Other Questions
102. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if his Department is identifying unemployment black spots in order that investment may be targeted towards those areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44000/14]
View answerI wish to ask the Minister whether the Department carries out an analysis to establish the location of blackspots around the country in order to focus on the creation of employment in such areas.
Unemployment is a very important factor in all of our work. The economic crash saw a rise in unemployment in every region, and my Department and agencies have sought to respond to the employment challenge in every region. Since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs, approximately 70,000 extra people have got work. Enterprises in every region have increased employment and in almost all sectors.
The highest rate of unemployment has consistently been recorded in the south east and my Department has put a special spotlight on the region. Agencies under my Department give higher levels of aid in regions with lower average income and higher unemployment. Under our Presidency of the EU, we negotiated a revised map for regional aid which allowed Kerry, Kells, Athy and Arklow to be brought in within the framework in view of their high levels of unemployment. The capacity to draw a regional aid map is very severely constrained by the rules of the EU. It is not open to a Minister to pick a town here and a town there. They must be contiguous regions based on the so-called nomenclature of units for territorial statistics, NUTS III, designation of regions or areas contiguous to them.
The creation of the LEO network is designed to provide a first-stop-shop for start-ups and existing enterprises that are in a position to create jobs. It also seeks to harness the influence and reach of local authorities in delivering a better service to businesses. New initiatives driven through this network include microfinance and the roll out of Ireland’s best young entrepreneur competition with a team of investment funds designed to find and support the best young entrepreneurs.
IDA Ireland has identified regions that require the additional support of property-based solutions. We put three in place this year in Waterford, Athlone and Letterkenny. We are seeking to develop a new regional enterprise strategy.
Unemployment is at the core of what we are seeking to address. Every region has seen a reduction in unemployment. Even small areas have seen a reduction in unemployment. We continue to employ such an approach and through the measures I described in my previous reply to the Deputy, we seek to improve the way we use the assets we have to support enterprise in those regions.
I will address my comments to the Minister of State, Deputy English in particular. In many areas of the country, young unemployed people aged between 18 and 20 years are not in a FÁS scheme. Will the Minister consider a different approach? Anyone who is unemployed should be given a place on a scheme until he or she gets a job. Will the Minister consider this as a means of helping to build up the self-confidence of those who are unemployed? It is a matter of getting up and out in the morning and working with people. This would be for the betterment of the country.
My colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, by means of the Youth Guarantee, has introduced a range of measures to support young people getting back into the workforce. I refer to very successful schemes such as JobBridge, which has a 60% placement rate. MOMENTUM is under review and it is envisaged it will provide work experience as part of the scheme. The JobsPlus scheme is aimed at young people in unemployment blackspots to give them a leg-up. The back-to-work enterprise allowance is available regardless of age. I refer to a range of initiatives from Springboard right through to training. The Minister of State, Deputy English, has responsibility for the new apprenticeship and traineeship models. Significant work is being done in this area.
103. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a detailed report on the Action Plan for Jobs 2014. [44356/14]
View answerWill the Minister provide a detailed report on the Action Plan for Jobs, where the jobs have been created and how funding for job creation is being provided?
The Action Plan for Jobs is a multi-annual strategy initiated in 2012 to ensure a cross-Government approach to optimising the environment for enterprise, such that a net additional 100,000 jobs will be created by 2016. Good progress is being made on the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs 2014. Ireland's ranking in terms of competitiveness and ease of doing business continues to improve. The Central Statistics Office quarterly national household survey, as of the second quarter of 2014, shows that, seasonally adjusted, 1,906,300 people were employed, an increase of 33,500 on the previous year - approximately 2,800 jobs per month - and 68,700 from the first quarter of 2012, when the Action Plan for Jobs was launched
The 2014 plan contains 385 actions to be implemented in 2014 by all 16 Departments and by 46 agencies. Cumulatively to the end of the third quarter, 89% of those scheduled for delivery have been implemented. These actions cover delivery of supports for enterprise, actions to develop sectoral opportunities and measures that will strengthen the competitiveness and capacity of our economy to support job growth.
