Results 3,301-3,320 of 26,396 for speaker:David Cullinane

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 3:In page 18, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:“(9) Vacancies of the Commission membership will be filled within 3 months.”.The Government's record on the filling of vacant positions on NCSSBs has not been great up to now. The Minister might remember in the run-up to Christmas last year a minor crisis unfolded as SIPO was unable to carry out...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I appreciate the Minister's response and I fully accept the difference between this board and some other State boards. We obviously have difficulties with short-term vacancies and there will be from time to time on all boards members who are not able to fulfil their duties because of illness, etc. That was not what we were getting at. We had a fear over board positions generally not being...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 6: In page 45, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 4 of Act of 200248. Section 4 of the Act of 2002 is amended by inserting the following subsections after subsection (9):“(10) Actors, voice-over actors, freelance journalists, freelance photo journalists and session musicians are not subject to the provisions contained...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I intend to press this amendment to a vote. I do not accept the premise of the Minister's argument regarding the first part of the amendment, even if I can see some logic in what he is saying about the second part of it. As the Minister said, this difficulty was recognised in the social partnership agreement. It was recognised at the time that this was a problem and that this group of...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: They are still workers. They would see themselves as workers.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I will finish on this point. I do not want to hold the House up because we have many amendments to get through. When we had a similar discussion recently in the context of another Bill, I made the point that in the EU, competition seems to trump everything. It is seen as the Holy Grail and everything else - protection of workers' rights and investment in public services - seems to come a...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: They do not protect us at all.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 8: In page 55, line 11, to delete "prevalent" and substitute "present".I ask the Minister to respond.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: The Minister is correct. We were seeking the maximum interpretation of "diversity of content". Having listened to what the Minister has said I withdraw the amendment.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 9: In page 84, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:"(e) all other goods sold in grocery goods undertakings,".I would like to hear the Minister's response first.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: The amendment put forward in the Dáil included garden plants, but I am not sure why that has been omitted.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: Good. Subsection (e) refers to all other goods sold in grocery goods undertakings. We must accept the reality that large retailers stock and sell a vast array of products which are not covered in the Bill. There is no protection for electrical or hardware suppliers or suppliers of flowers, newspapers, magazines, stationery, greeting cards, clothing, ties, giftware and so on. This is the...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 10: In page 84, line 5, after “goods,” to insert “newspaper and magazine distribution companies”.This amendment proposes to include newspaper and magazine distribution companies.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 11: In page 84, lines 27 and 28, to delete “€50 million” and substitute “€10 million”.This is a simple amendment which seeks to reduce the turnover figure to ensure the relevant grocery goods undertaking, GGU, applies to intermediate suppliers. There was some discussion in the Dáil on this. I do not wish to hold up...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 12: In page 85, lines 10 and 11, to delete “or indirectly through franchise arrangements,”.This amendment deals with a situation where a person is a party to a franchise agreement with another person. It has been argued that franchises should not be included in any definition in this Bill. I read the Dáil exchanges on this issue, which seem to imply...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 14: In page 86, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:“(2) A retailer defined as a relevant grocery goods undertaking must disclose the annual profits of its Irish outlets.”.This has been a contentious issue for some time. Large retailers such as Tesco do not make public the annual profits they generate in Irish outlets. This Bill gives us an...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I do not seek to interfere with any company's accountancy arrangements. The Minister's response, that this could be a threat to foreign investment and big multiples, was similar to his response on this in the Dáil and Senator Darragh O'Brien touched on this area. I do not buy this as it favours secrecy over openness and transparency, which is what the Minister argued this Bill stood...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: Senator Quinn did well out of it.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 18: In page 86, line 30, after “undertakings” to insert “to be made within 30 days”.I assume the Minister has been lobbied many times with regard to prompt payments for suppliers. The issue for them is they must wait for a long time to get paid by retailers, be they larger multiples or smaller or medium-sized retailers. It is reasonable to...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

David Cullinane: I move amendment No. 19: In page 88, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following:“(iii) to secure or retain shelf-space, to improve positioning, or to increase an allocation of shelf-space of the grocery goods or of the grocery goods undertaking, in the premises of the relevant grocery goods undertaking, (iv) in respect of requiring a supplier to obtain any goods or services from a...