Written Answers Nos. 100-109
100. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide by Department/agency basis the number of persons who are seeking transfers to other locations; the number of transfers that took place in 2012 on a county basis on the number of transfers that took place in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2083/13]
View answerIn response to the Deputy’s question the following table outlines the number of staff in my Department or in bodies which fall under the remit of my Department who sought transfers in 2012, and those currently seeking transfers, on a county basis:
|
Current location |
Number |
Location to which they transferred |
|
Staff who transferred in 2012 |
||
|
Valuation Office |
1 |
Dublin |
|
1 |
Portlaoise |
|
|
Valuation Tribunal |
1 |
Dublin |
|
Public Expenditure & Reform |
1 |
Meath |
|
1 |
Wexford |
|
|
1 |
Dublin |
|
|
Public Appointments Service |
7 |
Dublin |
|
1 |
Meath |
|
|
Office of Public Works |
5 |
Dublin |
|
1 |
Clare |
|
|
Staff who are currently seeking Transfers |
||
|
Valuation Office |
2 |
Dublin |
|
Valuation Tribunal |
2 |
Dublin |
|
State Laboratory |
1 |
Dublin |
|
Public Expenditure & Reform |
1 |
Tullamore |
|
Public Appointments Service |
5 |
Dublin |
|
1 |
Louth |
|
|
1 |
Kildare |
|
|
1 |
Longford |
|
|
Office of Public Works |
1 |
Dublin |
|
1 |
Limerick |
|
|
1 |
Westmeath |
|
|
1 |
Mayo |
While the OPW does not currently operate a formal, internal transfer scheme for State Industrial employees, a small number of requests are accommodated from time to time, principally on compassionate grounds. One such transfer, from Kerry to Dublin, was facilitated in 2012. There is no formal scheme of interdepartmental transfer for State Industrial staff.
101. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the procedures whereby some vacancies in the public service are filled through redeployment; the circumstances in which other positions are filled through transfers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2084/13]
View answerThe Public Service Agreement 2010-14 (Croke Park Agreement) provides for agreed redeployment arrangements to apply in the Civil Service and in other parts of the public service. Under the Agreement, redeployment generally takes precedence over all other methods of filling a vacancy and supersedes any existing agreements on the deployment of staff. It sets out the agreed redeployment arrangements within the Health, Education, and Local Authority sectors and within and between the Civil Service and Non-Commercial State Sponsored Bodies (NCSSB). It also provides that cross sectoral redeployments will follow the arrangements agreed for the NCSSBs.
The Public Appointments Service (PAS), which has day-to-day operational responsibility for the implementation of redeployment, has put in place a system of Resource Panels of Civil Service and State Agency staff to support the redeployment processes in those sectors agreed under the Croke Park Agreement. Posts to be filled by redeployment are offered in the first instance to the relevant panel or panels. It is a matter for the employer to identify the number and grades of posts to be redeployed in the first instance and to upload the posts onto the PAS panels. Employers can do this early in the redeployment process to maximise the opportunities to place their staff. There is no set time-limit within which individuals awaiting redeployment must be redeployed.
To ensure an effective system, Personnel Officers in sending and receiving organisations have put dedicated Redeployment Liaison Officers in place to proactively manage the redeployment of staff. In addition, my Department works on an ongoing basis with PAS and other stakeholders to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the redeployment processes and of the panel system in particular.
Civil Service departments and other public service organisations vary in relation to the approaches they adopt to the transfer of their own staff between locations and no centrally agreed approach is applied. There are no formal arrangements in place within the civil service to facilitate requests for transfers to other locations/employments, except in the case of grades represented by the Civil & Public Services Union. Transfers for these (mostly Clerical and Staff Officers) are arranged in accordance with formal procedures agreed with the Staff Side at General Council under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for the Civil Service.
Transfers between grades in the civil service can be arranged on an informal, head-to-head, basis. Such transfers are arranged between the officers seeking to move and the relevant Personnel Units and require the agreement of both Personnel Officers. The arrangements for the other Public Service sectors are a matter for the relevant parent Department in each case.
102. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Industrial Development Agency organised visits for perspective FDI startups to sites in Newcastle West, Kilmallock, Askeaton, Rathkeale and Abbeyfeale since 1 of January 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2134/13]
View answerI have been informed by IDA Ireland that data in relation to sponsored site visits by potential investors is maintained on a county by county basis only. The Agency has indicated to me that since January 2011 to date it has sponsored 70 such visits to Limerick City and County. Details of the number of IDA’s sponsored visits for 2011 and 2012 are set out in the attached tabular statement.
