Results 461-480 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

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

Derek McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State's response. What he proposes will add significantly to the protection of the workers in question. Without wishing to be churlish, will he explain what his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, meant when he said on radio that any efforts to extend undue protection to temporary workers in the directive currently under negotiation would be bad, distort...

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

Derek McDowell: If the Minister of State has the opportunity, will he ask him what he meant? I am happy to acknowledge that he has decided to accept the thrust of our amendments and to withdraw the amendment in my name.

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

Derek McDowell: I support Senator O'Toole's amendment. The definition of "remuneration" in the Bill means money while the amendment is intended to extend it to include benefit-in-kind. The Minister of State rightly made much of the Government's decision to define equal treatment as also including wages. It gives greater teeth to the Bill and the protection afforded by it. A logical further step would be to...

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

Derek McDowell: Are there any other changes to this section, which will become section 20? Is the new location of the section the only change that will be made?

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

Derek McDowell: Will the Minister of State clarify the purpose of this section?

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

Derek McDowell: I wish to reiterate that the test set out in section 6, which the Minister of State read out earlier, sets out what will be the comparators. It largely reflects the 2001 Act. I accept that there is a belt and braces element to this matter. I am not sure that this measure is absolutely necessary, but no ill can be served by accepting the amendment put forward by Senator O'Toole, which provides...

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

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 7: In page 10, subsection (4), line 31, after "rights commissioner" to insert "or the Labour Court". I intend to withdraw amendment No. 8. I have proposed amendment No. 7 because it seems logical, if one is referring to the rights commissioner, that one should provide for the Labour Court in the same context. This is essentially a technical amendment.

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

Derek McDowell: It might be helpful if the Minister of State were to set out what objective grounds would be considered to be reasonable to employ somebody on a fixed-term contract as opposed to making him or her a permanent employee. That is at the core of what this section is about.

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

Derek McDowell: Senator Mooney made an interesting contribution to the Second Stage discussion last week when he pointed out that RTE uses rolled-over fixed-term contracts. It does so, I suppose, largely to give it flexibility, in so far as it may want Senator Mooney's particular type of music one year but may not want it the next because it may not be as popular. Presumably, it also does wants to maintain a...

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

Derek McDowell: He could.

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

Derek McDowell: I am trying to ascertain what the Minister of State's thinking is in regard to whether these are acceptable reasons.

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

Derek McDowell: I am in two minds about this. My major concern which I expressed on Second Stage is that this will become something similar to the tenancy arrangement where it is common for people to have a tenancy for four years and nine months, after which it is effectively terminated. I hope we are not creating a similar situation in regard to fixed-term contracts, that once one gets into the fourth year,...

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

Derek McDowell: While the Minister of State was reading out that interesting observation about chief executive officers, it occurred to me that a similar argument could apply to the Secretaries General of Departments who have fixed-term contracts which might be extended. They could suddenly find themselves with full-time jobs, although I am not sure whether that was ever intended either.

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

Derek McDowell: Perhaps the Minister of State should look at that matter also.

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

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 13: In page 15, to delete from and including ", or" in line 28 down to and including "1985" in line 30. The intention of the amendment is to elicit from the Minister of State the reasoning behind the exclusion of trainee nurses. As far as I can tell, it seems that it is intended purely as a way of saving money. Given the fact that trainee nurses are now established on a...

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

Derek McDowell: I do not know whether the INO has a view in this regard. Perhaps the Minister of State will let us know whether the Irish Nurses Organisation has been in contact with his Department or whether it has a view in this regard.

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

Derek McDowell: The thrust of what has been said in recent days is interesting and correct. There is clearly a moral perspective and an aspect of fairness to this issue. The financial sector is the most profitable in Ireland. On occasion, the profits of financial institutions border on the immoral. We are all customers of the banks and we are more than entitled to insist that some of those profits be passed...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Jun 2003)

Derek McDowell: I move amendment No. 1: In page 6, subsection (1), line 10, to delete "includes –" and substitute "includes unreasonable behaviour which is so likely by reason of the fact that the behaviour constitutes or includes one or more of the following behaviour –".

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Jun 2003)

Derek McDowell: I do not want to detain the House because where the Minister and I differ on this matter is really down to the drafting of the definition. As currently drafted, the test of reasonableness in all the circumstances effectively does not apply to the subsequent definitions. As the definition is currently formulated, one can be quarrelsome or boisterous in the aftermath of a match and by virtue of...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2003: Committee Stage. (19 Jun 2003)

Derek McDowell: Virtually all of those, from (a) to (e) would automatically be likely to cause injury, fear or distress to people. The only two words in which one might find some leeway as to how they are defined are "quarrelsome" or "insulting" behaviour. For example, someone might be having a disagreement in a loud voice, which would not necessarily be such as would cause fear or distress to anyone else....