A series of cross-cutting disruptive reforms is being advanced in 2014. These include critical areas where we can win a competitive edge across many sectors, including big data analytics; ICT skills; integrated licensing application service, for which I have responsibility; trading online voucher scheme; energy efficiency; national health innovation hub; entrepreneurship; winning abroad; manufacturing; and national step change. Each is well advanced in implementation.
Some examples of important initiatives implemented thus far in 2014 include the launch of local enterprise offices; the launch of the Ireland's best young entrepreneur programme; additional staff in the overseas offices of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland; and record levels of new investment by Enterprise Ireland and IDA enterprises. We have launched a British-Irish visa scheme for tourist and business travellers. These are examples of some of the key wins in the context of the Action Plan for Jobs. It has been a very effective process since 2012 and we are seeing the results of its success.
I am still none the wiser as to exactly what sectors these jobs are in, but I have noted the vast bulk of the Department's budget of €755 million for 2014 consists of grants, subsidies and other incentives to corporations. It is what is known as corporate welfare, where the State uses taxes collected from workers, and savings through cuts to public spending, to give hand-outs and tax incentives to big business to create jobs. In 2011 the Taoiseach stated he wanted this to be the best small country in which to do business by 2016. I have an issue with this statement because it does not imply jobs are being created for the sake of the people who will have the jobs, but that the Government is creating a climate for business people from these jobs. The philosophy is about face. It seems people are to serve the economy and private business rather than the other way around.
To refer back to Deputy Coppinger's question, the total gross Exchequer expenditure by the Department in 2013 was €791.9 million, and 57% of this represented total capital expenditure via agencies under the Department's remit. Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and many other agencies under the aegis of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation have done remarkable work in recent years in restoring Ireland's economic reputation abroad and they give excellent value for money for the taxpayer. They work enormously hard to promote Ireland abroad and work with indigenous Irish companies to create jobs. We can see that unemployment levels in the country have reduced enormously in recent years, from a high of approximately 15.2% to 11% and dropping. There are still far too many people out of work and we need to get many more people into sustainable decent jobs, and we are making considerable progress in doing so. All of the resources available to our agencies are accounted for and spent properly, and like other Government agencies, the Department's agencies have gone through a period of reform to ensure they are streamlined, slim, fit and lean and spend taxpayers' money in the appropriate way in promoting Ireland and ensuring we create the jobs we need.
Is the Minister of State in the Labour Party? I am not too sure any more.
I thought you were on the left. I thought you were interested in job creation.
It used to be Labour Party policy to use public investment to create jobs, either directly in public services or elsewhere, but now it seems to go along with the ideology of doling out vast sums of money to small and medium enterprises and multinationals to try to get them to create jobs. TASC economist, Paul Sweeney, described the level of corporate welfare in Ireland as a very considerable level of direct and indirect State intervention constituting our industrial policy. It is very disappointing this is the direction in which the Minister of State has gone. The €64 billion bank bailout was already a hand-out to businesses on behalf of the taxpayer, but now we see a host of State agencies giving support to SMEs. A total of 80 Government business supports amounting to more than €2 billion are also available to SMEs. This policy is misdirected. The only way we will create jobs is by investing, for example in housing and house building which the Minister of State has not even mentioned in the course of his contribution, and in creating the social needs we have in society through job creation.
I find it quite depressing that somebody who claims to be of the left seems to be so anti-jobs and anti-employment. I do not inhabit the world in which Deputy Coppinger lives. I believe our State agencies should be supported in creating jobs.
They are not creating any; that is the problem.
Deputy Coppinger would do a very good job if she returned to the thousands of her constituents who work in the foreign direct investment sector and explained to them she is not in favour of State support for Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, which support many of the jobs those constituents have and in which they work extremely hard.
Questions Nos. 104 and 105 are in the name of Deputy Durkan and are similar.
I will take the two together, no problem.
104. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which job creation targets continue to be met throughout the services sector, indigenously and through foreign direct investment; the degree to which innovation has played a part in such job creation; if EU assistance has been available to individual firms; his expectations in this regard for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44354/14]
View answer105. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which job creation targets continue to be met throughout the manufacturing sector, indigenously and through foreign direct investment; the degree to which innovation has played a part in such job creation; if EU assistance has been available to individual firms; his expectations in this regard for the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44353/14]
View answerBoth questions relate to the extent to which job creation targets are being achieved, through foreign direct investment and indigenously, in the manufacturing and service sectors.
