Results 721-740 of 5,216 for speaker:Mick Barry

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: The Minister says he has no interest in participating in a race to the bottom and that there is no race to the bottom. There is a proposal on the table to establish a panel of part-time and temporary drivers at Bus Éireann working off a type of zero-hour contract. The proposal will bring some of the worst excesses of private sector exploitation and make them part of the semi-State...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: The Minister says he does not want to see a race to the bottom, but in the next breath he says the proposal to have a type of zero-hour contract is not his responsibility and that it is a matter of indifference to him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: It is included in a discussion document from the Workplace Relations Commission.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: I referred to a type of zero-hour contract. It states part-time and temporary drivers will form part of the weekly rosters. It states a minimum fixed-hour working arrangement will be agreed to in advance with part-time and temporary drivers. It states payment will be for revenue hours covered and that the company may, on a short or longer term basis, utilise part-time or temporary staff to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: What did the Minister say?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: I will read from something and do not know whether the Minister will think it is rubbish. A few years ago someone said Ireland's trade unions had subverted our democracy. He said:What a pity there was no strike last Thursday. Some of us were longing for it. If the trade union leaders had called a strike they would have suffered bloody noses. I think the person who said that has an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: We all have tussles with various individuals. It is more than a tussle to say:What a pity there was no strike last Thursday. Some of us were longing for it. If the trades union leaders had called a strike they would have suffered bloody noses. It does not seem that the Minister has changed his views one iota in the year since that article was written. The stakes are very high in this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Éireann: Discussion (Resumed) (29 Mar 2017)

Mick Barry: If I may be very brief, the Minister states that he comes in here and hears the same points from me. I come in here and hear the same points from the Minister. It is a stalemate, but I suspect that it will not be settled in here but outside when Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann workers display their solidarity with and support for their colleagues, which I know they will display, in...

Topical Issue Debate: Bus Éireann (4 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: We were told originally that this was about a €6 million loss at Expressway, but now the chief executive of Bus Éireann is talking about the need for €30 million in savings. Where does the €30 million figure come from? We know that under EU dictat by 2019, some 10% of Bus Éireann services must be opened up to competitive tender. Under this tender, all city...

Topical Issue Debate: Bus Éireann (4 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: There is rage at the Minister across the country outside of Dublin, including in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and the smaller towns and among stranded passengers, including elderly passengers, workers who have to pay for taxis to get to work and businesses that have been hit hard. In an unpopular Government, with unpopular Ministers, the Minister, Deputy Ross, is the most unpopular of...

Brexit: Statements (4 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: Again, it is left to us on these benches to bring an explicitly left and working class perspective to the debate on the EU and Britain’s exit. One unfortunate aspect of the referendum campaign in Britain is that the justified working class anger at the EU on the sound grounds of its neo-liberal and anti-worker agenda did not find expression in the national debate in the UK. Jeremy...

Defence Forces: Motion (4 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: The Minister of State said, "The Fine Gael record is one of standing up for the Defence Forces and the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann who serve our country with loyalty and distinction." What he should have said is, "The Fine Gael record is one of treating the Defence Forces and the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann who serve tge country with loyalty and...

Questions on Promised Legislation (5 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: Last Friday, workers in Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus engaged in an act of solidarity with their colleagues in Bus Éireann. It was an act that I and my party, and more ordinary people than one might think, are prepared to defend because they are appalled by the role of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross. Under the terms of the Industrial Relations Act...

Topical Issue Debate: Early Childhood Care and Education Funding (5 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: We are talking about 13 not-for-profit community crèches here. There are 87 jobs at stake and 349 children involved: 44% of those children come from one-parent families; 73% come from families that can only continue on the basis of State income support; and 33% have specific disadvantage. The demands of the campaigners are straightforward. Apart from the emergency funding already...

Topical Issue Debate: Early Childhood Care and Education Funding (5 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: I have three points. The first payments under this programme will be received by services this week, including five in Cork. Better late than never, I suppose, and it is welcome news, but what of the others? Will they receive their money by Easter or by the end of April? I am referring to centres that have submitted all of the paperwork and are just waiting for what they were promised and...

Other Questions: Free Travel Scheme (11 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: 41. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to announce an increase in his Department's contribution to Bus Éireann to cover the real cost of free travel; and if he will make this announcement before the conclusion of talks between Bus Éireann management and unions at the WRC. [17854/17]

Other Questions: Free Travel Scheme (11 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: 49. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the methodology arrived at for calculating the contribution his Department makes to Bus Éireann and to private coach firms for free travel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17855/17]

Other Questions: Free Travel Scheme (11 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: I am asking the Minister to report on the issue of increasing his Department's contribution to Bus Éireann for the free travel pass scheme. When precisely will the relevant changes be coming through? That question is quite pertinent at the moment.

Other Questions: Free Travel Scheme (11 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: Putting Bus Éireann on a sound financial footing is, to a significant extent, within the Minister's gift and that of his Department. If the free travel pass was to be paid to Bus Éireann at a 100% rate, rather than at the rate the Minister has indicated, it would make a difference to the tune millions. I have seen some reports that indicate a sum of €17 million per annum....

Other Questions: Free Travel Scheme (11 Apr 2017)

Mick Barry: On 1 April, the mask slipped a little when the Minister said in an interview that the Government may allow Bus Éireann to fold. He did say that this would not be his preferred option but he then highlighted what he described as the reality of the fact that there are more and more private transport firms in the field, which clearly indicates that this is an alternative he would consider....