Results 19,081-19,100 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: These again are technical and drafting amendments which clarify enactments.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Schedule 5 sets out details of the individual employment enactments, specified provisions of enactments and statutory instruments under which a person will be able to present a complaint or refer a dispute to the director general of the WRC. Amendments Nos. 123 to 126 are of a technical and drafting nature and are necessary to ensure that all of the enactments, specified provisions of...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: This is a worthwhile piece of legislation which has involved significant work going through amendments. That is its nature, as it tries to consolidate legislation and merge agencies. Inevitably, we must try to meld a number of different systems. I would like to thank Senators for their interest in and support for the Bill. It is a worthwhile piece of work.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Supports (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: IDA Ireland devised a digital marketing initiative for attracting inward investment by highlighting the specific attributes of individual regional locations throughout the country. The Midlands region is one of seven regions to be included in the initiative. ‘Invest in Midlands’ is a digital marketing tool, which provides an interactive experience designed for use on tablet,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (31 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: At the launch of the study carried out by Copenhagen Economics on the impact of TTIP in Ireland in Dublin Castle last Friday, 27 March, the EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström acknowledged that some people are worried about investment protection and investor-state dispute settlement. The Commissioner indicated that there is, nonetheless, a rationale to investment protection....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (31 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Latvian Presidency of the European Union hosted an informal meeting of EU Trade ministers in Riga on 24/25 March, 2015. During this informal meeting, the EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, briefed Ministers on her recent meeting with US Trade Representative Mike Froman. The Commissioner also set out some of her preliminary ideas for reforming investor state dispute...

Other Questions: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 came into effect on 31 October 2014, which was the implementation day for the new Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Since its establishment, the commission has been working to develop its first strategy statement for 2015-18, a copy of which I will lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas in accordance with the Act when it is...

Other Questions: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: I will have to get the staff breakdowns for the Deputy. I do not have the exact numbers. As the Deputy is aware, we expanded the size of the commission and the former director of the National Consumer Agency is now a commissioner. The organisations merged with their existing complements and I would not have expected a huge shift in that since. We are already seeing that having the two...

Other Questions: Economic Competitiveness (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: Absolutely all of these factors are crucial. As the Deputy knows, the Government has a construction strategy to address the area of property. After the crash, there have been a number of difficulties in funding new developments. On broadband provision, a call will be issued later in the year to provide for the areas of the country that cannot be reached by commercial operators. The...

Other Questions: Economic Competitiveness (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy knows, IDA Ireland has just produced its strategy for the next five years. It is based on consultation in all of our markets. I participated in some of the meetings. The biggest issue is talent and it is in that respect that every country will stand or fall. There is a worldwide war for talent. Ireland is one of the top countries in terms of the availability of skills....

Other Questions: Economic Competitiveness (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: That is the biggest clarion call. As we develop the ETBs, apprenticeship model and interaction between colleges and enterprise, these will be really important areas of work.

Other Questions: Scientific Research (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: Science Foundation Ireland spends €150 million out of the €724 million in research. This oriented research, funded from the enterprise sector and the enterprise policy dimension, is less than a quarter of the overall research spend. As the Deputy knows, the Higher Education Authority allocates substantial moneys to individuals to undertake research in their own fields and they...

Other Questions: Scientific Research (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: These are some of the best scientists we have - Professor Fergal O'Brien, Professor Michael Morris and so on. They are tied into----

Other Questions: Scientific Research (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: What we are doing is impactful and it is proving its impact. It is a competitive call----

Other Questions: Scientific Research (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: We are not putting all our eggs in one basket; €150 million is going into this out of the approximately €725 million that is spent on research. The HEA funds much more than we do and its funds provide the blue-sky freedom to individual researchers to study their own things and do whatever collaborations they wish - indeed those people can collaborate with our centres and data....

Other Questions: Economic Competitiveness (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Government has undertaken significant structural reforms to improve competitiveness. We have reformed wage setting mechanisms, improved access to finance for business and reduced the administrative burdens on business. Our cost base has improved making Irish firms more competitive internationally and Ireland a more attractive location for overseas firms. Improved competitiveness has...

Other Questions: Research Funding (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: We are opening up the strategy to scrutiny by inviting submissions. If the Deputy reads the scientists' submission, much of their criticism is not directed at SFI's approach but at matters such as pressure on teaching time and other general issues. The founding principle of SFI was to promote oriented research; therefore, it must be connected. There is no point in undertaking ivory tower...

Other Questions: Research Funding (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Minister of State is attending a funeral; that is the reason why I am taking this question. The consultation period continues to be open.

Other Questions: Research Funding (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: To return to Deputy Clare Daly's points, the areas we have prioritised are food for health, micro-electronics, bio-refining and bioenergy, IT innovation, applied nanotechnology, composite materials, manufacturing research, energy efficiency, international energy research, learning technologies, financial services, cloud computing, data analytics and pharmaceutical manufacturing. It is not a...

Other Questions: Scientific Research (26 Mar 2015)

Richard Bruton: I agree. If the Deputy looks at SFI's strategic plan, he will see that they are precisely the things with which it is concerned. It must build human capital within the universities and see to it that 60% of it will transfer to the enterprise base in order that with this capability we can grow the industry base. The 12 science centres are part of the budgeting. They are funding more basic...