Results 18,161-18,180 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Job Creation (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that opportunities for graduates are very strong in the sectors where I have direct responsibility. As I said to Deputy Durkan, the issue in some areas is a skill shortage, particularly in the technology area. There is a need and desire to see people with qualifications return. In regard to conditions in the health area, that is a matter the Deputy will have to take up...

Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: Over two thirds of the budget I expend goes to Irish companies as opposed to foreign companies. Last year, for the first time in many years, the net job growth from Irish-owned companies supported by Enterprise Ireland exceeded that of the IDA, so that was significant progress. There is no doubt we are seeing the emergence of what Germany would call Mittelstand companies - strong, globally...

Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: The issue that comes up time and again is that of skills. There is no doubt that as digitisation, or whatever we want to call it, transforms virtually every sector, there is an increasing focus on a narrow range of skills. We need to up our capability across a whole range of skills. I am very encouraged by the new apprenticeship programme, where 86 employer partnerships applied to create...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: That is correct. Trade missions are to deal with trade but there are many avenues where the Irish Government takes a very strong line in regard to human rights issues. The situation is that we bring companies with us on trade missions which then seek to open up opportunities to trade. In the past four years, such measures and missions have opened up a net 40,000 extra people at work in...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Irish companies that are selling into Saudi Arabia are predominantly in areas like milk products, technology, medical products, oil and so on, and Irish services are also significant. Overall, the trade is about €1.5 billion into Saudi Arabia from Ireland, which is probably supporting 1,000 jobs in Ireland. It is a significant market for many of the companies we were just talking...

Other Questions: Job Losses (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: I have had discussions with Mondelez at senior executive level and the company has committed to me that it will invest in its operation here with the aim of achieving best-in-class production processes. Enterprise Ireland has also been in contact with the company on a continuous basis regarding the assistance it could provide for restructuring to minimise job losses. The workplace relations...

Other Questions: Job Losses (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: There is, indeed, an investment programme which the company has committed to but it requires a restructuring of its operations. Its intention is to achieve state-of-the-art production lines in Coolock. There were counterproposals and Enterprise Ireland supported the workers in furnishing those counterproposals. The position is they have entered into the detailed negotiations that I...

Other Questions: Job Losses (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: I can assure the Deputy much of the work of my Department focuses on companies which need to restructure to protect jobs and both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland have transformation programmes to help companies do that. They have been successful. Job losses in the IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland companies are at the lowest level in a decade and we are succeeding in managing companies....

Other Questions: Foreign Direct Investment (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: Budget 2016 and the entire Action Plan for Jobs process have been designed to achieve balanced and sustainable growth across sectors, spanning both Irish-owned and foreign-owned enterprises. The recovery in jobs and exports to date is in large part due to the considerable improvements in the business environment for enterprise that have taken place in recent years. The measures announced by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: Again, Deputy Murphy seeks to distort the reality. The truth is the jobs being created are quality jobs. In the past two years all of the jobs have been full time. There has been a reduction in part-time work, in particular involuntary part-time work has dropped by 23%. Unemployed people have been major beneficiaries of this progress and the number of people on the live register has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy seeks to denigrate work experience programmes, but the truth is every country which seeks to achieve a transition for people who have been out of work for a period after an economic crash like we have experienced use such programmes. The good news, which the Deputy refuses to acknowledge, is that of the 126,000 extra people at work 92% of them are in initiatives not supported by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: From 2000 onwards, on the three main competitiveness indices - those produced by the World Economic Forum, IMD and the World Bank - our rankings fell from peaks of fifth, seventh and seventh in the world, respectively, to 29th, 24th and 16th in the world, respectively. By the time the previous Government left office after the economic crash hit, Ireland’s competitiveness had been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: I will not go into the reasons for the interest rate differential between Ireland and the rest of the euro area other than to point out that the issue dates back to the economic and banking collapse over which the previous Government presided.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: It is becoming easier to establish a company in Ireland. The Government has streamlined company legislation and made it quicker to establish a business and easier to raise finances.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: The amount of venture capital released in the past 12 months was double the amount released in the previous year. This indicates strong growth in venture capital availability. The number of new start-up companies increased by 25% in the past 12 months, as recorded by the Companies Registration Office, and we are experiencing a strong surge of interest in starting businesses, particularly...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: It is not becoming harder to obtain credit. The participation in micro-finance has increased by 100% in the past 12 months.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: New lending by banks to small and medium enterprises has increased by 26%, while venture capital released to start-up companies has doubled in the past 12 months. There is, therefore, a strong flow of capital to start-up businesses.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy can see the figures for himself and I have no doubt that our ranking will improve when they impact.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Action Plan for Jobs (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that the Action Plan for Jobs is nothing of the sort. It has been an annual process whereby changes have been developed across government and subsequently implemented with a strict timetable overseen from the Office of the Taoiseach. The focus of the actions is to achieve key targets, principally getting 100,000 people back at work and improving the business environment...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Enterprise Support Schemes (4 Nov 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Government will support any initiative to develop conferences that support the growth of our enterprise sector. The Deputy's original question asked what we were doing in that area and I illustrated the many examples-----