Written Answers Nos. 247 - 257
247. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the National Transport Authority's work on the redesign of the DART interconnector in collaboration with Irish Rail; if the study to re-examine tunnel size options is complete; if this work will be finalised in time for the capital plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22484/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been advised by the National Transport Authority (NTA) that the tunnel configuration study, which identified tunnel type options that may be used in further development of the DART Underground Tunnel project, has been completed. Separately, other work is ongoing to examine and assess other aspects of the project.
As I have previously outlined to the Deputy, funding has been provided under the Capital Plan for work on the redesign of the tunnel and other elements of the overall DART Expansion Programme.
248. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the date on which he will commence awarding the next round of capital grants for sports and recreation clubs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22485/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAll of the 2,320 applications received under the 2017 Sports Capital Programme will be assessed by officials in my Department over the coming months. Given the number of applications received and the detailed information submitted, it will take a number of months to complete the assessment process. It is expected that an announcement regarding allocations will be made in September.
249. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding funding for a festival in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22510/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's role in relation to tourism lies in the area of national tourism policy. It is not directly involved in the management or development of individual tourism projects. These are operational matters for the Board and Management of Fáilte Ireland. While the Department provides funding to Fáilte Ireland for investment in festivals through the National and Regional Festivals and Participative Events Programmes, it has no role in the administration of those funding programmes. Similarly, my Department has no discretionary funds at its disposal to invest in festivals or in any other tourism proposals.
Accordingly, I have referred the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland for direct reply, which I hope will address your concerns. Please contact my private office if you have not received a reply within ten working days.
The referred reply under Standing Order 42A was forwarded to the Deputy.
250. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if a deferral of the introduction of NCTs for tractors will be considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22528/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraDirective 2014/45/EU on the periodic roadworthiness testing of motor vehicles and their trailers, requires Member States, from May 2018, to introduce compulsory testing for tractors with a maximum design speed exceeding 40 km/h which are being used for commercial road haulage purposes. There are no opt outs or derogations from the terms of this Directive.
My Department is currently working with the Road Safety Authority in relation to the implementation of the aforementioned mandatory requirement in line with the May 2018 deadline. It is anticipated that the Authority will be engaging with key stakeholder groups and issuing guidance in relation to the implementation of this Directive as soon as practically possible.
251. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the timeframe for the current round of sports capital funding; and when those that apply may expect to be informed of the results. [22555/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAll of the 2320 applications received under the 2017 Sports Capital Programme will be assessed by officials in my Department over the coming months. Given the number of applications received and the detailed information submitted, it will take a number of months to complete the assessment process. It is expected that an announcement regarding allocations will be made in September.
252. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to publish the heads of a Bill to address problems caused by the increased casualisation of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22634/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 2 May last, the Government approved draft legislative proposals as a response to the Programme for Government commitment to address the problems caused by the increased casualization of work and to strengthen the regulation of precarious work. The draft legislation was referred to the Office of the Attorney General on 4 May for priority drafting of a Bill.
The proposals aim to address a number of key issues which have been identified as being areas where current employment rights legislation can be strengthened to the benefit of employees, particularly low-paid and more vulnerable employees, without imposing unnecessarily onerous burdens on employers and businesses.
The proposals are the result of extensive consultations, including the public consultation of the University of Limerick study on Zero Hour Contracts and low hour contracts as well as a detailed dialogue process with ICTU and Ibec over a period of several months.
The proposals address the following key issues:
- Ensuring that employees are better informed about the nature of their employment arrangements and in particular their core terms at an early stage of their employment.
- Strengthening the provisions around minimum payments to low-paid, vulnerable workers who may be called in to work for a period but not provided with that work.
- Prohibiting zero hours contracts, except in cases of genuine casual work or emergency cover or short-term relief work for that employer.
- Ensuring that workers on low hour contracts who consistently work more hours each week than provided for in their contracts of employment, are entitled to be placed in a band of hours that reflects the reality of the hours they have worked over an extended period.
- Strengthen the anti-victimisation provisions for employees who try to invoke a right under these proposals.
I am referring the draft legislation to the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for the Committee to consider and determine if it wishes to engage in pre-legislative scrutiny of the proposed Bill.
253. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the details of the international competitiveness ranking metric which Enterprise 2025 is referring to in the target set for gaining a top three ranking among the most competitive small countries in the world; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22635/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraEnterprise 2025 sets out a total of 30 metrics against which success of our policies can be measured over time. In terms of overarching national outcomes one of the metrics relates to Ireland's competitiveness.