As Ireland competes for investments at the highest end of the value chain the concept of scale is crucial. Leading corporations require significant population pools of highly qualified talent, appropriate physical and digital infrastructure coupled with the availability of sophisticated professional and support services. In order to meet this challenge IDA focuses on marketing the Gateway locations within each region.
Limerick, along with Clare and North Tipperary, forms part of IDA’s Mid West region. Within that region the IDA concentrates its efforts on the Limerick/Shannon gateway and the hub town of Ennis. With the improved infrastructure that is now in place, a project win in one location in a region has a positive economic impact on other areas within and in close proximity to that region. An example of is the announcement last September by Northern Trust of the creation of 400 jobs in Limerick. Overall, in Limerick City and County there are 43 IDA client companies employing 6,996 people.
IDA Ireland has explained that, typically, a company is shown three or four locations within a Gateway Economic Region that can meet its requirements and, in certain cases, other locations are visited on an opportunistic basis. In selecting locations to market to client companies, IDA Ireland will endeavour to include locations which have been affected by closures/job losses. However, whilst IDA Ireland seeks to influence the selection of a location, the final decision on where to locate is taken in all cases by the investor.
Number of IDA Sponsored Site Visits to Limerick City and County - 2011-2012
|
Site Visits |
2011 |
2012 |
|
Limerick |
40 |
30 |
103. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total amount of grant assistance made available by Enterprise Ireland to companies in County Limerick during 2012; the number of positions created by Enterprise Ireland companies in County Limerick in 2012 to include those that received funds in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2136/13]
View answerEnterprise Ireland paid a total of €4,040,402 to companies in County Limerick in 2012. The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on job gains and losses in companies that are supported by Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Shannon Development. The data is compiled on an annualized basis and details relating to 2012 will be available in the first quarter of 2013.
104. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will outline the extent of job creation opportunities or possibilities available to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2230/13]
View answerMy Department does not provide direct funding or grants to businesses but provides funding to a number of State Agencies, including the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) and Enterprise Ireland, through whom assistance is delivered directly to businesses. The role of Kildare County Enterprise Board as part of the network of CEBs is to develop indigenous potential and stimulate economic activity at a local level primarily through the provision of financial and technical support for the development of small and micro-enterprises.
The promoter may therefore wish to contact Kildare County Enterprise Board to discuss what options may be available to them and their proposed business venture. Kildare County Enterprise Board is located at The Woods, Clane, Co. Kildare; Phone No: 045 861707, Fax No: 045 861712: Email: info@kildareceb.ie Website: www.kceb.ie.
Enterprise Ireland has a wide range of programmes to address the multi-disciplinary demands of entrepreneurship and the diversity of business types. The agency supports companies to achieve productivity gains, internationalisation and export growth. It assists with research and development, management skills acquisition, market information and seed and venture capital. Full details are available from the Agency's website www.enterprise-ireland.com.
In addition to the supports and services of the state agencies under the aegis of my Department, the promoter may also wish to be made aware that the Department of Social Protection also provides assistance through various Back to Work (Enterprise) Schemes and an Employer (PRSI) Incentive Scheme. In addition and subject to certain eligibility criteria, persons returning to the workplace (having been unemployed for over a year) may be able to avail of Revenue’s Job Assist. In this regard, the promoter may wish to contact the Departments of Social Protection at www.welfare.ie and Revenue at www.revenue.ie for further information.
Finally, for more general information on developing a business in Ireland you may wish to contact the BASIS (Business Access to State Information and Services) Initiative (www.basis.ie), which is administered by my Department. The aim of the BASIS website is to deliver Government information and services to business.
105. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of companies that have qualified for regional aid since 2007; the amounts of aid involved; and the regions of the country that received this aid. [2264/13]
View answer106. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of applications received from companies since 2007 for regional or investment aid; and the categories under which the aid was granted. [2265/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 105 and 106 together.
Due to the significant volume of information requested by the Deputy, my Department has been unable to collate the information within the timeframe given. I will endeavour to provide the information to the Deputy as soon as possible.
107. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will increase the amount of regional investment aid for those parts of the country that are experiencing the highest levels of unemployment. [2266/13]
View answer108. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the stakeholders he consulted with before making a submission to the EU Commission regarding regional or investment aid. [2267/13]
View answer109. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amounts of regional aid that can be applied for in the south-east region. [2268/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 107 to 109, inclusive, together.
