Written Answers Nos. 285-295
285. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of trips outside the State taken by either him or his Minister of State in tabular form; the locations they were to; the purpose of each trip; the duration of each trip; the officials that accompanied any Minister on each trip; and the costs of flights, accommodation and any other expenses incurred per person on each trip. [7728/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy in relation to Minister Shane Ross and Minister of State Patrick O'Donovan is given in the following table. The requested information relating to Departmental officials is currently being collated and will be forwarded to the Deputy within 10 working Days.
|
Minister Shane Ross |
Purpose of travel/Location |
Duration |
Accommodation cost |
Flight Costs |
Travel & subsistence |
|
18/6/16 |
Ireland V Belgium Bordeaux Euros 2016 |
1 Night |
313.30 |
784.72 |
|
|
26/6/16 |
Ireland V France Lyon Euros 2016 |
1 Night |
Not finalised |
654.51 |
|
|
14 – 18/8/16 |
Olympic Games – Rio de Janeiro |
4 Nights |
1,893.54 |
7,098.45 |
|
|
3/11/16 |
Ireland V New Zealand Rugby game Tourism Ireland Chicago |
2 Nights |
Not finalised |
1,532.65 |
|
|
06/06/16 |
Transport Council Luxembourg 7th June 2016 |
1 Night |
Not notified |
597.03 (EU Recoupable) |
|
|
18/11/16 |
NSMC Plenary - Armagh |
½ day |
N/A |
N/A |
66.00 |
|
12/12/16 |
Transport Sectoral meeting - Armagh |
½ day |
N/A |
N/A |
66.00 |
|
Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan |
Purpose of travel/Location |
Duration |
Accommodation cost |
Flight Costs |
Travel & subsistence |
|
13/6/16 |
Paris Euros 2016 |
1 day |
N/A |
N/A (Govt. Jet) |
|
|
26/6/16 |
Lyon Euros 2016 |
1 Night |
Not finalised |
654.51 |
|
|
14 – 18/8/16 |
Olympic Games – Rio de Janeiro |
4 Nights |
1,577.95 |
4,526 (1) |
|
|
6 – 10/9/16 |
Paralympic Games – Rio de Janeiro |
4 Nights |
573.28 |
5,726 (2) |
|
|
5 – 6/10/16 |
Flavours of Ireland, London |
1 |
415 |
108 |
|
|
7 – 8/11/16 |
World Travel Market, London |
1 |
N/A (Embassy) |
373 |
|
|
9/11/16 |
Womens’ Rugby World Cup Draw, Belfast |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
|
14/11/16 |
Bi-Lateral Meeting with Minister Crouch, London |
N/A |
N/A |
212 |
Flight Details
1. - 4/8/16 Dublin to Paris AF1117; 4/8/16 - Paris to Rio de Janeiro AF4429/8/16 - Rio de Janeiro to Paris AF 443
10/8/16 - Paris to Dublin AF1716
2. - 6/9/16 Dublin to Paris AF1117; 6/9/16 - Paris to Rio de Janeiro AF442
9/9/16 - Rio de Janeiro to Paris AF 443
10/9/16 - Paris to Dublin AF1716
286. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation ,further to Parliamentary Question No. 187 of 7 February 2017, if she will provide the date that Article 3(2) of Regulation 1606 of 2002 was first amended to allow for the adoption of international accounting standards that delay the recognition of loan losses in view of the fact that the concept of prudence, as defined in Article 31 (c) of Directive 78/660 requires the immediate recognition of losses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7465/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraRegulation (EC) No 1606/2002 was adopted on 19 July 2002. Article 3(2) has not been amended since then.
Article 1(9) of Directive 2003/51/EC of 18 June 2003 amended Article 31 of Directive 1978/660/EEC of 25 July 1978 by replacing the existing text of paragraph (1)(c)(bb) and by inserting a new paragraph (1a). The new text of paragraph (1)(c)(bb) made no reference to losses. The provisions of paragraphs (1)(c)(bb), as amended, and (1a) of Article 31 of the repealed Directive 1978/660/EEC are now reflected in paragraphs (1)(c)(ii) and (5) of Article 6 of Directive 2013/34/EU of 26 June 2013.
287. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her attention has been drawn to the severe restrictions imposed on community and voluntary groups and community work placement initiatives by the need to comply with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005; if she will make it mandatory that all persons employed under these schemes will receive proper training, proper clothing and work materials under the Act to allow them carry out the full range of tasks associated with the job; if her attention has been further drawn to the fact that participants in these schemes are prevented from reaching their full potential and training experience due to restrictions being put in place under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7723/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 (No. 10 of 2005) provides for the securing of the safety, health and welfare of persons at work. Specifically that Act places a duty on employers to ensure as far as reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare of their employees. This duty includes the assessment of the risks at that place of work and the implementation of the necessary controls to minimise these risks so that the safety and health of the employees is ensured. The duties also include, amongst other things, the provision of information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure as far as reasonably practicable the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees. There is a further requirement for the employer to have regard to the general principles of prevention, including the provision of appropriate personal protective equipment where risks cannot be avoided, eliminated at source or controlled through collective protective measures.
Section 2 (5) of the 2005 Act, states that for the purposes of the relevant statutory provisions, a person who is training for employment or receiving work experience, other than when present at a course of study in a university, school or college, shall be deemed to be an employee of the person whose undertaking (whether carried on by him or her for profit or not) is for the time being the immediate provider to that person of training or work experience, and “employee”, “employer” and cognate words and expressions shall be read accordingly. The 2005 Act does not place any restrictions on those who are training at work but requires as indicated in section 2(5) that they there must be regarded as employees and therefore the relevant duties of an employer apply.
The provisions of the Act apply to all places of work and there are no plans to reduce this coverage
288. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the funding and financial supports that are available for a small business with fewer than ten employees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7481/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the first-stop-shop for providing advice and guidance, financial assistance and other supports to those wishing to start or grow their own business.
The LEOs can offer direct grant aid to microenterprises (10 employees or fewer) in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector which, over time, have the potential to develop into strong export entities. Subject to certain eligibility criteria, the LEOs can provide financial assistance within three main categories, i.e., Feasibility Grants (investigating the potential of a business idea), Priming Grants (to part-fund a start-up) and Business Development grants for existing businesses that want to expand. Soft supports in the form of training and mentoring can also be provided to anyone wishing to expand their business.
Micro enterprises can also avail of the Trading Online Voucher Scheme, which is funded by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, from the LEOs. The Scheme is designed to assist micro businesses to establish an on-line trading presence by offering training and advice, along with financial assistance of up to €2,500. Details are available on the LEO website at www.localenterprise.ie.
In addition, any business can use the LEOs to help them to access finance from Micro Finance Ireland (MFI), which offers loans of up to €25,000 to start-up, newly established or growing microenterprises (employing less than 10 people) with viable business propositions that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by the banks. Applications for the Microfinance Fund should be channelled through the local LEO. Further information is also available on the LEO website.
The LEOs also provide a signposting service in relation to all relevant state supports available such as Enterprise Ireland for High Potential Start-Ups; Revenue; the Department of Social Protection; and the Credit Review Office.
Businesses can also access the ‘Supporting SMEs’ online search tool. By answering eight questions, a small business will be able to: find out which of the over 80 Government business supports from 27 different Government Departments, Agencies and Initiatives are available to them; obtain information on the range of Government supports for accessing credit; identify their nearest Local Enterprise Office where they can discuss the outcomes of the guide further; and download all these filtered results into a document for their further use.
The ‘Supporting SMEs’ Online Tool is available at: www.actionplanforjobs.ie.
289. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the details of the projects supported by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in the constituency of Dublin South-West; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7540/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Action Plan for Jobs for the Dublin Region was launched in January 2016, the last of 8 Regional Action Plans to be published. The core objective of the Plan is, through the delivery of 90 collaborative actions, to increase employment in the region by 10-15% to 2020, resulting in the delivery of 66,000 additional jobs to the region in that period. The first Progress Report was published last December and reflects the good work made to date, with an implementation rate of 94%.
