Results 421-440 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 20: In page 28, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following: "(2) An employer shall not be required to appoint a competent person under subsection (1) in respect of the employment by the employer of a person whose sole or principal function is to perform domestic duties in or in connection with the employer's place of residence or as part of the employer's...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: What about health and safety?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: The empire never gives in. It is unreasonable to impose the requirement to have a competent person under section 18(1) to identify the hazards in the place of work on a person who hires someone for a few hours each week to do the ironing. Most people will not do this because they will not be aware of the requirement and are not employers in the sense that people understand. A rule of thumb is...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I hope the Minister of State will respond to this, following which I might get a final opportunity to speak.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I am not replying to the debate. I presume the Minister of State will have a chance to speak after me if I do not exercise that right.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I will confine myself to a sentence. We have an obligation not to bring the law into disrepute. The major issues fall with the smaller issues and people only focus on the minor issues that are patent overkill. This is to the detriment of the important legislation we are enacting.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: It seems ludicrous to me. Presumably it will be necessary to have prepared a risk assessment before the plumber is called. It would be rather awkward if a pipe bursts and no risk assessment has been completed.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: As the person might be flooded, the poor plumber might be in more danger by the time the assessment is completed. Perhaps a plumber or washing machine repair engineer might refuse to enter the house without seeing the risk assessment. It is ludicrous. The Minister of State should not provoke me by mentioning the treatment of non-national workers. While I have not heard of complaints about...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy Hogan made a strong case on Committee Stage. Section 22 states: (1) Every employer shall ensure that health surveillance appropriate to the risks of safety, health and welfare that may be incurred at the place of work identified by the risk assessment under section 19, is made available to his or her employees. (2) Subsection 1 is without prejudice to any more specific requirement for...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: They are not related to the extent that they should be taken together. Can they be taken separately?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 26: In page 37, line 27, to delete "danger" and substitute "circumstances". The Minister of State and I once stood in front of a classroom teaching plain English. A very straightforward argument regarding this amendment was made on Committee Stage. I am amused at the briefing note the Minister of State sent me. Subsection (3) (f) reads: subject to subsection (6), in...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Why did the Parliamentary Counsel not put the word in the first clause?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Of the message.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I can accept bad English if it serves a purpose but can the Minister of State state that my analysis is not wrong and that the circumstances of danger could persist without triggering the danger in the second clause? That is what this debate hinges on. The term "circumstances of danger" is quite different from "danger persisting". If it were not so, the Minister of State would have included...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: That is of no help.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Minister of State see the difficulty in what I am outlining?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I do not understand it.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: No. The circumstances that caused the employee to leave his or her place of work could still be extant. However, someone could argue there was no real danger and that the employee would not have the protection of the section.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Subsection (6).

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage (Resumed). (26 Apr 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I have said all I can on this amendment.