Results 6,161-6,180 of 12,637 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (3 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: Question 300: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide in tabular form the number of Enterprise Ireland supported job announcements each week since the start of the year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31722/12]

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (3 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: Question 301: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide in tabular form the number of Industrial Development Agency supported job announcements each week since the start of the year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31727/12]

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (3 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: Question 681: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the current proposals for the deployment of a credit card format driving licence will remove the need for a printed photo ID and thus have a massive impact on the 4,000 people employed in the private photo ID industry; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in France...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I echo the statement of my colleague. We are all pretty shattered by the latest figures from the CSO, issued this morning, which show the unemployment rate has risen to 14.9%, while emigration continues unabated. A really staggering statistic is that more than half, or approximately half, of those unemployed have been unemployed for 12 months or more. My information suggests that almost...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I tabled a similar amendment on ERAs, amendment No. 22. To add to what has been said, one of the reasons the JLC system was struck down by the High Court in John Grace Fried Chicken Ltd & Ors v. Catering JLC & Ors was that the committee was acting on its own without proper supervision and there was no set of principles to govern the decisions the committee had to make. We have set out the...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: First, I wish to make clear that I do not question in any way the bona fides of the particular Minister opposite. Nevertheless, if this is the advice of the Attorney General, I would seriously question that advice on foot of my own reading of the case. If one reverts to the High Court case, that court was presented with a scenario whereby these committees, which were set up to provide pay...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The minimum wage example is not a precedent and is not a proper argument in this context. We are dealing with something entirely different and we are, therefore, comparing apples and oranges here. I accept that having everybody at the Minister's whim is not what he wants to do. However, my argument is that this is effectively what the Bill does. The Minister states there will be...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 9: In page 11, lines 14 to 16, to delete all words from and including "if" in line 14 down to and including "circumstances," in line 16. This is about representation and how an aggrieved person brings his or her case. As things stood under the Industrial Relations Act 1946, if a worker subject to an REA was aggrieved, he or she could simply complain to NERA. The worker...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I note that amendment No.9 is being taken in conjunction with amendments Nos. 24 to 26, inclusive, and I wish principally to address my remarks to those amendments. Under the Industrial Relations Act 1946, if employees felt they were not getting a fair wage in accordance with the terms of an employment regulation agreement or if they were working excessive hours or too few hours and so on,...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I am aware we are discussing this legislation in the context of the Minister's proposals on the workplace relations legislation generally. I take comfort from the fact that he regards the provision in amendment No. 25 in my name that, before a complaint is presented to a rights commissioner, the employer should be notified of the contravention in writing and given a period of 14 days to...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I support the amendment. We are dealing with a situation that affects those who are at the very bottom of the pay scale. The section deals with circumstances where employers can seek exemptions in the context of not paying the low levels of pay that will inevitably be awarded in any event under the EROs. It would not be unreasonable, therefore, to request information on payments made to...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The legislation provides that the joint labour committee can recommend minimum rates of remuneration. For certain categories of people, including trainees, it can recommend minimum rates of remuneration that are a percentage of the recommended rates. In my amendment, I seek to ensure this training period cannot last indefinitely. Most employers are responsible but there are those who will...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 17: In page 19, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: "(6) Such reduced hourly rate, as that which would apply to a worker to whom subsection (5)(d) applies, shall only be permitted where, such worker is given access to a course of study or training, within an appropriate period to achieve skills commensurate with a higher remuneration rate.".

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 19: In page 20, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "(f) the impact on working poverty and adequate income.". Section 12 sets out the various measures the joint labour committee must take into account when submitting proposals for an order to the Labour Court. It must take into account the desirability of maintaining competitiveness in the sector in...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I acknowledge that the Minister made an amendment on Committee Stage. Nevertheless, I did not envisage a JLC undertaking a deep analysis of poverty, sociological studies, etc. I suggest that, when a JLC formulates its proposal, account should be taken of the fact that the more one depresses the wages of the lower paid, the more poverty and unemployment there will be.

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I will speak briefly in support of the amendment. We must bear in mind that the people we are speaking about are on pretty derisory wages, in many cases on approximately 10% more than the minimum wage across the board. I do not know why the Government wants to establish a statutory code with guidelines that I presume will not be enforceable. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the...

Written Answers — National Lottery: National Lottery (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: Question 11: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress that has been made to date in the awarding process for the National Lottery licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32484/12]

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I welcome the fact that Ireland is attempting to re-enter the bond market, albeit in a small way, and I wish the NTMA the very best of success.

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: However, back in the real world that we encounter everyday, the problem of unemployment gets steadily worse. In October of last year, the Tánaiste and leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, said "There has been a significant reduction in unemployment. The jobs initiative is working."

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The latest statistics from the CSO indicate that, at 14.9%, unemployment has reached its highest rate in 18 years. More than one in two of those people has been unemployed for more than a year and one in three has been unemployed for two years or more. We welcome the fact that more people are now on training schemes but that masks the real rate of unemployment. Some 75,000 people per year...