South West Dublin is part of the Dublin Regional Enterprise Strategy which was developed by the four local authorities of the Dublin region. This Strategy builds on the work of the Dublin Action Plan for Jobs and provides a coherent and coordinated approach to promoting enterprise, employment and entrepreneurial activities in the Dublin region for 2017-2019.
Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in Dublin employ 70,365 people including 7,579 new jobs created in 2016.
In 2016, projects and initiatives supported by Enterprise Ireland in the constituency of Dublin South West include:
Supporting Innovation: Enterprise Ireland, in partnership with the Institutes of Technology, has established a nationwide network of 15 Technology Gateways one of which is the MiCRA Gateway in Institute of Technology Tallaght. This Gateway provides solutions for companies in the in-vitro diagnostics, environmental, food and pharmaceutical sectors.
Supporting Start-Ups: In 2016 Enterprise Ireland awarded four Competitive Start Funds to new start-up companies based in Dublin South West. In addition, five companies of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Class of 2016 came from South Dublin.
Fostering Entrepreneurship: Thirteen entrepreneurs participated on the New Frontiers Programme in IT Tallaght in 2016. Three of the companies emerging from this programme became Enterprise Ireland clients. In addition, the Student Enterprise Awards, co-funded by Enterprise Ireland, is run annually in the Institute of Technology Synergy Centre Tallaght.
Driving Regional Enterprise Development: The South Dublin LEO, collaborating with the other Dublin LEOs received funding under Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive LEO Funding Scheme, for a project targeted at the Dublin food producer cohort and focuses on the creation of an online video education platform to enhance knowledge, improve skill sets and develop producer competencies.
In 2016, IDA Ireland supported companies in Dublin employed 82,622 people. Within this, 9,000 new jobs were created.
Foreign Direct Investment: There is an increasing trend of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) locating in larger urban areas. Dublin is an international-scale city and, as such, has a key role in attracting investment. It is critical that the planning and development of Ireland’s capital city creates a world-class urban area that continues to attract not only international investment but also international talent.
Currently, IDA positions Dublin and the Mid East in the market place as an investment location with a strong ecosystem of both indigenous and multinational companies operating across a diverse range of sectors. Complimentary to and supporting this footprint of export orientated enterprise is the large educated population of talent available to companies, physical, educational and digital infrastructure and a business environment that is competitive and fit for purpose.
Dublin is now an internationally renowned cluster for Technology and Financial Services companies but is also home to a number of other companies such as the large Life Sciences such as Pfizer, Takeda, Amgen and Bristol Myers Squibb all of whom leverage the abundance of infrastructure and utilities available in the capital to run their operations. Dublin as an investment location will always be the key economic driver for the East of the country.
290. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of jobs provided by a company (details supplied) at its new facility in Tallaght; the purpose of the facility in Tallaght; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7544/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis company's facility in Tallaght is a data centre. Details on the number of positions at the facility are not available.
291. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of future developments at a company plant (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7653/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraOwnership of this facility changed recently and IDA Ireland is working with the senior management of the new company in order assess potential future developments.
292. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she had any formal engagement with the scientific community, particularly with Science Foundation Ireland, on the potential ramifications of Brexit for co-operation between individual researchers and research entities, HEIs or SFI funded centres, that co-operate on projects between Northern Ireland and here under the North-South research supplement. [7712/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is engaging intensively with all agencies of her Department including Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and with the research community generally on the possible implications of Brexit for research and innovation in Ireland. As part of the Government’s ongoing consultation work on Brexit, a series of dialogues with civic society is taking place and the research community is participating actively in these events. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation hosted a Brexit Stakeholder dialogue in Carrick on Shannon on 30 January 2017 which was attended by a wide range of stakeholders including strong representation by the higher education sector and by a broad spectrum of enterprises and enterprise representative groups. The Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, Prof. Mark Ferguson participated on the one of the panels at this event and addressed a number of key issues for research and innovation associated with Brexit.
SFI has a number of bilateral and tri-lateral programmes to encourage North/South collaborations between both academic and enterprise sector researchers. These bi/tri-lateral arrangements including the US-Ireland R&D Partnership, SFI's Investigators Programme and the US-Ireland Centre to Centre Programmes are not impacted by Brexit. SFI will continue to work with authorities in Northern Ireland to identify opportunities to strengthen and build on these collaborations which will benefits researchers in Ireland and Northern Ireland irrespective of post-Brexit scenarios.
293. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of SFI awards that have been made to HEIs for collaborations between the North and South under the CSET, SRC, PICA and PIYRA programmes; the details of the awards for the years 2015 and 2016 showing which HEIs and research teams benefitted from these awards, in tabular form. [7713/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe SFI programmes referred to are largely legacy programmes that have been replaced by other programmes in recent years. SFI research outputs data for 2015 indicates that there have been 30 Higher Education Institute (HEI) collaborations with academic researchers in Northern Ireland across three programmes: the US-Ireland R&D Partnership, the SFI Investigators Programme and the SFI Research Centres Programme. The following tables provide a breakdown of academic collaboration by HEI and by SFI Programme from the SFI Research Outputs Data 2015. SFI Research Outputs data for 2016 collaborations will be available in June 2017.
Table 1 – Number of Collaborations by HEI from SFI Research Outputs 2015
|
HEI |
Collaborations |
|
Cork IT |
1 |
|
DCU |
1 |
|
DIAS |
2 |
|
Marine Institute |
1 |
|
NUIG |
1 |
|
RCSI |
1 |
|
TCD |
7 |
|
Tyndall National Institute |
3 |
|
UCC |
5 |
|
UCD |
5 |
|
University of Limerick |
3 |
Northern Ireland institutions involved in these collaborations are Queens University Belfast; University of Ulster and the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland.
Table 2 – Collaborations by SFI Programme from SFI Research Outputs Data 2015
|
SFI Award Programme |
Collaborations |
|
US/Ireland R&D |
6 |
|
SFI Investigator Programme |
17 |
|
SFI Research Centre |
7 |
Note further awards were approved under the SFI Investigator Programme 2016 and the US Ireland R&D Programme in partnership with the Department of Economy in Northern Ireland but this data is not included in Table 2 as it will be reported as part of the 2016 SFI Research Outputs Data which will be available in June 2017.
294. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of researchers who will attend the awarding of the SFI St. Patrick's Day medal in Washington during the St. Patrick's Day celebrations 2017; if there are scientists who are members of Irish research teams in SFI funded centres who have been invited and who are the subject of the US executive order list of seven countries and may not be able to travel by virtue of their dual citizenship with one of those seven countries, which are now the subject of judicial proceedings in the US. [7714/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraTravelling arrangements have yet to be finalised but it is envisaged that between 15-20 representatives from SFI Research Centres will attend meetings in Washington including the awarding of the SFI St. Patrick’s Day Medal. No SFI Researchers attending have indicated that they will be unable to travel due to the US executive order on travel.
The SFI St. Patrick’s Day Science Medal celebrates the achievements of individuals who are of Irish citizenship, descent or those who have a strong and enduring connection to Ireland. These individuals are outstanding in their fields of expertise and have also made significant contributions to developing the research ecosystem in Ireland or have demonstrably assisted researchers in Ireland in either academia or industry. The presentation of the Medal in Washington provides a unique opportunity to engage with the US scientific community including representatives from research funding agencies, industry, academia and the wider scientific diaspora.
295. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of times she and her Minister of State have met with the director general of SFI; the nature of those discussions; and if Brexit was discussed during the course of those conversations. [7715/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has met formally with the Director General of SFI on three occasions since her appointment. The Minister of State for Training, Skills and Innovation has met formally with the Director General of SFI on six occasions since his appointment. The possible implications of Brexit has been a discussion point during some of these meetings as have mechanisms to develop increased collaborative arrangements with the UK research community, options for potential new joint appointments for senior researchers between Irish and UK HEIs and joint approaches regarding PhD studentships. Other topics discussed have included: the role of SFI in the innovation system in Ireland; implementation of the Government’s strategy - Innovation 2020; SFI’s budget; research Infrastructure; EU Horizon 2020 research programme; Action Plan for Jobs; attracting world-class researchers to Ireland; SFI programmes to support research collaboration with industry; SFI role in supporting STEM Education & Public Engagement; role of SFI Research Centres; and Ireland’s international scientific reputation.
