Results 381-400 of 880 for speaker:Catherine Ardagh

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: There is still an onus on employers to provide a contract of employment and there is redress currently within the Unfair Dismissals Act such that if a contract of employment is not provided to an employee, he or she can bring a claim within six weeks and will be compensated accordingly. This section as it stands places an undue burden on small businesses. I do not agree with my colleagues....

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I move amendment No. 3:In page 8, lines 26 and 27, to delete “or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both”.

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I move amendment No. 4:In page 9, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:“(9) The Minister shall lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas within 12 months of the commencement of this Act on the operation of section 6B of the Act of 1994, as inserted by this section, and the offences and penalties contained therein.”. This relates to a report on how section...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I think it is strange that on the one hand, the Minister has said that the employers are taking notice of us because we have put in these criminal sanctions and that it is fantastic they are finally listening to us, while on the other, the Minister is afraid to commission a report to see if the measures are actually working. I believe that 12 months is a long time but it will not just be 12...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I concur with Senator Nash and the Minister. The Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, does not have adequate resources and cases have fallen apart on the basis of not being properly presented to the court. If the office is to be able to pursue employers like Grafton College, it must be properly resourced. The Minister should convey this matter to her colleagues to address...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I support Senator Ruane's amendment, which will benefit many employees across many sectors of society. As Senator Higgins said, it will also disproportionately affect women in a positive way. Many women will benefit from the amendment because, as we know, the majority of those in part-time work are women and much of that work is low-paid work. I have a concern about who will determine the...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I want to address point the Minister made on the anonymity of cases. Senators Craughwell and Ruane made the point that many people do not like taking employment rights cases as they are too afraid that it may jeopardise their employment. Cases in the WRC are, in the first instance, held in private. From a practitioners point of view, that causes a lot of issues, and we are hearing...

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: The Minister's point was that people should be able to bring a case because it is held in private and that they should not be afraid. They could be afraid because it could end up in the Labour Court and the majority of LRC or WRC cases are ending up in the Labour Court these days.

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: Not in the Labour Court.

Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I am ad idemwith Deputy O'Dea on this matter and most of the provisions in this Bill. Bogus self-employment is not unique to the private sector, but is also an issue in the public sector. Many State organisations also have employees in bogus-employment situations. We welcome that the Minister will undertake a report on this matter. If this goes to a vote, we will abstain.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I welcome An Bord Pleanála's decision of 16 November confirming that the Player Wills site on the South Circular Road will remain on the vacant sites register. This site is valued at €100 million. The annual vacant site levy is 7% and this will be ring-fenced for local regeneration projects and is payable to Dublin City Council. I hope this decision will ensure that the site is...

Seanad: Social Welfare, Pensions and Civil Registration Bill 2018: Second Stage (6 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister of State for coming before the House. Fianna Fáil broadly welcomes this Bill which gives effect to a range of social welfare measures announced in budget 2019, including a €5 increase in weekly social welfare payments, although, unfortunately, these increases will not come into effect until March. It also finally puts in place the legislation required to...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Second Stage (6 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. Obviously a lot of his time and work has gone into getting the Bill to this point. I look forward to debating it compassionately and respectfully with my colleagues over the next week or so. Last night the Bill was passed in the Dáil by 90 to 15 votes following many hours of debate in the House which the Minister attended. I hope we can...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I move amendment No. 4:In page 8, line 21, after “woman” to insert “and consulted with her, where possible”. I will be brief as many of my colleagues have tabled similar amendments. The phrase "consulted with" places the woman's voice at the heart of the legislation and reflects the spirit of the outcome of the referendum which enshrined a woman's right to...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: Yes.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I am speaking to amendments Nos. 12 and 21. My colleagues and I tabled this amendment after consulting many senior clinicians. Senator Ruane noted the practicalities of carrying out abortions in hospitals. The legislation encroaches in the areas of rostering and scheduling in hospitals. Many doctors and clinicians do not work in only one location. Many work in a maternity hospital and a...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I move amendment No. 12:In page 8, line 34, to delete "carried out" and substitute "initiated".

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I move amendment No. 21:In page 9, line 30, to delete "carried out" and substitute "initiated".

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I agree with Senator Higgins. The use of early ultrasound can be very invasive. When doctors carry out an early ultrasound they are very sympathetic and cautious with the patient because it can be quite frightening for women in a first pregnancy who might have had trouble. It is something doctors use with great care, skill, consent and explanation. Transvaginal ultrasound is used at a...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2018)

Catherine Ardagh: I move amendment No. 56:In page 15, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following:“(3) It shall be an offence for a person intentionally to coerce or deceive a pregnant woman into having a termination of pregnancy against her will or without her knowledge.”.