Results 1-20 of 7,153 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:Batt O'Keeffe

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (20 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: Question 102: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will assist in having a person (details supplied) in County Cork with a disability assessed without delay for a specific item. [3087/11]

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: The role of the County and City Enterprise Boards is to support the micro-enterprise sector in the start-up and expansion phases, to develop indigenous micro-enterprise potential and to stimulate entrepreneurship at local level. The CEBs provide both financial and non-financial assistance to eligible micro-enterprises in pursuit of this role and they are the primary initial contact point for...

Written Answers — INTERREG Funding: INTERREG Funding (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Interreg Programme is the Cross-Border Territorial Co-operation Programme for Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Western Scotland. The programme is 75% funded by the EU, through the European Regional Development Fund, and the remaining 25% is provided by the participating Member States, and has potential funding availability of €256 million. Last May, following the Quinn...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: My Department's capital allocation for enterprise development is set out in the National Recovery Plan. The Plan underpins the work of the job creation and research agencies, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards, by providing funding that will allow them to meet their ambitious targets. My Department's allocation under the Plan is...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72, 81 and 108 together. 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...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: Figures in relation to jobs created by the enterprise development agency are compiled annually in the Forfás Annual Employment Survey. The most up to date figures available are for 2009. Set out in Tables 1 and 2 accompanying this reply are the figures in respect of jobs created in firms supported by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, together with those assisted by the County Enterprise...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: The network of County and City Enterprise Boards, which come under the auspices of my Department, are the primary initial contact point for business start-ups in Ireland. The CEBs can assist micro-enterprises i.e. businesses with 10 employees or fewer and are to the forefront in supporting viable business start-ups and in assisting the development of growth-orientated micro-enterprises which...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: As I stated in my reply to Deputy Kathleen Lynch on 2nd December 2010 (Ref. No. 45550/10), the European Union (Provision of Services) Regulations 2010 (S.I. No. 533 of 2010) were signed into law by me on 10th November 2010. The Regulations give effect in Ireland to the Services Directive, with the exception of Article 42 of the Directive, which was transposed by the European Communities...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: The Department of the Taoiseach has primary responsibility for the development and implementation of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) measures across Government Departments. The Department of the Taoiseach has published the Revised Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) Guidelines on its website: http://www.betterregulation.ie/eng/Publications/Revised_RIA_ Guidelines.pdf. The RIA Guidelines...

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: As Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, I acknowledge the important contribution that locally available goods and services make to employment and to Ireland's economy. Many of the policies set out in the National Recovery Plan aimed at restoring national competitiveness will impact positively on businesses operating in the non-export sector of the economy. These businesses will...

Written Answers — Innovation Fund: Innovation Fund (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: I announced the first call for expressions of interest in Innovation Fund Ireland on 23 September 2010. Enterprise Ireland and the National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) will manage the Fund and investors had until 26th November 2010 to signal their interest in establishing a presence here. Now that this deadline has passed, Enterprise Ireland and the NPRF are in the process of evaluating the...

Written Answers — Credit Availability: Credit Availability (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: I have ongoing contact with the main banks in relation to their lending to businesses and will, together with my colleague the Minister for Finance, and John Trethowan of the Credit Review Office, continue to ensure that they meet their lending commitments under the 2010 Recapitalisation package in terms of providing sufficient credit to the business sector. In this regard, John Trethowan...

Written Answers — Credit Availability: Credit Availability (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: 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 guarantee scheme to assist the working capital requirements of SMEs. The Working Group has received updated analysis from Forfás and Enterprise Ireland to allow greatest...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: The role of Government is to create the economic conditions in which enterprise can grow and jobs can be created. The National Recovery Plan sets out how the Government intends to do this over the next four years, including actions which the Government will take to reduce costs for business across the economy. In this regard, I would refer the Deputy to the answer I provided to his...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: There have been significant developments in relation to the proposed Directive since my last reply to the House on this question on 2 December 2010. In that reply, I stated that intensive discussions were proceeding under the Belgian Presidency in advance of the Competitiveness Council on 10 December with a view to achieving a final resolution of the outstanding issues. In the light of those...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 87 and 117 together. In keeping with the commitment contained in the Renewed Programme for Government , the Government, in March 2010, reviewed the progress achieved by a number of Government Departments in relation to a list of 21 Competition Authority recommendations which had been prioritised based on their impact on competitiveness. A Government Statement...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 and 101 together. The critical role of entrepreneurship and enterprise development is fully recognised by Government. The complementary remit and activities of Enterprise Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards ensure that as broad a suite as possible of State supports are available for entrepreneurial and enterprise development. Enterprise Ireland...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: Arising from a process of random sampling of audit reports filed in 2010, the Companies Registration Office (CRO) identified a number of audit reports which appeared to have been signed by persons who were not at the time notified to the CRO by a recognised body of accountants as holding an audit practising certificate from such a body. Neither were the persons signing the reports among those...

Written Answers — Business Regulation: Business Regulation (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 and 114 together. In April 2009 my Department initiated a public consultation on the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts. Arising from this consultation my Department has prepared a general scheme of a Bill which will be submitted to Government shortly for approval. This Bill is aimed at addressing a number of practical difficulties currently being...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (19 Jan 2011)

Batt O'Keeffe: "Towards 2016" contains a Government commitment to introduce amending legislation to exclude voice-over actors, freelance journalists and session musicians when engaging in collective bargaining, from the provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act 2002. The commitment takes into account, inter alia, that there would be negligible negative impacts on the economy or on the level of ...