Results 19,801-19,820 of 27,613 for speaker:Heather Humphreys

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Expenditure (4 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I can advise the Deputy that the total photography costs incurred by my Department and its Offices since 9 March 2011 are as follows: 2011 - €2,017 2012 - €4,100 2013 - €4,455 2014 - €4,534 2015 - €6,153 2016 - €4,421 2017 - €4,818 2018 - €6,732 2019 - €14,057 The details for each year are set out in the table contained in the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Freedom of Information Data (4 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: Details of the number of Freedom of Information requests made, the number of requests fully denied by reason, the number of requests partially denied, the number of appeals made against denials, the number of such appeals upheld, the number of such appeals rejected, the number of requests that required a fee and the amount received for Freedom of Information requests by my Department in 2016...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permits Applications (4 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: As the economy improves and we approach full employment, my Department continues to experience a high volume of employment permit applications which has led to some delays in processing applications. The current level of demand is due to our economic success, growing labour market and reduced labour surplus. Employment Permits Section is working to further reduce the current waiting...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: They are working together.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Job Creation (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: That is not true.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I understand from IDA Ireland that the pipeline of FDI companies coming to Ireland is still strong. While we have been successful I agree that we cannot be complacent. IDA Ireland will publish its new 2020-24 strategy early in the new year. It will build on the success of the current strategy which has exceeded targets around investment and job creation and with inputs from a wide variety...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: We continue to increase our footprint in other areas of the world. I recently returned from a trade mission to South Africa and Kenya. The population there is expected to increase by 1 billion over the next 30 years, I think. There are huge opportunities there. We are increasing our footprint in China and there was a trade mission to Japan some weeks ago. It is about not being...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The €250,000 is for the high potential start-up units. It is just one of a range of supports available to businesses. I refer the Deputy to the document, Overview of Government Supports for Indigenous Businesses, which is available on my Department's website. It is a useful document, which outlines all of the supports that are available to help companies to scale up, invest in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: We have some really good Irish companies. We are working with the SMEs on how to work collaboratively with foreign direct investment to leverage some of their talent, skills and experience. When both work together the results are better. Under the disruptive technologies innovation fund, another tranche of which I will be announcing soon, one of the qualifying criteria is the involvement...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Corporation Tax Regime (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is no doubt that the international tax landscape has seen much change in recent years. There has been real progress in global actions aimed at addressing international concerns around the taxation of multinational companies. There have been significant changes in how companies are taxed internationally and how the taxation regimes of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Doherty. The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 falls under her remit. She has agreed that we need to examine this area. She is consulting representative bodies like IBEC and ICTU to get their views. I hope that by consulting and hearing different views, we will be able to come up with some sensible guidelines to help everyone. Some businesses...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Industrial Development (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. He is absolutely right when he says that we always have to look to the future. That is why the Taoiseach and I launched the Future Jobs Ireland initiative earlier this year. The initiative positions Irish enterprise and Irish workers for the world of tomorrow. The pace of change means that the world of tomorrow is coming down the tracks at us...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The enterprise agencies are focused on the transition to a green economy. Future Jobs Ireland is one of the ways we can help businesses transition to a low-carbon economy. If we examine some of the supports that enterprise agencies are rolling out, whether it is IDA Ireland or Enterprise Ireland, we can see programmes and initiatives such as lean-green, which encourages businesses to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I thank Deputy Deering for raising this matter. As Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, I understand the growing importance of promoting a good work-life balance for employees as new ways of working emerge. This is addressed under pillar 4 of our Future Jobs Ireland strategy. Pillar 4 is focused on increasing participation in the labour force as this will lead to the more...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Employment Rights (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: Being able to switch off from work is already an issue and it is going to become more of an issue in the years to come. Our phones are causing these problems. Phones allow us to be contacted by phone or to email 24-7, and that means people are always on. It is not like long ago, when people left work and went home at 6 p.m. Some of us probably remember when there were no computers at...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. While I am aware of the work of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures, TFCD, set up on the recommendation of the Financial Stability Board of the G20, I have not had any direct engagement with this group. My understanding is that the group has developed voluntary climate-related financial disclosures, recommended to complement the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Climate Change Policy (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The enterprise sector has been tasked with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10% to 15% by 2030. The climate action plan identified that the largest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be realised in the cement and food and beverage industries. An uptake of 80% in the cement industry in using alternative fuels, such as waste, combined with an 80% uptake in a switch from oil to...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I launched the OECD review of SME and entrepreneurship policy in Ireland with the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, and the Deputy Secretary General of the OECD, Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, on 31 October 2019. The report is pivotal research on the current environment for SMEs and entrepreneurship in Ireland, the scale of which has not previously been undertaken. I am working with my...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: The OECD laid out a number of recommendations and we will develop the strategy. For example, only 6% of our SMEs export but we want to double the number as quickly as possible. We will scale up the training online voucher programme for SMEs, expand the exporter development department of Enterprise Ireland, EI, which assists companies, and beef up InterTradeIreland's grant support and...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Small and Medium Enterprises (3 Dec 2019)

Heather Humphreys: I am a great supporter of the LEOs, as is my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Breen. They have done great work. We increased their budget by €5 million in budget 2019 and have introduced a number of new funds. In July, I announced two funds for the LEOs, one of which was a €2.5 million competitive fund, for which there were 16 successful projects. It was up to the...