Results 301-320 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If they have gone for a year without obtaining leave of absence, paid or unpaid, they have resigned from their position.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am sure the Minister has a high regard for nurses and teachers. I would not entertain the idea that there is any member of the Government who does not have the height of regard for them. I have great regard for the work done by teachers and nurses.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Our view about their work motivation has nothing to do with this legislation. The Bill has to deal with the demographic timebomb we face in the future. If there is leave, paid or unpaid, this legislation does not apply. The person does not become a new entrant if he or she is on paid or unpaid leave. If a public servant opts to resign, that creates a different position. Extensive mobility...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If we amend the definition of a new entrant to dilute it even further, we will give an advantage to a particular group at the expense of other groups who might wish to join the public service.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: We would give rights which are above and beyond those provided for in existing employment legislation to other workers in other contexts with regard to the continuity and discontinuity of employment.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not aware of the terms of such arrangements for the purposes of today's debate. However, if such arrangements are contractually in existence and agreed upon, they are not in any way affected by this legislation. They continue to stand. That issue is not germane to this Bill. The Civil Service Commission and Local Appointments Commission arrange for recruitment to public service...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senators O'Toole and Browne made an eloquent plea on this issue. However, the Minister is of the view that he must stick to the strict contractual link that exists in the contract of employment. The person who attends a teacher training college does not have a contractual link until he or she is engaged as a primary school teacher. That distinction is reflected in the legislation. The...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There is also the holding, in the case of such a person, of a statutory office.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There is a statutory office in the case of a garda trainee.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is not a mere expectation. It is an implied contract that on completion of satisfactory training that person will take up duties and be assigned as a member of the Garda Síochána in a definite post.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The contract implies a legal right, it is not a mere expectation.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is a right to serve with the Garda Síochána on completion of training. I am not clear if it is written, but there have been numerous court decisions in this area. The position of a member of the Garda Síochána is more analogous, but not in all precise terms, to a person who is enlisted in the Defence Forces under the 1954 Defence Act. Where a person is attested in the Defence Forces he...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I do not wish to discuss nurses, but I wish to employ them to illustrate a point, which is, the dangers of extending this category beyond the Garda Síochána to bodies which have expectations. If one extended the categories, as in the proposed amendment, this would encourage a type of debate that would be replicated in other categories.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Army cadet is——

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I agree with Senators Ormonde and Fitzgerald that a person starting training in any area, including teaching, has no guarantee regarding the jobs market or the terms or conditions that will apply to their employment on the completion of training. There has always been a chasm in law between a right and an expectation. The provision of this legislation deals with those who have rights, not...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This is a discussion about the chasm between a defined right, entitlement or status as a member of the public service, whether on paid or unpaid leave, and a mere expectation that having relinquished and resigned from that position, one should have a special recognised legislative right to be treated unlike anybody else by virtue simply of the fact that one had served 15 years in the public...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Subsection (5) deals with the Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament and holders of qualifying office. A person is not deemed a new entrant once the person was a Member of either House or the European Parliament or the holder of a qualifying office before 1 April 2004. Even if they lose their seat or are appointed a Minister subsequently, they are not captured by...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The category of a public servant is much wider in the legislation than the category of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, the European Parliament or holders of qualifying office. The very specific reference to them creates the break that allows them to continue to function as not new entrants for future purposes. That is my understanding of these sections. The Senator also mentioned the...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Precisely. Secondment usually means that one's employer continues to pay one but there exists also the concept of unpaid secondment or leave. It usually relates to continuity of payment by the main employer and usually there is a written agreement between the bodies when there is a secondment. Sometimes it can be used to cover unpaid leave where, for administrative reasons, a person moves to...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Section 2(4)(II) refers to the definition of a new entrant. The transitional provisions are referred to in section 2(4). Section 2(4)(b) refers to a person serving in a public service body. It states: [Where] a person was serving in a public body or a body to which Schedule I relates prior to 31 March 2004 and left such an office or position and took up appointment as a public servant on or...