The Deputy is very obliging to put the two questions together. I will try to merge my two answers.
I always want to be helpful.
As the Deputy knows, the target set out in the Action Plan for Jobs is to create 100,000 extra jobs by 2016. No individual targets are set, but I think the services sector would already employ about 76% of the total employment in the country. Naturally, therefore, that is a major area we will be operating in. In the manufacturing sector, there are key areas set out under food, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices where we are really trying to drive that agenda. There is a manufacturing initiative and forum as well to try to have a step-change there so we are focusing on them.
In the services sector, the potential would be in tourism, software services, business services and retail. These have been identified and we put structures in place to try to assist in their development as well. It is clear that extra jobs in some of these areas both in manufacturing and in services have made a major contribution to the overall increase of 68,700 extra people at work since the Action Plan for Jobs was launched.
It is about trying to direct the supports to the key areas. As I said earlier, the Action Plan for Jobs is trying to bring in every Department. The Departments of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Health, and Education and Skills all have their roles because we have to get back to creating long-term sustainable enterprise-driven jobs in services, manufacturing and medical devices. I was at a presentation on the pharmaceutical area this morning. There are key areas involved here.
The other part of the Deputy's question related to how the innovation agenda forms part of that. I would very clearly say, having spent the past three or four months in this job as Minister of State with responsibility for innovation, skills and research, that the innovation agenda is probably driving about two thirds of the jobs growth. In many of the companies I visit I can see that the money they are investing in research, development and innovation is leading on to job creation. That has a major role to play. In the past two or three years the Government has targeted and prioritised funding on certain areas of the research and development agenda, trying to align taxpayers' money with industry in areas where Ireland can compete, excel and be a world leader. That is paying off and is leading on to jobs.
Deputy Coppinger wants the Government to create all the jobs. We do not believe the role of the Government is to create all the jobs. However, we should create the environment in which jobs can be created. That involves using taxpayers' money to provide supports for all sides of the business in all sectors. Two weeks ago at a science debate I listened to Deputy Coppinger's colleague saying that we should supply all the money for research and development. I have asked the same question of her colleague, Deputy Paul Murphy, and I ask it of her. They do not want us to collect any money in any form of taxes or water charges and yet they want the Government to spend money in every area and be the only people spending money. We believe that to drive the economy we need to work with industry and the Action Plan for Jobs is about providing State supports and working together, with industry to target money in key areas which will lead on to job creation.
I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. How does the Minister of State respond to the claim from some quarters that the 76,000 jobs already created are not real jobs at all - that they are only part-time jobs and low-paid jobs? To what extent are the manufacturing or service sectors more appropriate to attract innovation-backed funding from the European institutions?
A key there is the Horizon 2020 agenda. The current research framework in Europe has a budget of €80 billion which we can draw down and target. The research community, the ecosystem, in Ireland has developed considerably in recent years and we are in a position to target about €1.25 billion of that. Quite a lot of that money will be targeted through the services industry but also through the manufacturing sector. The best way we can win that money is through collaboration with our higher education institutes along with industry, coming together through research centres and through SFI to drive that agenda, putting teams of people together to make proposals that will win in Europe.
In the first year of Horizon 2020 we have been very successful. Ireland is leading the way and we are punching above our weight when it comes to winning funding from that budget and I think we will do well in that regard. However, the Deputy is right. The services sector is key for employment. For example, among Irish-owned enterprises, employment in services increased by 5,188 between over the past three years. In IDA Ireland enterprises, employment in services increased by 9,730.
The Deputy asked about whether they were part-time or full-time jobs. They are full-time jobs; they are real jobs. One can look at the tax coming in from those jobs so they are not pretend jobs, part-time jobs or intern jobs. The majority are actually full-time new jobs. When we say 70,000, that figure is above the net losses as well. It is a great improvement.
They are not the figures though.
