Results 261-280 of 1,279 for speaker:Michael Ahern

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: I propose to deal with amendments Nos. 9 and 10 together as they are related. I thank Senator O'Toole for this interesting and thought-provoking amendment which requires further consideration involving consultation with other Departments, and a Government decision should it be accepted. In reality, it will not be possible to give a decision on this amendment, one way or the other, on Report...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: Yes.

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: Section 10(1) of the Bill, as drafted, provides that where a fixed-term employee has entered his or her fourth year of continuous employment, the contract may be renewed only once before it automatically becomes permanent. The Government's amendment to section 10(3) provides that the First Schedule to the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973, relating to continuous employment, will...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: The Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to the Government has drafted this amendment to the Bill to deal with the concern of the Department of Finance that pension claims could be made by an ex fixed-term employee on his or her former employer many years after they have left that employment. This amendment will prevent such claims arising and means that section 15(3) of the Bill will be...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: The effect of this amendment would be to include nurses in training within the ambit of the Bill. Section 18(c), as drafted, excludes nurses in training from the scope of the Bill in accordance with clause 22A of the framework agreement, annexed to directive 1999/70/EC, which provides that member states, after consultation with the social partners, may provide that the agreement does not...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: Under section 2 of the Interpretation Act, on page 6, "fixed-term employee" means a person having a contract of employment entered into directly with an employer where the end of the contract of employment concerned is determined by an objective condition, such as arriving at a specific date, completing a specific task or the occurrence of a specific event, but does not include employees in...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (10 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: We will check the position with the Department of Health and Children.

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (12 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: This amendment is being brought forward as a result of the acceptance on Committee Stage of an amendment proposed by Senator McDowell. I thank the Senator for his contribution in this regard. Amendment agreed to. Bill, as amended, received for final consideration. Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass".

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (12 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: We have had a fruitful and co-operative discussion on the Bill on all Stages in this House. The process was aided by a number of substantial Opposition amendments which the House has seen fit to take on board in the version of the Bill before us today. A number of Government amendments were also tabled which Senators will acknowledge have improved the Bill. A small number of amendments tabled...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages. (12 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: We will put that on the website also.

Seanad: Interest Rates Reduction: Statements. (12 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: On behalf of the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, I wish to speak about the changes in interest rates in the last week. The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, are abroad on business. The level of inter-bank interest rates is a matter for the European Central Bank, which is entirely independent of any Government in relation to its monetary policy activities, and the...

Seanad: Arts Bill 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (25 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: Section 11 specifies the length of time ordinary members of the council shall serve. There is, however, no reference to the term of appointment of the chairperson. It was always the Minister's intention that the chairperson should serve for a term of five years. I propose the amendment to provide for this.

Seanad: Arts Bill 2002: Committee and Remaining Stages. (25 Jun 2003)

Michael Ahern: At the conclusion of the Seanad's consideration of this Bill, the Minister wants to express his sincerest thanks for the manner in which Senators from all sides of the House participated in the debate which was informed and sincere. The level of engagement demonstrated yet again just how important the arts were. Although concerns were expressed about elitism or perceptions of elitism, what...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Foreign Conflicts. (1 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: I thank Senator Henry for raising this matter on the Adjournment. The Government unreservedly condemns the imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, and demands her immediate and unconditional release. On 30 May 2003, she was travelling in northern Burma. According to reports, her supporters were attacked and fired on by followers of the Union,...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters. - Special Educational Needs. (1 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: I am pleased to outline to the House the Department of Education and Science's position on this matter. The Minister for Education and Science is most anxious that all children receive an education appropriate to their needs. The pupil in question is due to start in Culleens national school, Killala Road, Ballina, County Mayo, in September 2003. An application for resource teaching and...

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: It should be noted that the Forfás report studied the inflation figures to the end of the year in January 2003 when the annual inflation rate was 4.8%. The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office for May show a sharp fall in inflation to 3.7%, down from 4.3% in April. Notwithstanding this welcome downward trend, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have clearly indicated that the...

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: We are still getting a disproportionate share of foreign direct investment.

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: I am an optimist.

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: We have been proved right in the past and we will be proved right again.

Seanad: Forfás Consumer Pricing Report 2003: Statements. (2 Jul 2003)

Michael Ahern: I thank all the Senators who have contributed to this very important debate, especially Senator Leyden for initiating it. A few points were raised to which I would like to refer but the general consensus from all sides of the House was that our prices had increased substantially in recent years. The question of who was to blame was raised by Senator Coghlan, especially on foot of the report...