Results 721-740 of 1,683 for speaker:Derek McDowell

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: That is correct.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: That means these people are not covered by this legislation.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I will not labour the point, but it would be interesting to obtain some clarity before we come to Report Stage, or perhaps in the other House. To elaborate on the point I made earlier, under the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003, the State is obliged to offer full-time jobs to people on fixed-term contracts once they have been renewed several times. What about people who have...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: Once they become established?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: Are they considered new entrants if they become established after 1 April?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: If they are not public servants now and they are becoming public servants——

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I wish to ask a question related to the amendment. This subsection appears to deal with situations where people are working for a public service body listed in the Schedule and moving into the Civil Service at some point in the next six weeks or in the six weeks before 31 March. Some arrangements have been made over the years with bodies which were moved or partly moved out of the public...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: Is there an implied or actual contract?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I endorse the point made by Senators Browne and O'Toole. It does not matter much whether an individual decides to stay in the teaching profession or not. The fact is that when they entered teacher training they did so in the expectation that certain conditions of employment would be available to them and, by and large, they do go on to be teachers. It is reasonable to preserve that...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I will raise it under the section. The point at issue with this amendment is the preservation of the expectation of people in the public service who are in a course of training. I wanted to ask about nurses.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I am aware of that. However, we must deal with this by relation to the provision for gardaí. That is where this arises.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: We have been debating the issue already. The Minister of State has justified this provision on the basis that a provision has been made for gardaí. We must relate it to other professions and other courses of training to which it is clearly relevant. We are not saving time if I have to go back on it later.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I will raise it again in a few moments.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: If the issue of nurses had been raised in this regard, no doubt the Minister of State would have been allowed to respond on that basis.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I do not want to delay matters so I will save the issue of nurses for a few moments. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the issue to which he referred, which the Acting Chairman deemed to be in order, namely gardaí. He specified that gardaí had an implied contract. I am not quite sure what that means. Does it mean they have an actual contract of employment before they enter...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: I do not understand what the phrase "implied contract" means. Is a contract in place beforehand?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: Is it in writing?

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: This is a very important amendment. What is being done in the Bill contrasts with Government and ministerial policy as stated over a number of years. Under the strategic management initiative, the Government has always said that it liked the idea of people taking a few years out to go into the private sector and coming back to the public sector. I can think of a whole range of professional...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: There are a number of technical matters in section 2 that should be clarified by the Minister of State. Section 2(4)(II), discussed earlier, deals with people returning to the public service after a break. It states: "where paragraph (a) applies, the terms of the offer of appointment would be contravened if subsection (1) were to apply." This suggests that a specific contract which sets out...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Derek McDowell: That is not clear from the way the subsections are drafted. I appreciate that is the intention but subsection (6) deals with public servants and the public service includes Oireachtas Members.