Results 8,441-8,460 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: The matters to which these amendments relate were the subject of considerable debate on Second Stage and Committee Stage. The amendments relate to section 7 of the Bill, as passed by the Dáil. The formulation adopted in section 7 allows reference to two distinct situations, that is, instances where there is a comparable employee against whom the agency worker can be compared and to...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Senator. Senator Cullinane asked why we are doing what we are doing. As I stated, the original drafter considering the directive sought to use the comparator as a way of providing an interpretation of how the measures should be applied in practice. When the Bill was published in the form making reference to a comparator employee - I refer to an employee in a relevant company...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: Amendment No. 14 is a saving provision that clarifies the arrangements that exist separately from this legislation and which provide for better terms for agency workers than those provided under section 7 and stand on their own merits. I believe this amendment speaks to some extent to the intent behind amendment No. 16. However, for the reason that amendment No. 16 would provide a different...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: This amendment provides for the introduction of certain anti-avoidance measures. As such, it was not considered on Committee Stage. It proposes the inclusion of a new section and must, for this reason, be recommitted to the House on this Stage. This amendment is particularly important given the proposed revision of section 7 that deals with conferring on agency workers the entitlement to...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senators Mullins, Harte and Quinn for their support on this. Senator Harte probably hit the right note. Especially in this time where there is uncertainty, inevitably, there will be temporary hiring, work building up and people not knowing whether it will be sustainable. We need the flexibility for agency working as a form of employment, but equally we need to ensure those taken on...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: This proposed amendment is purely technical and relates to an amendment to section 8 that deals with collective agreements. The reason for this amendment is that section 8(1) allows for a body or bodies representative of employees to agree a collective agreement. The language of section 8(4)(c) refers only to body in the singular, that is, it describes the body that negotiated the...

Seanad: Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (27 Apr 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Senators for their more than generous comments, especially cross-party. These are challenging times and we need to move forward together. There is an onus on us in sponsoring new legislation to be sensitive and responsive. I also acknowledge the Senators' recognition that much work was put in by my officials, who are here, and the Attorney General's office in getting a...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 283 and 305 together. Vodafone Ireland announced on 22 March that it had completed a review of the company's contracted mobile call-centre operations. As a result of this review, the company adopted a new model for its mobile customer care, resulting in a move to a new provider, Teleperformance. Vodafone Ireland and Rigney Dolphin have entered a six-week...

Written Answers — Trade Relations: Trade Relations (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: Total Merchandise export and import figures for the years 2000 to 2011 are shown in the first two tables under in Appendix 1. The table in appendix 2 shows total services import and export figures for 2003 to 2010. 2003 is the first year for which services trade figures are held by my Department and 2010 is the latest year for which CSO services statistics are available for individual...

Written Answers — Tribunals of Inquiry: Tribunals of Inquiry (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Moriarty Tribunal made two recommendations for changes to company law, as follows: · That a provision similar to section 172 of the UK Companies Act, 2006 be adopted, together with the adoption of additional implementation or enforcement measures. · That consideration be given by the Oireachtas, and/or by the Company Law Review Group, to enacting provisions similar to those...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: There are two major elements to the Government's response to unemployment – Pathways to Work and the Action Plan for Jobs. The aim of Pathways to Work is to develop a new approach to engaging with people on the Live Register, particularly those who are long-term unemployed. The public employment services are being reformed as part of this process, to provide better targeted services to...

Written Answers — Commercial Rent Reviews: Commercial Rent Reviews (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: In order to progress the commitment in the Action Plan for Jobs concerning Government charges on business (Action 1.15), I wrote to my Ministerial colleagues in March, asking them to examine all charges which are levied on business by their Departments and associated bodies, with a view to identifying which of these costs can be reduced or frozen to the end of 2013 or beyond. It is a matter...

Written Answers — Economic Competitiveness: Economic Competitiveness (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 289 and 290 together. Action point 1.32 of the Action Plan for Jobs commits to the identification of any sheltered areas of the economy where competition is restricted and the commissioning of studies on such areas where appropriate. In order to meet the Q 1 commitment to identify sheltered areas of the economy where competition is restricted the...

Written Answers — EU Funding: EU Funding (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: Loans from the Microfinance Loan Fund will be administered under the remit of the Social Finance Foundation on behalf of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The European Progress Microfinance Facility is a European Investment Fund (EIF) initiative to support entrepreneurship and employment through microfinance activities. It was established by the EU Commission in 2010....

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 292 to 294, inclusive, together. There are 132 Community Enterprise Centres that have been completed or approved for funding from Enterprise Ireland and their locations are listed in the following tabular statement. The number of businesses supported by each Community Enterprise Centre is a day-to-day operational matter for the centre concerned. However, I am...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: Action 3.4 of the Action Plan for Jobs makes a commitment to "support industry-led clustering in key areas of opportunity, based on new models, industry proposals, and newly developed niche market strategies". In March, a working group comprising officials of my Department, Forfás, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland met to progress development of an approach and a programme to support...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: In the context of regional and all-island economic development, and recognising the opportunity to pursue mutually beneficial cross border co-operation on aspects of economic policy and infrastructure/spatial planning, IDA Ireland cooperates on a number of initiatives with Invest Northern Ireland. Both agencies also share a strategic focus on attracting companies from the targeted sectors of...

Written Answers — Innovation Fund Ireland: Innovation Fund Ireland (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: The management fees associated with investments made under Innovation Fund Ireland are agreed confidentially between the parties involved and are commercially sensitive. I am therefore not in a position to provide this information. The administration of the Fund is carried out by Enterprise Ireland and the National Pensions Reserve Fund as part of their day to day operations and is met from...

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: Public procurement affords an opportunity for SMEs to secure new business and grow employment; approximately €14 billion will be spent by public bodies this year in purchasing goods and services. The Government is keen to ensure that SMEs have access to procurement opportunities and the Action Plan for Jobs contains a number of measures designed to improve SME access to those...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (1 May 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 299 and 304 together. The Programme for Government states that: "The Government will promote the development of a vibrant and effective social enterprise sector. We will instruct agencies to view social enterprises as important stakeholders in rejuvenating local economies. We will continue support for social innovation projects for young people through...