Regional Aid, also known as investment aid, is paid in the form of grants by the industrial development agencies to support new investment and new employment in productive projects. Such aid must be in accordance with the Regional Aid Map 2007-13 approved by the European Commission. This Map was drawn up in accordance with the Commission’s Regional Aid Guidelines 2007-2013. The eligible regions and applicable aid rates in Ireland for the 7 year period are set out in the Irish map. The Commission’s Regional Aid Guidelines afford the possibility to Member States to amend the list of regions eligible for Regional Aid or the applicable aid intensities only once during the relevant 7 year period, by way of a mid-term review. Hence, there is no scope to increase population coverage under the current RAGs.
In selecting the areas within the overall Southern and Eastern (NUTS) Level II Region (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) that could, in addition to the BMW (Border, Midlands and West) Region, be designated for the Regional Aid Map 2007-2013, Ireland had to observe a strict EU requirement that the areas selected be relatively more in need of economic development than the better off regions of the EU. The Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly was consulted for its views. The Assembly accepted the findings of an independent report, which it commissioned from the National Institute for Spatial and Regional Analysis at NUI Maynooth. The Assembly’s proposals were included in the proposed Regional Aid Map that the European Commission approved in 2006.
The process of Member States agreeing the 2014-2021 Regional Aid Guidelines is underway and initial multilateral discussions between Member States and the Commission, which has responsibility for the Regional Aid Guidelines, have taken place. For the 2014-2021 Regional Aid Map, economic data for all counties will once again be analysed afresh. My Department is actively engaged in this process and has consulted relevant stakeholders including various Government Departments, the industrial development agencies, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Forfás, the Central Statistics Office, the Border Midland and Western Regional Assembly, the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly, and the eight Regional Authorities.
The Commission issued a non paper setting out its initial orientations in December 2011, which was followed by a multilateral meeting in March 2012. The Commission subsequently forwarded further proposals to Member States on 14 January 2013, documenting the structure and provisions that will form the basis of the revised Guidelines. Details of these proposals can be accessed at the following weblink; http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2013_regional_aid_guidelines/index_en.html. Further discussions are due to take place on 11 and 12 of February.
The details of the support in terms of aid intensity currently available for each county are available on my Departments website, and are also listed in the chart. It is important to note that all of the Country, including those areas not entitled to Regional Aid, can qualify for other forms of aid e.g. Research, Development & Innovation Aid, SME Investment Aid, Training Aid, and Aid for Environmental protection etc.
Regional Aid Map 2007-2013 – IRELAND (as reviewed by Commission Decision N130/2010 – Official Journal c 226/5 21.8.2010)
BORDER, MIDLANDS and WEST REGION
|
- |
Large Firms |
Large Firms |
Medium Firms |
Medium Firms |
Small Firms |
Small Firms |
|
Period |
2007-2010 |
2011-2013 |
2007-2010 |
2011-‘13 |
2007-‘10 |
2011-‘13 |
|
Aid Rate (Gross Grant Equivalent) |
30% |
15% |
40% |
25% |
50% |
35% |
SOUTHERN & EASTERN REGION
|
Designated Areas |
LARGE FIRMS |
LARGE FIRMS |
MEDIUM FIRMS |
MEDIUM FIRMS |
SMALL FIRMS |
SMALL FIRMS |
|
South East |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
|
sub region (Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, South Tipperary) and designated islands1 |
10% |
10% |
20% |
20% |
30% |
30% |
|
- |
2007-2008 |
2009-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
2007-2013 |
|
Mid West |
10% |
10% |
20% |
20% |
30% |
30% |
|
(Clare, Limerick, North Tipperary2) Kerry, Cork Urban Regeneration Area |
10% |
0% |
20%3 |
20%3 |
30%3 |
30%3 |
|
- |
- |
- |
2007-2008 |
2009-2013 |
2007-2008 |
2009-2013 |
|
Cork (apart from Urban Regeneration Area) |
10% |
0% |
20% |
0% |
30% |
0% |
1 Lower aid rates apply to Large Investment Projects (i.e. > €50 million)
Bear, Cleire, Dursey, Heir, Long, Sherkin, Whiddy
2 As a result of Commission Decision N 130/2010, large investment aid and aid for investment projects with eligible expenditure exceeding EUR 25 million is once again permitted for these three counties. Prior to the decision, such aid had only been allowed up until the end of 2008.
3 From 2009-2013 no aid may be awarded in these counties for investment projects with eligible expenditure exceeding EUR 25 million.