The metric used is sourced from the World Bank Doing Business. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1–190. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. The rankings cover ten topics, each consisting of several indicators, giving equal weight to each topic.
At the time of developing Enterprise 2025, Ireland ranked 13th overall and 7th when compared with small economies. Based on the most recent World Bank data, Ireland's ranking has dropped to 9th when compared with small economies.
However, as measured by the IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook, Ireland's relative competitiveness has improved since 2011 - moving from 16th to 7th in 2016. According to the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, Ireland's ranking has moved up from 25th to 24th position.
Ireland's relative competitiveness and ease of doing business is crucially important as we face a considerably changed global landscape.
In this context I have asked my officials to undertake a progress review of Enterprise 2025 and of our performance overall against the range of metrics used. We need to determine the extent to which the policy framework and priorities set out in Enterprise 2025 are robust in light of potentially disruptive global change and domestic enterprise growth dynamics and changes necessary. In addition, the work of the National Competitiveness Council is of considerable value in highlighting specific challenges in terms of relative competitiveness that will inform our policy responses
254. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the percentages of tradeable exports made by foreign and indigenous firms in the year for which the most recent data are available. [22636/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor Ireland as a small open economy, sustainable long term growth is dependent on continued success in international markets. Although the global economy has been in a low growth phase over the last five years, Ireland’s internationally traded sector has driven solid economic growth, demonstrating its ability to rebound following a deep recessionary period. Our export led strategy is delivering jobs throughout the economy – there have been almost 209,000 jobs created since 2012 and the unemployment rate is now down to 6.2%.
In terms of agency supported enterprises, total exports for 2015 (latest data available) amounted to €171 billion. Of that, exports of Irish-owned agency assisted firms were €18.7bn, equating to almost 11% of total exports by agency supported enterprises, as illustrated in the following table.
In terms of Direct Economic Expenditures (materials and services sourced in Ireland and payroll), Irish-owned firms account for just over half of the total expenditure in the Irish economy by agency supported firms in 2015, as set out in the following tables.
Exports - agency supported enterprises
|
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
|
|
€'000 |
€'000 |
€'000 |
|
|
Foreign Owned |
126,696 |
134,963 |
152,577 |
|
Irish Owned |
14,909 |
16,569 |
18,731 |
|
Total |
141,605 |
151,532 |
171,308 |
|
Irish owned as % of total |
10.53% |
10.93% |
10.93% |
Direct - Economy Expenditures
|
Farms |
|||
|
Foreign Owned |
19,061 |
20,471 |
20,818 |
|
Irish Owned |
18,844 |
20,605 |
21,793 |
|
Total |
37,905 |
41,076 |
42,611 |
|
Irish owned as % of total |
49.71% |
50.16% |
51.14% |
255. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the analysis in the recent report (details supplied) regarding the percentages of tradeable exports made by foreign and indigenous owned firms. [22637/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe evidence provided by the report, Expanding and diversifying the manufactured exports of Irish-owned enterprises April 4, 2017, undertaken by the ESRI on behalf of my Department and Enterprise Ireland, highlights the balance of exports between multinational corporations and indigenous enterprises. This research on manufacturing exports examines how firms launch, adapt, diversify and grow their exports and provides insights into the opportunities, risks and challenges of operating in the global marketplace.
It shows that exporting is highly concentrated in a relatively small percentage of firms and most exporters sell a small number of products to few markets. 11% of highly globalised Irish-owned firms (exporting more than 20 products to over 20 destinations) account for 46% of total exports. Exporting firms continually adjust product and market mixes. In the context of indigenous manufacturing companies it outlines the risks and challenges faced by businesses across many sectors in gaining traction with new products in existing markets and new products in new markets.
Export growth is largely driven by product and market changes. While in the short and medium run export volumes may be largely explained by the sales of existing products to their current markets, in the long run, the drivers of export growth are expansion of markets and products.
The findings in this report formed an input into the development of Enterprise Ireland’s Strategy 2017-2020 – Build Scale, Expand Reach, Deliver Global Ambition, which is designed to support companies to further growth in existing markets and to develop new products and services to gain entry to new markets.
Following the UK withdrawal from the EU and given the level of Enterprise Ireland’s clients’ exports to the UK (37% in 2015), I have secured additional Capital and current funding for Enterprise Ireland in 2017, to further assist it in supporting clients, protecting Irish jobs and exports.
39 extra staff are being provided for Enterprise Ireland’s overseas offices and in the Irish based team. These will be assigned to markets that are growing and have scale (including China, India, Latin America, Africa) and markets where we are already well established but with potential for further growth (including UK, France, Benelux, Germany, USA, the Nordics).
