Results 261-280 of 8,873 for speaker:Batt O'Keeffe

Loan Guarantee Scheme: Motion (19 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I wish to share time with the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, Deputy Darragh O'Brien and Deputy Seán Fleming, with the agreement of the House.

Loan Guarantee Scheme: Motion (19 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "— welcomes, in particular, the Government's five year integrated trade, tourism and investment plan, Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy, designed to help all Irish businesses compete on global markets and create 300,000 jobs across the Irish economy in both exporting and locally trading...

Written Answers — Consumer Protection: Consumer Protection (14 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I understand that the database of .ie registered internet domain names is maintained by a non -profit, non governmental organization and I have no function in the matter. The Deputy will be aware that the free movement of goods and services is a basic tenet of the European Treaties. There is no general obligation, however, requiring a trader whether offering goods for sale as a traditional...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (14 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: My Department currently has 197 staff participating in the worksharing scheme. Of these 197 staff, 177 are female and 20 male. Figures are not available in relation to the number of staff turned down for the worksharing scheme; this is because applications must initially be approved at local line manger level subject to the business needs of the Unit/Division concerned and may not come to...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (14 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes made a number of recommendations addressed directly to my Department. All recommendations contained in the report have been considered by my Department and, where appropriate, have been implemented either in part or in full. The following table sets out the current position in relation to the recommendations...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (14 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: International benchmarking statistics reveal that Ireland imposes a relatively low burden of regulation on business. The Forfás Annual Competitiveness Report 2010 states that Ireland's regulatory environment is one of the least restrictive in the OECD in relation to product market regulation, the time taken to comply with tax payments is one of the lowest in the OECD across all categories...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Along with my Government colleagues, I will continue to drive the competitiveness agenda across the economy to promote an environment that is conducive to creating jobs and enables all businesses to flourish. The Forfás Annual Competitiveness Report 2010 states that Ireland's regulatory environment is one of the least restrictive in the OECD in relation to product market regulation. The...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Appointments to the boards of bodies accountable to my Department are made in accordance with the legislation under which the body was established. The relevant legislative provisions vary from body to body. For example, in certain cases the legislation provides for the appointment of persons nominated by specified stakeholders, such as employer or trade union representative bodies. In other...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Specific objectives for growth are set out in the Government's five year integrated Trade, Tourism and Investment plan which is designed to increase the value of indigenous exports by 33%; to diversify the destination of indigenous exports; to increase overseas visitors to 8 million; to secure an additional 780 inward investment projects through IDA Ireland and create up to 300,000...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: As regards credit institutions and insurance companies, which come within the aegis of my colleague the Minister for Finance, I understand that the Financial Regulator hopes to finalise deliberations on a new corporate governance regime for entities in these sectors over the coming weeks. I also understand that issues relating to cross-directorships and the dual role of Chair and Chief...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on job gains and losses in companies that are supported by the industrial development agencies. Data is compiled on an annualized basis and is aggregated at county level. Data for 2010 will be available in early 2011.Details of the number of new jobs created and lost in IDA supported companies in each of the years 2008 and 2009 are set out in...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The National Competitiveness Council and Forfás have raised concerns about prices in the domestic non-traded sectors of the Irish economy, particularly in the legal sector. Recently, I met with representatives of the Bar Council and the Law Society to discuss these concerns with them. All parties agreed that further cooperation is necessary to provide more robust statistical data on price...

Written Answers — State Agencies: State Agencies (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: As both the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority were established under statute, it is necessary to give effect to the merger of the bodies by way of primary legislation. As both bodies will be required to continue to carry out their respective important statutory functions until they are formally merged, I do not envisage any significant organisational change to either...

Written Answers — Departmental Schemes: Departmental Schemes (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: As I previously outlined in my replies to Question Number 1742 on 29 September 2010, Question Numbers 296 and 298 on 30 September 2010, and Question Number 312 on 6 October 2010, my officials are working with their colleagues in the Department of Finance, the Credit Review Office, Enterprise Ireland and Forfás to address access to credit issues for viable SMEs including, the option of a loan...

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Public Procurement policy is primarily a matter for the Department of Finance, for the National Public Procurement Policy Unit (NPPPU) within that Department and for the National Procurement Service (NPS) within the Office of Public Works (OPW) which comes under the aegis of the Department of Finance. Any plans or proposals to refine Public Procurement policy is, therefore, a matter for the...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 126 together. I am very conscious of the implications of the job losses at GlaxoSmithKline and Schering-Plough (Brinny), Co Cork. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) currently employs over 1,500 people in Ireland, at its various sites in Cork, Dublin, Dungarvan and Sligo. The current job losses are a result of market conditions resulting in a fall in demand for the...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Forfás recently published a report "Making it Happen – Growing Enterprise for Ireland" which sets out a series of recommendations that can help to improve the competitiveness of the economy and facilitate enterprise growth and job creation. The report includes 40 high level recommendations, supplemented by a number of sector-specific recommendations aimed at addressing barriers to growth...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Government's five-year integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment aim to create 300,000 jobs. The new plan, "Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy", is the first integrated strategy to promote overseas trade, tourism and investment. With this new strategy, the Government aims to position Ireland for strong export-led growth to 2015, resulting in high levels of job creation....

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: I have noted the findings of this report. As regards listed companies (those on the main market of the Irish Stock Exchange), these have, for many years, been subject to the Combined Code on Corporate Governance, the provisions of which applied on a "comply or explain" basis. The Combined Code has recently been reviewed in the UK and revised in light of the financial crisis. The revised...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (13 Oct 2010)

Batt O'Keeffe: Drafting of the legislation to give effect to the Services Directive (Directive 2006/123/EC) has been completed. A Memorandum for the Government is being prepared with a view to submitting the draft Regulations to the Government for approval. If approved by the Government, the Regulations will be signed into law by me with immediate effect.