Results 19,401-19,420 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Other Questions: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Investment is good for countries, but it will only come if there is a reasonable level of protection. That is why these things have been there. Investors must be protected from arbitrary actions by Governments or other bodies such as courts. That is why investment protection is part of these agreements. Ireland has not needed it because it has a strong Constitution that provides that to...

Other Questions: IDA Site Visits (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I am informed by IDA Ireland that the former Johnson & Johnson ALZA plant in Cashel is in the process of changing hands. IDA Ireland understands that discussions between the company, Johnson & Johnson, and a private investment entity are ongoing. IDA Ireland is contacting the new owner through Johnson & Johnson. I have asked IDA Ireland to work with the new owner to...

Other Questions: IDA Site Visits (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that no effort is spared by the IDA to pursue opportunities for the site. It is state of the art. If there was any slacking on the part of the IDA, the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, would keep them up to their job. He is regularly in contact about opportunities in the area. The plant is owned by Johnson & Johnson and it is not an IDA plant. There is...

Other Questions: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: To be fair, that has been reflected in the approach of Commissioner Malmström. There is a whole new approach being adopted, with greater engagement by citizens than has occurred previously in trade negotiations. The purpose of the TTIP negotiations is to generate jobs and growth by reducing barriers to trade and investment. As I mentioned to Deputy Seamus Healy, there is potential for...

Other Questions: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: There is exactly that. We have had eight rounds and after every round there has been an open and transparent opportunity for people to express views. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. It is a rolling process. I acknowledged that there are people who are critics but I ask the Deputy to look honestly at what is in the document. I quoted to Deputy Healy what went into the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the negotiations on a transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, is to reduce barriers to trade and investment in order to generate jobs and growth. Based on European Commission estimates, an ambitious TTIP could generate 400,000 jobs. The gains for Ireland could be double this in proportionate terms, approximately 8,000 additional jobs, because of the significant...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: The idea of low-grade or genetically modified beef coming into Europe has been explicitly excluded in the mandate. That is not an eventuality that the EU would countenance. In respect of wages and employment conditions, the Department has commissioned some research into this which indicates there would be benefits through improvements in wages, employment, exports and growth. The balance...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: As Deputy Mick Wallace has a later question on this very topic, I do not want to encroach on it now. Suffice to say, these have been very open negotiations. There are briefings after every session and the information is available on the public record to Members of the European Parliament. I have engaged in several consultations with the relevant committees. I am happy to appear before any...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I point out to the Deputy that the IDA employment is about 5% of total employment in Tipperary. A total of 95% of enterprise and employment is outside that sector. The Deputy's sole focus on foreign investment undersells the huge amount of enterprise in Tipperary and the south east. Employment levels in the south east have grown by 18,000 in the past two and a half years. There is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I think the Deputy is talking nonsense. One fifth of the money we presented yesterday is going to a number of advance facilities in the six regions outside the Dublin area. In each region, 80% of the revenue will be available for other solutions in which every county and region can participate. However, the Deputy insists on taking a very narrow view of where employment growth will come...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that every county, including Tipperary, is included in our regional strategy. No one is excluded. The annual employment survey shows that 68 jobs were created and 77 were lost among IDA client companies in Tipperary in 2012. In 2013, 202 jobs were created while 521 were lost, and in 2014, 64 jobs were created while 62 were lost. In the same three-year period, there...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Finance for growth of business is of enormous importance, and a chapter has been devoted to it in Action Plan for Jobs 2015. Irish small and medium enterprises, SMEs, traditionally have had a very high reliance on banks and bank debt. This has been a particular problem in the face of the radical restructuring in our banks and the constraints that has put on lending. Government strategy has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: It is precisely as the Deputy outlines. The idea is that the terms of the credit guarantee scheme, which provides a guarantee of up to 75% on the tranche of the loan covered by the guarantee, will change to 80% in the new revision. This will allow the guarantee to be used as an instrument to support businesses in cases in which their bank is exiting. It is to deal with this sort of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Credit Availability (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: There is no question of the Government sleepwalking. Every year we introduce a new initiative. This year the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland will provide new access to €800 million of credit for SMEs. We have extended the mandate of the Credit Review Office every year, so it now deals with loans of up to €3 million. Reviewing a guarantee is complex legislation...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Company Closures (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I am very disappointed that this company, which was established in Waterford only a few months ago, is now closing. IDA Ireland approved a grant assistance package for the company. However as no grants were paid, there is no liability attaching to the agreement with the IDA. In all instances where financial assistance is approved by the IDA for a company, the Agency and the client enter...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: On the establishment of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in April 2014, all existing County and City Enterprise Board (CEB) staff transferred to the new LEOs. In addition, the Local Authorities made over 60 staff available to work in the 31 LEOS. As a consequence, while there was a small number of retirements amongst staff of the LEOs during 2014 there are in fact no LEO currently...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Local Enterprise Offices Remit (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Tipperary replaced the County Enterprise Boards (CEBs) for North Tipperary and South Tipperary on 15 April 2014 to become the first-stop-shop for micro- and small-enterprise development within the County. Enterprise Ireland (EI) is responsible for allocating budgets to individual LEOs and CEBs for both current administration and capital requirements. I...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Relations (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I fully appreciate the concerns of retired and deferred members of pension schemes whose schemes are being restructured, particularly where such restructuring may impact on existing or potential pension benefits. The question of whether it is appropriate that pensioner groups have access to the State’s industrial relations machinery in pursuing pension scheme grievances is an issue...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation Targets (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Strategy for the Manufacturing Sector, which I commissioned, and which was published in April 2013, identified that an additional 20,000 jobs can be created in the sector by 2016. A complementary report on the skills needs for the sector, which I had commissioned at the same time, was published by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, and it identified a series of actions to enhance...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (12 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I am informed by IDA Ireland that the former Johnson and Johnson/Alza plant in Cashel is in the process of changing hands. It is my understanding that discussions between the company (J&J) and a private investment entity are currently on-going. IDA Ireland has asked J&J to connect them with the new owner and the company has committed to do so at an appropriate time. IDA Ireland is...