In regard to criticism to the effect that indigenous industry receives no support and all the support goes towards the multinational corporations, will the Minister of State clarify the position?
No. The mix-up here - it was mentioned earlier - is that much of the funding delivered through our State agencies must be for export-led products. We are not in a position to grant aid companies to compete with each other on the high streets of the domestic market. The emphasis is to target money, and especially financial supports, through Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and so on at companies that export. There is access to training, advice, business courses for all other businesses as well but the majority of grant aid would be for companies that export, and rightly so. We will only improve the financial position of the country if we export and that is what we are trying to do. An export agenda is driving that goal and we will continue to fund that as well. I think the Deputy would agree with me on that.
I was heckled by the Deputy opposite who said the jobs are not there but the figures are. If she looks at the CSO figures of jobs created, she will get information on what jobs are full-time and part-time. All the information she would want is there.
Give us the figures now.
If the Deputy took the time to look at them she would see that information. That office is independent of Government and the figures are there, having been analysed independently. There is job creation. The Deputy might not like it but it is happening.
Thank you, Minister of State. I must move on to the next question.
106. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide an update on the work of the retail consultation forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44352/14]
View answerI wish to assess from the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, where the Retail Consultation Forum is at. I acknowledge the work his predecessor, the former Minister of State, Deputy Perry, did in this area. The retail sector is a forgotten part of Irish business and Irish small and medium enterprises. I do not think there is any sense within Government of the crisis facing the retail sector not only from the economic downtown but also in terms of technology. I want to get a sense from the Minister of State where the consultation forum is at and whether there is any sense of urgency about this sector.
I can assure the Deputy there is a sense of urgency about the position of the retail sector at present and in terms of addressing the serious issues around employment and so on in the sector. As part of this year’s Action Plan for Jobs, we have established the Retail Consultation Forum under the aegis of my Department to provide a platform for a structured engagement between the retail sector and relevant Departments and agencies. Its purpose is to allow key issues of relevance to the sector to be discussed with a view to identifying practical actions which could be taken by the Government or by the industry to support the sector.
The Retail Consultation Forum comprises representatives from the retail sector and from relevant public sector bodies and it comprises not necessarily only the statutory actors in the sector but individual retailers who have displayed excellence in their own areas in recent years. It is chaired by me and the secretariat to the forum is resourced by the Department.
The forum has met on three occasions to date this year, in June under the former Minister of State, Deputy Perry, and the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and in September and early November when it was chaired by myself. We have agreed a broad work programme for the next 12 months. Following the September meeting of the forum, a submission was made to the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform outlining proposals for consideration to support the retail sector in budget 2015.
One of the main challenges for the retail sector during the recession was the erosion of consumers’ disposable income. The 2015 budget was the first in many years that will herald an increase in people’s disposable incomes when people consider the tax cuts they will receive in their pay packets at the end of January and rises in social welfare payments in terms of the partial restoration of the Christmas bonus and other measures such as the €5 increase in child benefit. Other budget measures that will have a positive impact on the retail sector include the retention of the 9% VAT rate, the extension of the home renovation incentive to include rental properties, and the additional funding being provided by the Department of Social Protection under the JobsPlus scheme.
The most recent meeting of the forum, on 10 November, centred on identifying potential actions for inclusion in the 2015 Action Plan for Jobs to support the retail sector, including areas where business costs could be addressed. In next year's Action Plan for Jobs we want to focus on the ease of doing business. On the basis of that discussion, my officials are currently drawing up a number of measures with me to support the sector and they will be considered for inclusion in next year’s Action Plan for Jobs.
The Deputy will be aware from having been involved in this that we anxiously await the joint Oireachtas committee's report on town centre shopping. I look forward to working with him on that.
I am glad the Minister of State is anxiously awaiting that report and I hope he will be as anxious to act on it. In fairness to the Minister of State, he contributed a good deal to it.
Every sector of the economy may benefit from the miserly increases given but by the time water charges are paid for there will not be much left.
On the retail sector, how much additional funding was provided in the budget to the trading online scheme to assist retailers in moving their businesses online, which is biggest challenge facing retailers now? I understand it is a Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources allocation but presumably the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is also involved.
