Results 501-520 of 12,895 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Farm Safety (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The agricultural sector remains one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work in Ireland with over 200 fatalities having occurred in that sector in the last 10 years despite the fact that only 5% of the workforce are employed in agricultural sector. There have been 13 fatalities in the sector in Ireland so far this year.   The Health and Safety Authority (HSA, is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Minimum Wage (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Low Pay Commission was established in 2015 to examine and make recommendations annually on the national minimum wage. The aim is to ensure that the national minimum wage is adjusted incrementally over time having regard to changes in earnings, productivity, overall competitiveness and the likely impact on employment and unemployment levels. The Commission made its...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Farm Safety (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The agricultural sector remains one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work in Ireland with over 200 fatalities having occurred in that sector in the last 10 years despite the fact that only 5% of the workforce are employed in agricultural sector. There have been 13 fatalities in the sector in Ireland so far this year.   The Health and Safety Authority (HSA, is...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Departmental Agencies Data (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: An additional €3million was secured in respect of Pay in Budget 2017 and is being targeted specifically to assist in our response to the evolving Brexit scenario. It is enabling the Department and, primarily, our Agencies recruit some 40 to 50 additional staff to supplement existing staffing numbers.  These numbers may grow as Agencies allocate additional Own Resource Income, by...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Agreements (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was sought in relation to the competence of the European Union to sign and conclude the EU Singapore Free Trade Agreement.  The opinion of the CJEU issued on the 16th of May 2017, and found that the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Singapore (EUSFTA) cannot be signed and concluded by...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement Reports (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 57, 73 and 76 together. I received the report under section 955(1)(a) of the Companies Act 2014 from the Director of Corporate Enforcement on 23 June. I have sought advice from the Attorney General on the report. Upon receipt of advice from the Attorney General, I will be in a better position to determine next steps. It is important that any actions we take...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Minimum Wage (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Low Pay Commission was established in 2015 to examine and make recommendations annually on the national minimum wage. The aim is to ensure that the national minimum wage is adjusted incrementally over time having regard to changes in earnings, productivity, overall competitiveness and the likely impact on employment and unemployment levels. The Commission made its...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Enterprise Support Schemes (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 63 together. My Department, through Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) provide a range of supports to help Irish companies start, grow and export.  Finance is a critical ingredient to enterprise development. My Department also ensures that companies can access the right type of funding, appropriate to their stage...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative is a central pillar of the Government’s ambition to create 200,000 new jobs by 2020, 135,000 of which are outside of Dublin. A key objective of each of the plans is to have a further 10 to 15 per cent at work in each region by 2020, with the unemployment rate of each region within one per cent of the national average.  Progress to...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Development (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Effective regional development is a key concern for my Department. Consequently, our Regional Action Plan for Jobs initiative is working to promote regional and rural job creation by bringing different stakeholders in each of the eight regions together to identify innovative and practical actions, to be taken across a range of Departments and agencies, with clear timelines for...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The State has a long track record – built up over 67 years by the work of IDA Ireland – in winning foreign direct investment (FDI) for the Irish people. Over that period, the world economy has changed shape many times, yet Ireland has remained an attractive destination for FDI. As the global investment climate continues to evolve, we will adapt accordingly – as we have...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 67 together. My Department recognises the key role that innovation has played in Ireland’s economic recovery to date. It contributes significantly to job creation, exports and investment, and the competitiveness of the indigenous enterprise base, and also to embedding the foreign direct investment base in Ireland. It is clear that a...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Creation (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Innovation is a key mechanism by which companies can gain competitive advantage. Innovation can lower costs, increase productivity and add value to a company's products or services. A competitive advantage is necessary for success in global markets, which for a small open economy like Ireland, is necessary for creating sustainable, quality employment. Innovation 2020, the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Economic Competitiveness (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Addressing Ireland’s cost competitiveness remains a key economic priority for Government, therefore we continue to monitor Ireland's cost competitiveness on a regular basis. The National Competiveness Council publishes the Costs of Doing Business in Ireland every year. In its Report of June 2017, the National Competitiveness Council found that Ireland’s cost base has...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Skills Development (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) plays a key role in advising the Government on the current and future skills needs of the economy. Recent EGFSN reports have anticipated future job opportunities arising from both expansion and replacement demand for a range of occupational roles, including in biopharma, ICT, data analytics, hospitality, manufacturing, medical devices,...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Issues (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: As the UK’s exit negotiations have only recently commenced it is hard to predict at this stage the full impact of Brexit.  Much will depend on the nature of the future trade deal that will be negotiated between the EU and the UK.  These negotiations are likely to be complex and multifaceted. Promoting diversified export markets in light of the potential impacts of Brexit...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: I am satisfied that Ireland's will continue to attract foreign direct investment, as it has always successfully done, despite its periperal geographic location.   The KDB, introduced in Budget 2016 forms part of Ireland’s competitive offering to continue to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and to support Irish owned companies to innovate and to compete...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Brexit Issues (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) contains a suite of actions to support enterprise development and job creation in manufacturing and services sectors, and APJ 2017 contains a chapter dedicated to responding to Brexit.  According to the latest data from the CSO, unemployment has decreased to 6.4% in Q1 2017. This is the nineteenth quarter in succession where unemployment has declined...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) was established on 31 October 2014, as a result of the amalgamation of the National Consumer Agency (NCA) and the Competition Authority.  Numbers of staff and exchequer funding has been provided in respect of each year of the Agencies existence (from 2014). My officials are collating the staffing numbers and funding in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Bullying in the Workplace (29 Jun 2017)

Frances Fitzgerald: Dignity at Work is the Anti-Bullying, Harassment and Sexual Harassment policy for the Irish Civil Service.  It was introduced in 2015 and succeeded the policy Positive Working Environment which had been in place since September 2005.  Staff have been made aware of the Policy which has also been published on the Department’s Intranet, highlighted in...