutionary.

Foreign Conflicts (23 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: Like many in the international community, the Government has been closely following events in Egypt in recent days in the run-up to historic parliamentary elections which are due to get under way on 28 November. We all recall the events last February in Tahrir Square which proved so inspiring, when the discredited government of former President Hosni Mubarak was swept away in an impressive...

Foreign Conflicts (23 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: The question for Ireland, the European Union and the wider international community is how best we can support the Egyptian people along the path towards full and a genuine democracy. The first step in that process is the holding of parliamentary elections which are scheduled to take place next Monday. The Government has committed €250,000 to the United Nations' development programme to...

Foreign Conflicts (23 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: We will assist the process in a pragmatic fashion to enable capacity building. We are putting our money where our mouth is to support the Egyptian people.

Written Answers — EU Funding: EU Funding (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: The Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP7), with a budget of over €50 billion for the period 2007 to 2013, is the EU's main instrument for funding research and development in Europe. In order to extract the maximum benefit from the opportunities available within FP7, a National Support Network has been put in place, headed by a National Director for FP7 based in...

Job Creation (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: On job creation, this Department must deal with the reality of the capital funding available to it. On 10 November the Government published its infrastructural and capital investment medium-term Exchequer framework for the period 2012 to 2016. Overall, capital investment totalling €17 billion has been allocated across Departments. In one way or another, all of this €17 billion...

Job Creation (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: I take the Deputy's point which is made in good faith. However, in respect of the Government's capital allocation, there has been a 4% increase in Enterprise Ireland's capital budget for 2012. I will rush through thee figures because I am conscious of the time constraints, but there has been a 10% increase in the number of high potential start-up companies, a 20% increase in the number of...

Job Creation (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: The Government is trying to create long-term sustainable jobs, but the Deputy is talking about short-term projects based on capital expenditure. This does not stack up.

Job Creation (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: In fairness to the pensioners who were outside the gates of Leinster House today, if I interpreted the vox pop correctly, the strong message also extended to the amount of money being taken in administration fees.

Job Creation (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: I respectfully ask the Deputy to allow me to answer the question. The pensioners were as adamant in their opposition to that aspect. Let us take another look and look at the issue from the perspective of the communication passed between Departments. However, with all due respect, as the question tabled by the Deputy pertains to capital expenditure of €3.1 billion, he will forgive me if I...

Cloud Computing (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: On 30 June, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, announced the establishment of a cross-Government implementation group on cloud computing. This group, which is chaired by the Secretary General of my Department, comprises representatives of Departments and agencies responsible for all aspects of cloud computing policy, IT procurement, security, infrastructure and enterprise policy. The group last...

Cloud Computing (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: Our job is to engage with the centre for management and organisation development, CMOD. The Government acknowledges the possibilities of this. One could say work is ongoing on making the ICT infrastructure more user friendly. There will be challenges, potentially in regard to industrial relations peace, but I believe strongly that through proper engagement with all the stakeholders across...

Cloud Computing (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: I did not quite get the last point.

Cloud Computing (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: I am not aware of such problems. I say that openly and honestly. Research is ongoing and the centre is in the process of developing a cloud computing strategy for the public service, which it intends to bring to the Government for consideration and approval in the first quarter of 2012. If a specific issue arises, I would love to hear the Deputy's thoughts.

Cloud Computing (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: I fundamentally disagree with the Deputy. If he is willing to show me the source of the statistics he cited, I will revert to him on the matter.

Cloud Computing (22 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: EMC, the Irish Internet Association, Facebook, IBM, Microsoft, Fujitsu, Dell and A&L Goodbody are all engaged in this process. It is a worthwhile process because if we can become global leaders by dint of being early adopters we will have a competitive advantage. I recognise that problems arise in broadband provision but the capacity is present in terms of cloud. If the Deputy engages...

Written Answers — Science Foundation Ireland: Science Foundation Ireland (16 Nov 2011)

Seán Sherlock: Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) typically makes research grants awards that are multi-annual in nature, typically spanning a three to five year period. The table below sets out the researcher numbers directly supported by SFI since 2006. Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 No. of Researchers 1,362 1,909 2,812 3,225 2,999 c.3,000 Due to the wide range of variables that impact upon the...