Written Answers Nos. 75-83
76. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a breakdown of the level of employment and job creation in companies supported by Industrial Development Agency Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for each of the past five years in counties Westmeath and Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48751/14]
View answerI have been advised by IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland that in 2013, there were just under 3,000 IDA Ireland-supported positions and over 4,000 people employed in Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs in Westmeath and Longford. 2014 figures will not be published until early in the New Year. IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland have a strong presence in Co. Longford and Co. Westmeath. The breakdown of employment in the counties and by agency is outlined in the following tabular statement.
Longford and Westmeath are marketed as part of IDA Ireland’s Midlands Region, which also includes the counties of Roscommon, Laois and Offaly. The Region is marketed as having a strong cluster in Medical Technology and Life Sciences and is home to key clients such as Ark Consulting in Longford and Abbott, Covidien, Integra, GeneMedix elsewhere in the region generally.
In addition, the region is home to International Business Services companies such as Teleflex, AXA, NPD Group and PPD. All of these companies are an attraction for potential IDA Ireland clients to locate in the Midlands and to provide employment opportunities for people living in both Westmeath and Longford.
The arrival of Jazz Pharmaceuticals to Athlone along with the announcement of investment by Alexion Pharma combined with the existing presence of Alkermes, employing in the region of 400 staff identifies a new cluster in the Midlands in biopharmaceuticals and this will be presented to potential new name companies in the market place.
In the indigenous sector, there are over 4,000 people employed in Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs in Westmeath and Longford. As recently as last month C&D Foods announced the opening of a new facility in Co. Longford creating 70 jobs.
Within this indigenous sector, over 600 are employed in the medical technology-related industries in the indigenous sector, in areas such as manufacturing to delivery of elements of the supply chain.
I have been working with my Department on the development of a framework for the formulation of Regional Enterprise Strategies that will enable us to identify the sustainable competitive strengths of each region and to better integrate the efforts of the enterprise development agencies and other regional stakeholders in supporting enterprise growth and jobs in areas of potential. It is my intention that this framework will be applied initially to produce action-oriented plans to support enterprise growth and jobs in the Midlands region and the South East region. Learning in these regions will inform any adaptations that might need to be made prior to the framework being applied to other regions in the course of 2015.
Employment in IDA Ireland-supported companies in Longford and Westmeath 2009-2013
|
Longford |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Total Jobs |
823 |
719 |
658 |
696 |
701 |
|
New Jobs Gains |
26 |
22 |
6 |
44 |
25 |
|
Westmeath |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Total Jobs |
1,859 |
2,038 |
2,132 |
2,270 |
2,225 |
|
New Jobs Gains |
107 |
208 |
162 |
177 |
132 |
Employment in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in Longford and Westmeath 2009 to 2013
|
- |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Longford |
|||||
|
Full Time Jobs |
1,690 |
1,577 |
1,529 |
1,557 |
1,632 |
|
Contract/Part time jobs |
124 |
131 |
121 |
120 |
188 |
|
Full time gains |
120 |
64 |
86 |
116 |
147 |
|
Westmeath |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
|
Full Time jobs |
2,134 |
2,119 |
2,180 |
2,352 |
2,610 |
|
Contract/Part time jobs |
286 |
255 |
231 |
240 |
244 |
|
Full time gains |
77 |
126 |
339 |
275 |
313 |
77. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in view of Horse Racing Ireland seeking to secure an adequate and consistent level of multi-annual funding from the Exchequer for Irish horse racing, the way he plans on increasing the tax contribution from the multi-million euro Irish thoroughbred breeding industry here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48494/14]
View answerThe funding mechanism for the provision of State support to the horse racing industry is set down in Section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001. This legislation will be updated in the forthcoming Horse Racing Ireland (Amendment) Bill which will be published early in 2015, after it is approved by Cabinet. The General Scheme of this Bill, published in June 2014, was examined by the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process. The basis of future funding to be provided to Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) will be linked to a number of variables including the strategic and business plans of the organisation, an assessment of the financial needs of HRI, income raised from excise duty on betting, the state of Exchequer finances and the decision of both Houses of the Oireachtas regarding the amount of funding to be allocated to the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund, Section 12 (13) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001, refers.
The Minister for Finance has published the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 which when enacted will ensure that all bookmakers taking bets from Ireland will pay 1% betting duty on those bets in the same way that betting shops currently do. Betting Exchanges will also be subject to tax under the new arrangements but the calculation of the tax will differ from that applying to bookmakers; they will be subject to 15% duty on their commission. These measures will ensure that the duty received from betting will be increased significantly. The latest update from the Department of Finance suggests that the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013 is expected to pass all stages in the early part of 2015.
