Results 1,861-1,880 of 4,073 for speaker:Mary Mitchell O'Connor

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Tribunals of Inquiry Expenditure (1 Dec 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: No legal fees have been incurred by my Department in respect of tribunals of inquiry for the years 2006 to 2016.

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (30 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I am pleased to present the Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016 to this House for its consideration. The main purpose of this Bill is to establish a certification scheme to allow small and medium-sized companies to avail of the knowledge development box. This Bill, when implemented, will allow companies with intellectual property assets that are non-obvious,...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (30 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I thank all the Senators who spoke about the Bill for their very useful contributions and I have taken note of their questions. I remind Senators that the knowledge development box supports and encourages investment in research and development in Ireland. This is particularly important for SMEs and businesses dealing with them. The knowledge development box will support our smaller...

Seanad: Knowledge Development Box (Certification of Inventions) Bill 2016: Second Stage (30 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked about the relevance of the Patents Office. The Patents Office has traditionally used the UK office for patent expertise for a long time. It is an issue of scale. The UK office has a huge number of patent examiners. The Irish office has four. It is a much more efficient use of resources, and under the Bill, the office will be able to refuse patent...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Health and Safety Regulations (30 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on General Product Safety, transposed into Irish law by S.I. No. 199 of 2004, places the onus on all economic operators – manufacturers, distributors, importers – to ensure that only safe products are placed on the market. If economic operators become aware that products on the market present...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Copyright Legislation Review (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: In my most recent answer to Parliamentary Question No. 294 to the Deputy on 20 October, I advised on progress in relation to the proposed Bill on copyright for which Government approved the Heads of Bill in July 2016. The main purpose of the proposed Bill is to respond to certain of the recommendations contained in a Report undertaken by the Copyright Review Committee entitled...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Staff Data (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 748 to 751, inclusive, together. Opportunities for staff to apply for secondments are offered in line with the business needs of the Department and the wider Civil Service, and also serve to provide a range of broader developmental interests for the staff concerned. Appeals against secondments have not been an issue for my Department. No secondments to the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Bodies Data (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: There are currently two vacancies on State Boards that come within my Department's remit, both of which are on the Board of IAASA. In this regard, there is one position for a Chairperson, for which a shortlist was recently submitted by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to me. The selected candidate is now to meet with the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Funding (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 753 to 755, inclusive, together. My Department is focused on ensuring that the effects of economic recovery are felt throughout all regions of the country. While employment has increased in all our regions, it has not been as fast in some. The Government’s ultimate target is to achieve sustainable full employment, and to assist in achieving this...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Funding (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 756 to 758, inclusive, together. My Department is focused on ensuring that the effects of economic recovery are felt throughout all regions of the country. While employment has increased in all our regions, it has not been as fast in some. The Government’s ultimate target is to achieve sustainable full employment, and to assist in achieving this...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Reports (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: With regard to the Deputy’s question, in the time available, it has not been possible for my officials to compile all of the information requested. I will ensure that the requested information is supplied as soon as it is collated.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Non-Disclosure Agreements (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: My Department and the agencies under its remit have not entered into any non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement with any organisation due to court action or a threatened court action.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Ministerial Advisers Appointments (29 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The appointment of Special Advisers to my Department is governed by “Instructions” issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) and requires the approval of Government. Within those guidelines, I currently have one Special Adviser reporting directly to me and the Guidelines allow for two. In addition, my colleague, Minister of State John Halligan,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Agencies Staff Data (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 254 and 264 together. There are currently two vacancies on State Boards that come within my Department's remit, both of which exist on the Board of IAASA. In this regard, there is one position for a Chairperson, for which a shortlist was submitted by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) to me. The selected candidate is now to meet with the Joint Oireachtas...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Initiatives (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The Succeed-in-Ireland (SII) initiative has been operated by Connect Ireland (CI) on the basis of a contract that was agreed with IDA Ireland on 27 March 2012. This contract was due to expire to 26 March 2016. However, in advance of that date, CI and the IDA agreed to extend the term of the contract for a maximum period of one year. The purpose of that extension was to facilitate both...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Company Law (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The disclosure of directors’ remuneration is a long-standing requirement in Irish company law. Since the introduction of the Companies (Amendment) Act 1986, small companies have been obliged to publically disclose directors’ remuneration. This requirement is now provided for at Chapter 6 of Part 6 of the Companies Act 2014, which largely re-enacts the existing provisions in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Strategies (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: As a small open economy, Ireland operates in an environment of continuous and fast-paced change globally. There are many external factors over which Ireland has no control. Nevertheless, we have put in place policies that ensure we are anticipatory and responsive and build resilience in our enterprise base. These policies are working. Based on the latest CSO data released earlier this...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Agencies Staff Recruitment (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 259 and 260 together. Given the wide mission my Department has, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union will impact significantly on all policy fields across the Department as well as our family of Agencies. In our immediate response, the EU Affairs Unit of my Department exercised a dedicated overall coordination role across all of the relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: At the 16th EU-Canada Summit on 30 October 2016 in Brussels, EU leaders and the Canadian Prime Minister signed the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA). CETA is a comprehensive and progressive trade agreement between the EU and Canada. It removes over 99% of tariffs that currently hinder trade between the EU and Canada. It is expected to increase bilateral trade by...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Issues (24 Nov 2016)

Mary Mitchell O'Connor: The recent Brexit referendum has introduced an amount of uncertainty into the trading relationships between Ireland and the UK, which has resulted in part from a degree of volatility in the Euro/Sterling exchange rates and concerns about future investment plans in the UK market. Exchange rate fluctuations will pose real challenges for low margin exporting sectors that are reliant in whole or...