Driving new growth and supporting companies exposed to Brexit is a priority for my Department.
256. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the warnings made in the National Competitiveness Council's latest report, Benchmarking Competitiveness: Ireland and the UK, 2017, with respect to Brexit posing a serious and imminent threat to the State's economic prosperity (details supplied). [22638/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe latest report by the National Competitiveness Council highlights how the challenges posed by Brexit provide urgent impetus to pursue policies that enhance our competitiveness performance. The Council's report provides a timely reminder of Ireland's strengths, which need to be protected and enhanced, and also of areas where we need to remain vigilant and accelerate progress on addressing competitiveness gaps with the UK so as to ensure job creation across all regions.
My Department and the Government are very conscious of the need for a sustained focus on competitiveness. The 2017 Action Plan for Job sets out an ambitious target for Ireland to achieve a top 5 global competitiveness ranking based on the IMD Competitiveness Scorecard by 2020. Through the reforms set out in the 2017 Action Plan for Jobs, my Department and others are working to improve the ease of doing business, reduce the administrative burden by putting transactions on-line, enhance our cost competitiveness such as addressing insurance costs, increase innovation capacity and productivity and drive greater efficiencies across the enterprise base.
My Department is also increasing resources for Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to increase the competitiveness of our indigenous enterprise base and enhance our attractiveness as a location for FDI relative to the UK. We have increased resources for the enterprise development agencies. Enterprise Ireland has published its new strategy for the period to 2020 while IDA Ireland is undertaking a progress review of its five year strategy. We are undertaking a review of our own Government enterprise policy Enterprise 2025. We are examining the sector-by-sector implications of the UK leaving the Single Market. Work is underway on possible future supports for SMEs that could be impacted by Brexit. As a follow-on to the Government’s new Trade and Investment Strategy, Ireland Connected, launched in March, Enterprise Ireland will shortly publish its Eurozone Strategy.
The challenges posed by Brexit provide urgent impetus to pursue policies that enhance our competitiveness performance. We have already begun steps to address this, prioritising investment to improve the availability and quality of infrastructure as part of the Review of the Capital Plan and the forthcoming National Planning Framework, within the context of ensuring the sustainability of our public finances.
We have placed a central focus on further developing our skilled labour force so as to retain and win mobile investment and support the growth of a cohort of internationally-trading indigenous companies. We are continuing to invest in skills development under the National Skills Strategy.
Through a range of measures, including MicroFinance Ireland and the Credit Guarantee Scheme developed by my Department, we are enhancing access to competitively priced sources of finance for growth to facilitate businesses to establish and grow. We are also increasing public investment in R&D to enhance Ireland’s innovation performance.
The Government will continue to implement improvements to policies that were identified as priority areas in the report. Competitiveness is key to success in international markets and helping businesses to improve their competitiveness will remain a key focus for my Department and Government.
257. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her Department has applied for funding projects under the European Fund for Strategic Investments for support for SMEs or commercial enterprises; the projects that were approved for funding; the total funding allocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22639/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is an initiative launched jointly by the EIB Group (European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund) and the European Commission to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments. EFSI is one of the three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe that aims to revive investment in strategic projects around Europe to ensure that money reaches the real economy. EFSI has been integrated into the EIB Group and projects supported by EFSI are subject to the normal EIB project cycle and governance.
My Department has no direct role in securing funding from EFSI on behalf of SMEs or commercial enterprises.
EFSI has two specific windows: the SME Window and the Infrastructure & Innovation Window. The latter is managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) whilst the former is managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF), through financial intermediaries. Each Window has a ring-fenced budget.
Under the SME Window, SMEs and mid-caps seeking loans and equity capital under EFSI must contact EIF-approved financial intermediaries directly.
Such financial intermediaries are Financial, Credit & Guarantee Institutions, and Loan Funds established and operating in one or more of the EU Member States duly authorised to carry out lending/leasing activities to SMEs and Small Mid-Caps, as well as Fund management companies targeting SMEs and Small Mid-Caps. They apply to the EIF to become approved financial intermediaries and to secure EFSI financing, deployed through EIF.
Under the Infrastructure and Innovation Window, large corporates, special purpose vehicles or Midcap companies (with up to 3,000 employees) can apply directly to the EIB for project loans or loans to finance research and innovation. These loans have a minimum size of €25 million. Such projects undergo the standard EIB due diligence process, in order to verify their eligibility for EIB financing and for EFSI backing.