What proposals has the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation made to the Department of Finance around legacy debt? There is a need for a conversation with the Department of Finance about the many retail businesses which while operating well on a day-to-day basis are hamstrung by investments in expansion and the creation of new jobs or are facing closure by the banks because they are unable to service debt which dates back many years. There is no sense of any type of package being put in place to assist such businesses. Has there been any discussion in this regard?
Also, has there been any discussion with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform on its new rates revaluation Bill, which is causing chaos around the country? I would encourage the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, when he next visits Waterford to meet with the retail groups there in regard to what rates revaluation is doing to them. It is destroying those who have invested in their properties.
In regard to Waterford, I am looking forward to visiting the city and county earlier in the New Year with my colleague, Deputy Ciara Conway. During my visits to all areas across the country I will be meeting with retailers. I have a particular interest in trying to support the retail sector given the experience it has had over the past few years. Tomorrow, I will be visiting Carlow and some exemplars in the field of retail to discuss their concerns in regard to how Government and other agencies can support the retail sector.
Some 50,000 jobs were lost in the retail sector between 2008 and 2012. Approximately 10% of our workforce is employed in retail across every town, village and city in this country. I know I speak for every Deputy in this House and for every Member of the Oireachtas when I express concern for the retail sector. Key to supporting retail is ensuring consumers have confidence and adequate disposable income to spend.
In regard to the online trading scheme, the amount of resources available for the scheme this year has been doubled because, as the Deputy will be aware, there is enormous leakage to other markets. I am aware of the Deputy's concern in this matter. We are acting on it.
I welcome the doubling of the funding. It is important the message in that regard gets out. Perhaps the LEOs can step up to the mark in this regard. The Minister of State referred earlier to confidence. Many retailers need confidence to enable them trade online. They do not understand the process.
Where are we at on the legacy debt issue, which is a major issue, in particular for retailers who may have expanded their premises or bought new premises during the so-called boom time? There is a great deal of focus on mortgage debt, and rightly so, but SME debt is costing jobs and expansion. Without some real attempt to focus on this, it will be a drag on economic recovery.
The issue of restructuring of debt is one I raise continually with senior banking officials when I have the opportunity to meet with them. As I understand it, Bank of Ireland has restructured 90% of the debt over-hangs to which the Deputy referred, which are obviously not exclusively in the retail sector but across the SME sector. Considerable further work needs to be done. We have travelled some journey over the past year or two in terms of dealing with the issues that can place a heavy burden on businesses that in terms of their core business are very sustainable but where because of property debt difficulties may arise. There is more work to be done.
Later today I will be meeting with senior executives from the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI. I am looking forward to ensuring that this institution does step up to the mark and that people are aware that it will shortly be open for business so that retailers can access the various products for which it will be responsible. I believe this will be a very important dimension in the market.
107. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when the selection and appointment of a panel of adjudicators to effect the dispute resolution aspects of the construction contracts Bill, and the development of a code of conduct for adjudicators of disputes, in consultation with stakeholders will be complete. [44360/14]
View answerIt is four years since the construction contracts Bill commenced its journey through the Oireachtas. When will the panel of adjudicators be selected and appointed and when will the code of conduct for the adjudicators of disputes be completed?
I thank the Deputy for the question. The Construction Contracts Act 2013 seeks to ensure prompt payment practices throughout the construction industry which, as we are all aware, has suffered markedly throughout the economic downturn. It is intended that the legislation will provide easier access to payment for contractors who have carried out work, thus ensuring that those contractors who have endured hard times do not see such problems exacerbated by the holding up of payment.
The commencement of the Act is dependent on a number of factors contained within the Act itself. These include the appointment of a chairperson and panel of adjudicators by the Minister who must be highly qualified and suitable to ensure quality outcomes in disputes referred under the Act. It requires the drafting and publication of a code of practice for the conduct of adjudications, which will be binding on all adjudicators operating under the Act, not just those appointed to cases by the chair of the adjudication panel.
