Results 7,101-7,120 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Wage-setting Mechanisms: Wage-setting Mechanisms (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 168 together. On 24 May last, the Government decided to publish the Report of the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage Setting Mechanisms. The review is a commitment under the EU/IMF programme, which provided not only for agreement with the European Commission on the terms of reference but also...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Job creation is central to our economic recovery and the Programme for Government has job creation at its core. The role of my Department is to ensure that we have the right policies in place that will support and increase our enterprise base in order to facilitate both job creation and job retention. The Jobs Initiative announced on 10 May focuses our limited resources on measures that...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I have been informed by IDA Ireland that the number of itineraries that have been hosted by them in each county to date in 2011 and for each year since 2003 is as set out in the following tabular statement. However, I would ask the Deputy to note that these figures are not indicative of the number of companies that visited the country. Companies may visit more than one region and more than...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I have been informed by IDA Ireland that the number of IDA supported companies based in County Monaghan is six, employing 367 permanent employees in total. These companies were established in County Monaghan over the period 1969 to 2002. While IDA Ireland seeks to influence the selection of location, the final decision on location is taken in all cases by the promoting company.

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: IDA's strategy document, entitled "Horizon 2020", sets out the Agency's targets for the period 2010 to 2014. The investment targets set out in this strategy include the creation of 62,000 direct new jobs with 105,000 total jobs impact in Ireland during that period and also includes a target of 50% of these investments to be based in locations outside of Dublin and Cork. Typically, a company...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: On 24 May last, the Government decided to publish the Report of the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage Setting Mechanisms. The review is a commitment under the EU/IMF programme, which provided not only for agreement with the European Commission on the terms of reference but also for follow up discussions on the programme of actions...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Access to the employment dispute settling bodies under the Industrial Relations Acts is governed by the definition of "worker" in Section 23 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990. The following categories of workers are excluded from access to the dispute settling bodies under the provisions of Section 23: - a person who is employed by or under the State, - a teacher in a secondary school,...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Other than paying telephone bills, my Department and the State development agencies, under the auspices of my Department, have not provided public funds to the company. I am very concerned about the job losses that have been announced in the Dundalk area and of the impact that they have had on the workers concerned and their families as well as the communities affected. I can assure the...

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Balbriggan is located in County Dublin and the data available on site visits is tracked on a county basis. The number of site visits to County Dublin from 2007 to date in 2011 is set out below: Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 to date Site visits 91 92 90 129 57 Balbriggan, in Fingal, North County Dublin forms part of IDA Ireland's East Region, which comprises Dublin City and County as well...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: All applications for Work Permits are processed in the date order in which they are received and in line with the Employment Permits Act 2006. Since the issue of the work permit in this case was raised by the Deputy on 7 April last, I am pleased to advise that a work permit has issued in respect of the individual concerned on the 7 June, 2011.

Proposed Legislation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 5 together. On 24 May last, the Government decided to publish the Report of the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage Setting Mechanisms. The report's overall finding is that the basic framework of the current JLC-REA regulatory system requires radical overhaul so as to make it fairer and more...

Proposed Legislation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: The legislation will be introduced at the earliest stage. First, we must get a decision of Government and we hope to go to Government on 21 June. As the Deputy is aware, we have the shell of legislation prepared by the Deputy's Government previously. Part of the legislation is drafted. We hope this will help us to minimise the delay and the Parliamentary Counsel's time and that we can...

Proposed Legislation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: There is no proposal to cut any specific rate of pay. As the Deputy is aware, the Duffy report did not recommend reducing JLC rates to the national minimum wage although it was one of the issues considered, nor has this been included in the proposals. All the assessments of the impact of poverty indicate that the greatest source of poverty is the loss of a job. Persons who are unemployed...

Proposed Legislation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: For example, if we change the rule whereby a bar that offers food need not apply a premium, it could represent an opportunity for a business to protect part of its trade. If an employer can generate more business through the flexibility this generates, he or she can respond and protect employment. Many businesses are under severe pressure in these sectors. Let us not forget that we apply...

Proposed Legislation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: The view is linked to the impact on reducing the average wages of people already in work. I admit that although they are protected by existing contracts there may be reductions over time. That is significantly outweighed by the employment opportunity created by getting people back to work. I quoted the figure that a person is ten times more likely to be in poverty if he or she is out of...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: There are no proposals in the Government's legislative programme that would require an employer to recognise a trade union or compel an employer to engage in collective bargaining with a union. While Article 40 of the Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to form associations and unions, it has been established in a number of legal cases that the constitutional guarantee of freedom...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: As I outlined in my answer, the Constitution recognises the right to join a union and to select representatives, but it does not oblige employers to recognise trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. That is the law as it stands and it remains the law. The issue of collective bargaining and what happens where employers refuse to recognise unions has long been a contentious...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I indicated in my first reply that no proposals exist in the Government's legislative programme that would require such recognition by an employer of a trade union or to compel employers to engage in collective bargaining. As the Deputy is aware, this is a highly contentious issue and many companies that provide extraordinarily good employment do not recognise unions. This issue will not be...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 30 together. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to ensure that Irish law on employees' right to engage in collective bargaining is consistent with recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. This process will require consultation with stakeholders, including employer and worker representatives, and a review of the...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: On the first question, the present system already allows a registered employment agreement to replace a JLC. The form of collective bargaining envisaged is clearly a trade union bargaining with employers. This is the current definition. The issue of whether that would go further is contentious and on which there are different views between the social partners. It will require to be...