Results 2,461-2,480 of 11,744 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Senator said, the proposed amendment to section 2 would reduce the reporting exemption from employers with more than 50 employees to employers with more than 20 employees and remove the incremental aspect of the roll-out. We spoke at some length on Committee Stage about the gestation of this Bill and the degree of engagement which took place between previous Ministers, employer...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I would not entirely agree with Senator Bacik on the lack of detail in the Bill, particularly when we look at section 20A(1)(a) and 20A(1)(b) and the various criteria. There are eight criteria. Section 20A(4) contains more details on how the regulations will be shaped. I would not entirely agree with the Senator. We have put in quite a significant amount of detail in terms of what will be...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am not sure that replacing "may" with "shall", as proposed in this amendment, will have a huge impact in terms of the detail of the running. I do not mean that as a criticism of the points the Senator is making. I spoke briefly on the website, but I note the Senator has another amendment on it. We will be setting up a centralised website. Employers are welcome to publish their gender...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As I said on Committee Stage and earlier, there will be a centralised website. That is the most appropriate way in which this information would be conveyed. Whereas I fully understand the proposal in the context of the lack of reference to a website in the primary legislation, I have a concern in regard to what Senator Bacik is seeking to achieve here. I am concerned that in putting in...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment to the proposed new section 20A(5) seeks to ensure that the reporting of the gender pay gap information by employers occurs annually. The section as drafted provides some assurances to employers that they will not be required to report more often than annually. However, while it is my intention that such reporting will be done annually, the section as drafted provides that...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The proposed amendment seeks to ensure that the new section 32(5) of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 will not prejudice the entitlement of IHREC to exercise its powers under section 32 in any such case of its own motion. I confirm to Senators that this amendment is not necessary and that the new section 32(5) will not prejudice the entitlement of IHREC to exercise its...

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Senators for doing that so expeditiously. I will, as I am sure one or two Senators also will, be heading out onto the streets of Dublin Bay South with the excellent Councillor Claire Byrne. I feel that that name should get a little outing.

Seanad: Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2019: Report and Final Stages (5 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I think back to the McKenna judgment and other such judgments. We should have equality of reference here. I thank Senators for their substantive engagement with me on this legislation over the last weeks. This is a significant day. The passing of this legislation is significant in our journey towards gender equality. Senator Pauline O'Reilly said that many Senators have waited all their...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The issue of guardianship is a matter for the courts in the first instance, under the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964. However, I have a continuing interest in ensuring that the legal and practical arrangements for the welfare of children are well-founded and appropriately applied at all times. As Minister in this Department, I have no formal or defined role in the determination of cases...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Some of these matters fall within the remit of the Department of Health. The drafting of a Bill on assisted human reproduction and associated research was based on the published general scheme of the assisted human reproduction Bill, which was published in the previous Dáil. Work on the Bill, including drafting, is ongoing by officials in the Department of Health. There is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Guardian Status (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: This issue extends across a number of Departments. The three Ministers are working together and meeting regularly, which is important. We hope to meet again in the near future to continue our discussions. We are getting support from the Attorney General on the issue. I have met some of the groups and there is an alliance formed in this particular area. It is important that provision is...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I have discussed this matter with the Deputy on a number of occasions. As she is probably aware, I recently contracted Frontier Economics to undertake a review of the national childcare scheme in line with section 26 of the Childcare Support Act. In conducting that review, I asked the company to give consideration to a complaint made against the NCS, as we discussed during oral questions...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: Yes. I specifically asked for this issue to be included in the review. Although I am confident the NCS is designed in a way to lessen disadvantage, I am also cognisant, having listened to the Deputy and having met childcare providers, especially from areas of geographic disadvantage, that they have raised concerns, which I want to address. As the Deputy knows, I have done a number of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Schemes (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: As the Deputy will know, it is early learning and care, with the emphasis on the early learning. On the review, I would expect it in the last quarter of the year. The review of the Child Care Act 1991 and, as significant, the report of the expert group are expected in the final quarter of this year. This is something I have been speaking about a great deal, although I did not initiate it....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. I have reflected deeply on many aspects of the commission's report since its publication and the survivors' response to it. I understand that some survivors are disappointed with how their personal testimonies were reported. People expected to see their full narrative as they told it, rather than abbreviated sections. It has become apparent that many did not know that...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I agree with the Deputy in terms of the bravery of the 500 individuals who appeared before the confidential committee to give their personal accounts of their experiences in these institutions. I have always said that that chapter and the extracts from their stories have had a huge impact on me, but I am aware that they are just extracts. I know from my engagement with survivors that they...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am absolutely committed to providing a comprehensive redress scheme. When the parameters of the interdepartmental group were being established, the Government made clear that we would not be bound solely by the recommendations contained with the commission's report. That is an important step. It allows us-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mother and Baby Homes Inquiries (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: It allows us to go past the commission's report and to publish a scheme of redress that is comprehensive. I have always said it should recognise the time spent within these institutions, across both the mother and baby institutions and the county institutions. That is what the Government has committed to do and that is what we will deliver. I accept that we are a little behind in terms of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputy. Officials in my Department closely monitor developments in relation to early learning and childcare capacity, including the supply of and demand for places. Before the onset of Covid-19, data gathered through the annual early years sector profile survey revealed that the sector was running at near capacity, with evidence of undersupply for certain cohorts, including...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Early Childhood Care and Education (6 Jul 2021)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Deputy made a point about childminders. The Government is advancing plans to allow childminders to be paid through the national childcare scheme. The subvention that many parents get for centre-based childcare will also be available to childminders following registration. That was discussed at the Oireachtas joint committee earlier today. That is an important step forward. I...