Written Answers Nos. 262 - 269
262. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding the development of a Brexit working capital guarantee scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22218/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has been working with the Department of Finance, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Enterprise Ireland and the SBCI to build an understanding of the business needs of companies in adapting to the challenges posed by Brexit and to develop appropriate and targeted responses to support them.
Based on this work, I recently secured the agreement of the Cabinet Committee for Economy, Trade and Jobs to progress the development of a proposed Brexit Working Capital Guarantee Scheme.
Work on development of the scheme is underway.
263. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the development of a business advisory hub for SMEs; the timeframe for development of this hub; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22219/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has been working with the Department of Finance, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Enterprise Ireland and the SBCI to build an understanding of the business needs of companies in adapting to the challenges posed by Brexit and to develop appropriate and targeted responses to support them.
Based on this work, I recently secured the agreement of the Cabinet Committee for Economy Trade and Jobs to explore and scope the development of a Business Advisory Hub. The proposed Business Advisory Hub would build on existing supports available and on the advice and guidance offered by Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices and the Credit Review Office, and would assist SMEs to make informed funding and investment decisions. It would provide a one-stop-shop for SMEs seeking advice, support and information.
Exploration and scoping of this proposal is underway (including the consideration of timelines).
264. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of a work permit application (details supplied). [22275/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Employment Permits Section informs me that it has no record of an employment permit application in relation to the named individual. I note that you refer to the extension of a working holiday Visa which is about to expire. I would advise that the individual make contact with INIS, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service. Contact details are on the INIS website at www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/contact.
265. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount she expects to be redeemed of the €80.018 million paid out up to March 2017 under the enterprise stabilisation fund; the total amount she expects to be written off; and the date this scheme is set to cease operation. [22287/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Enterprise Stabilisation Fund (ESF) was established by Government to support viable but vulnerable exporting companies who were experiencing difficulties due to the economic crisis which started in 2008.
The State Aid basis for the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund is the Temporary Aid Framework 2008. Based on this derogation from the EU, the ESF was open for applications for the years 2009 and 2010.
Funding was in the form of preference shares, supporting a range of activities including market development, productivity improvements, cost reduction and product development.
Analysis of the scheme indicated that, as of March 2017, EI approved €80.4m under the ESF and paid out €80.018m. As of March 2017, €22.5m has been redeemed to date from companies that were legally in a position to do so. (A company must have distributable reserves to be in a position, legally, to repay the State.) Redemption of the shares is an ongoing process and will continue to be sought as companies are in a position to do so.
However, €15.72m invested in ESF companies cannot be redeemed as the companies have been dissolved, liquidated or gone into receivership.
266. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her Department will be represented in the Irish delegation to the meetings of the UNFCCC SBI and SBSTA in Bonn in May 2017; and if it will be attending the side events on greening with jobs: decent work and just transition in the Paris Agreement and policy solutions for a climate friendly materials sector. [22349/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy colleague the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment has informed me that the forty-sixth sessions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Subsidiary Body for Implementation and Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, as well as the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement, will take place from 8 to 18 May 2017, in Bonn, Germany. These meetings take place annually and are key to making progress on a range of technical matters related to the implementation of the UNFCCC and of the Paris Agreement between each session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC.
Ireland's delegation at these meetings will comprise officials from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Environmental Protection Agency and the delegation will liaise with other Departments and agencies, as appropriate, during the meetings, if issues relevant to their areas of responsibility arise.
267. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the details of calls to ambulance services from youth detention centres in each of the years 2014 to 2016, in tabular form. [22238/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy's question relates to an operational matter for Oberstown Children Detention Campus and as such, this information is not held in my Department. I have therefore referred the Deputy's request for this information to the Director of Oberstown for direct reply.
The referred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
268. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she is in receipt of correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22251/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI understand that the Deputy is referring to a letter from a childcare service which was received in the Department on 3rd May.
Strand 3 of the Early Years Capital programme 2017 (EYC 2017) was open to services which had 25 or fewer 'unique' children registered as at 28th February 2017. This number was chosen to provide smaller childcare services with an opportunity to apply, particularly in light of the fact that the 2013 capital funding strand for outdoor play favoured larger services. I understand that the service had 35 children registered on 28th February and consequently is not eligible to be considered for funding under strand 3 of EYC 2017. It is recognised that services which do not fall within the threshold will be disappointed, which is understandable. However, please note that if outdoor play is highlighted as a priority for medium and larger services, I will revisit this in the context of the 2018 capital plan.
I also note the comments from the service in relation to how the Application Guidelines have been presented. I have reviewed the Application Guidelines and I am satisfied that the Guidelines, in their entirety, did contain the full eligibility criteria and so I am satisfied that applicants would have been provided with sufficient information to enable them to make an application. However, I accept that the information could have been presented in a more accessible format which would have highlighted, more immediately, who would, and who would not, be eligible to apply for funding under strand 3. My Department, in association with Pobal, will ensure that Application Guidelines for any future Capital Funding programmes will be presented in a more accessible way.
269. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will review the grant eligibility criteria for a school (details supplied) in County Limerick. [22253/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraPobal has responsibility for administering the Early Years Capital fund on behalf of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Capital funding is allocated following a process of evaluation against the criteria set and the Department does not make interventions in the evaluation process in regard to any childcare service. Applications are currently being appraised by Pobal. As the closing date for applications has now passed, it is not possible to make alterations to scheme eligibility criteria at this time. However I will consider the feedback from the service described in the context of the design of the Early Years Capital Programme I intend to bring forward in 2018.
Pobal will have an appeals process in place which will be open to all childcare services who submitted an application for the Early Years Capital programme.