Against this background, I am pleased to have been able to increase the allocation under the Horse and Greyhound Fund from €54.22m (2014) to €68m (2015), and HRI’s allocation increased from €43.4m (2014) to €54.4m (2015), representing a 25% increase.
Future allocations for the Horse and Greyhound Racing sector will be decided in the context of the annual budgetary process in accordance with the relevant legislation governing this expenditure.
78. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a 2014 single farm payment will issue in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48495/14]
View answerMy Department received a Transfer of Entitlements application on 13th May 2014 to transfer 16.20 standard entitlements from the above herd number. As this application requested the sale of entitlements which the person named did not in fact own, this transfer application was rejected.
Payment will issue to the person named in the coming days in respect of the entitlements held by him.
79. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason a person (details supplied) in County Donegal has not received their disadvantaged area payment or their single farm payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48503/14]
View answerThe person named submitted a 2014 Single Payment/Disadvantaged Areas scheme application on 14 March 2014. Processing of the application has recently been finalised and payments issued on 11 December 2014 under the Single Payment Scheme and is due to issue shortly in respect of the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme.
80. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the action he is taking to reduce the backlog in the number of farmers in County Donegal who are currently waiting on a field inspection to be carried out as part of having their applications for single farm payments processed due to unsuccessful remote sensing inspections having been previously carried out on their lands; if his attention has been drawn to the financial impact that this delay in receiving payments is having on farmers; if he will allow for a partial payment to be made to farmers who are currently waiting on a ground inspection to be carried out on their lands; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48511/14]
View answerEU Regulations governing the administration of the Single Farm Payment/Disadvantaged Areas’ Schemes, and other area based schemes, requires my Department to carry out an annual round of inspections, both in the field and by means of Remote Sensing, to ensure the eligibility of land declared to drawdown payments. The basis of these inspections is governed by EU legislation and there are minimum numbers that must be conducted each year.
Land eligibility checks must be carried out on at least 5% of applicants. In response to concerns about the impact of on-the-ground inspections on farmers, 6,715 cases or some 85% of the required 2014 inspections are initially being carried out without the need for a farm visit as the information needed is acquired using the technique of remote sensing via satellite.
Of the 6,715 cases selected for a Remote Sensing inspection, 484 cases are in Co. Donegal, which equates to 7.2% of the overall number selected. To date, inspection results have been finalised in respect of 448 cases and any payment due has issued, or will issue shortly, in respect of these cases.
I am of course conscious of the financial impact of any delays in payments and I am prioritising the resolution of all outstanding cases. The outstanding 36 cases will continue to be processed by my Department on a daily basis with the intention of issuing any payments due as soon as possible.
81. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a 2014 single farm payment will issue in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48516/14]
View answerMy Department received a Transfer of Entitlements application on 30th April 2014 requesting a change to the registration details on the above herd number from the name of the second person named into the names of both persons named.
In order to execute this entitlements transfer it was necessary for the persons named to firstly change the herd number details in the Regional Veterinary Office and my Department notified the second named person to this effect. This process has now been completed and the transfer of entitlements application has also been processed. Payment will issue in the coming days.
82. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the delay in payment of disadvantaged scheme, single farm payment and REPS for 2014, in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; if he will expedite the processing of their application and the issue of payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48527/14]
View answerAn application under 2014 Single Payment / Disadvantaged Areas Scheme was received from the person named on 8 May 2014. Processing of the application has recently been finalised and payment under both schemes will shortly issue, directly to the nominated bank account of the person named. The person named commenced REPS 4 in July 2009 and received payments for the first five years of their contract.
REPS 4 is a measure under the current 2007-13 Rural Development Programme and is subject to EU Regulations which require administrative checks on all applications to be completed before any payments can issue. These checks have now been completed in this case and the 2014 75% payment has been authorised for payment and will issue shortly. The remaining 2014 25% balancing payment will issue thereafter.
83. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will examine an application for single farm payment and disadvantaged area aid payment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48530/14]
View answerThe person named submitted a 2014 Single Payment / Disadvantaged Areas scheme application on 11 April 2014. Processing of the application has recently been finalised and payments are issuing, subject to an over-claim penalty being applied, directly to the nominated bank account of the person named.
