Results 481-500 of 2,815 for speaker:Tony Killeen

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: As Senator O'Toole pointed out, the word "election" frightens many people. It will be a cause of concern for some Members of the Oireachtas in approximately 18 months time. Later in the Bill provision is made — in considerable detail — for all types of terrible things such as returning officers, polls, etc. I have two concerns. First, I am happy with the way this system operates in at...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: Amendment No. 2 provides for the involvement of the Labour Relations Commission at an intermediate stage between the local set-up within a company for dispute resolution and the final Labour Court judgment on the issue. On the basis of my experience during the past year, I thought it advisable to provide for this intermediate step. It will help to iron out any difficulties, including those to...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: It is acceptable.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: The definition in this instance is adapted from the directive under Article 2 and seeks to meet the requirements on its transposition. It also takes account of current practice in this area. As Senators O'Toole and McDowell indicated, they do not wish to diminish the current level of contact between employers and employees. In some instances, these contacts constitute good practice, while in...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: There is some confusion arising from the fact that we are dealing with a definition of consultation. To deal with the question raised by Senator McDowell first, the definition of consultation means an exchange of views and establishment of dialogue between the three. It means much more than circulating a newsletter or sending an e-mail. It is a quite different process from the fear expressed...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: There are two meanings that can be taken for the word "excluded" and Senator O'Toole seems to have the opposite view to me. It may not be excluded in terms of being allowed as a practice, but it would be excluded as an option under the provision of information and consultation for the purposes of the directive on the legislation. This is different from being excluded in a general sense, which...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: Practices such as might be agreed. We are required to provide for an exchange of views and establishment of dialogue between any of the three.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: That might well be the case and we will come to this when dealing with the trigger mechanism.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: The definition of employee in the Bill does not exclude temporary agency workers. My understanding is that an agency worker must have a contract of service with the employer for the legislation to apply to him or her. Effectively, there is an existing definition in this area which states that the worker is the employee of the company under whose direction and control he or she is working. We...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: Or words I can understand. The key requirement is that the person under whose direction and control the person is working is obliged to provide the information and consultation, as is the case, for example, with Revenue and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Who the employer is depends on what exactly has been agreed between the individual, the agency and the undertaking with regard...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: I imagine that an employee in the category mentioned by Senators White and Coghlan is likely to be recruited on what is termed a "contract for service", in which case responsibility would lie with the agency. If the amendment before the House is accepted, it will preclude all employees placed by an agency with a company from getting information from that company. People may be placed with a...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: Amendments Nos. 5 and 6 are technical amendments which have been tabled on the basis of the advice of the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: This technical amendment proposes to delete the reference in this section to the superfluous phrase "of this Act".

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: I would like to respond to Senator McDowell's query before replying to Senators Quinn, Coghlan and White. The EU directive being transposed in this legislation allows for either of the terms "undertaking" and "establishment" to be used. The vast majority of those who contributed to the process of consultation on the matter favoured the use of the term "undertaking". It was more or less agreed...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: It is fairly solid ground in the sense that, unusually in regard to this legislation, the issue is not one that is causing any difficulty between the social partners. Ultimately, the choice had to be made between the words "undertaking" and "establishment".

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: That is not my sense of it. I understand that most of the submissions came down strongly in favour of the term "undertaking".

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: I am satisfied that, in transposing the directive, it is legal to use either term. The view taken was that "undertaking" has, if anything, slightly more merit than the alternative. There was no clear distinction between the two terms but a choice had to be made. It was made mainly on the basis that most of the submissions favoured it.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: I should have explained that point. The definition of "undertaking" is a legal entity, such as a company, partnership, co-operative, trade union, friendly society or charity. The definition of "establishment" is a distinct physical entity, such as a factory, branch office or retail outlet, which is part of a larger legal entity. An undertaking is a familiar concept in Irish law and is used in...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: That is my understanding. If it is not the case, I will discuss the matter further with the Senator on Report Stage. The other part of the argument concerns whether the definition needs to be included in the legislation as well as in the directive. However, whether it is included will not make any difference to the distinction between the terms "undertaking" and "establishment". I am advised...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Tony Killeen: We will return to this matter later because one of the proposed amendments essentially seeks to do what Senator McDowell suggests. While it is my view that the Bill already deals with this issue, we can argue the point later. There is provision for this to happen. Had the "establishment" definition been accepted, a large bank, for example, might have many branches with fewer than 20 employees...