Work on these items and the required consultation with industry has been and is ongoing. My Department is working with the Public Appointments Service to develop the parameters for an open competition for those who may want to apply for a place on the panel of adjudicators, and a draft version of the code of practice has been prepared in consultation with industry which I hope will be finalised shortly.
It is expected that the Act will be implemented in full by spring 2015. A specific date of implementation for the Act and details of the various stages leading up to that implementation will be announced in advance once those details have been finalised to provide sufficient notice to those affected by the Act's provisions.
Before the legislation was brought into play, there was a wide-ranging consultation process. This consultation process is ongoing after the legislation has been passed and I cannot understand the need for it. The Government knew what was involved in regard to the legislation but it appears no preparatory work has been done. It seems likely it will take the full length of time this Administration is in office to get very important subcontracting legislation through. My previous question was also about subcontracting. The subcontracting area is in crisis and it is a mess both for subcontractors and workers working in the area. I cannot understand, therefore, why it is taking the Government so long to implement this vital legislation.
I recently took on responsibility for this legislation and for setting up the infrastructure around it. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was responsible for it previously but it was no longer appropriate for that Department to be responsible for it. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, was particularly anxious that this process would be expedited and I actively sought responsibility for this legislation and its operation. I accept and understand what Deputy Tóibín has said. This is very important for the construction industry and it is something which the Construction Industry Federation has been seeking for some time, as have some subcontractors across that sector of the economy.
I assure the Deputy that there will not be any undue delay in regard to the appointment of those who need to be appointed because it is important we get this legislation operational very soon. I accept what the Deputy said that people have waited an excessively long time for this particular body to be up and running. I will not delay any further nor will I waste any time making sure it is up and running very shortly.
108. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide in tabular form the number of civil servants employed annually in his Department between 2007 and 2014. [44362/14]
View answerThis question relates to the case where a civil servant in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation submitted a witness statement to the Minister which was sought by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation two years ago but which remained on a desk in the Department until recent weeks. It has led me to a query in regard to the resourcing of the Department itself. Will the Minister provide details on what resources were amiss in the Department which led to this vital issue not being dealt with for more than two years?
This is not the question the Deputy asked. He asked for a tabular statement containing the number of civil servants employed in the Department. There were 1,021 employed in 2007, 1,075 in 2008, 994 in 2009, 906 in 2010, 831 in 2011, 788 in 2012, 802 in 2013 and 803 as of today. Those figures reflect changes in responsibility as well as the effect of the employment control framework.
The position in regard to the matter the Deputy raised is that this was an investigation under the Companies Act, initiated back in 1998. All of the files gathered in that investigation were provided to all of the relevant authorities, including the Revenue Commissioners, the tribunals, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and various relevant bodies which had the power to investigate that issue. Arising from that, the officer concerned drew up a witness statement which I decided should be issued and be duly checked before it would be issued, as was required under the Companies Act. The checking of that took longer than expected but that matter was dealt with when the outstanding period was identified, and it has been furnished to the relevant authorities.
The reason I asked about resources was that we were led to believe that resources were a major reason this took so long. Mr. Ryan sent the Minister the statement via an assistant secretary in December 2012. When no action followed, he wrote to the Minister again in 2012 to complain that he had not forwarded this statement to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, as required of him. It was reported that his correspondence also emphasised the importance of the statement which he believed carried substantial evidence supporting allegations of a conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners.
In anybody's mind, this is a very serious issue and one which would be a priority for a Minister to deal with, and a priority so strong as to allocate the necessary resources to deal with it. Another year passed and the Minister's office still had not dealt with Mr. Ryan's statement and he clearly had no option but to bring the issue to the Committee of Public Accounts. Mr. Ryan's statement had also been sought by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. It is incredible that a resource issue is the basis of a two-year delay in regard to this important detail.
I assure the Deputy that all of the evidence of alleged tax evasion went to the various authorities, including the Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners issued a statement outlining the investigation they undertook in respect of various individuals under the Ansbacher accounts. They also went to the Garda, which issued a statement that it has dealt with these issues and a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. I assure the Deputy that the issues have been thoroughly passed on in every detail to the various authorities in a position to take enforcement action. Both of the authorities have reported that action has been taken in respect of them.
