Results 8,701-8,720 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 304 and 306 together. I am interpreting the Deputy's questions as relating to persons and bodies to which my Department provides funding through the Vote, including in respect of either their operational costs or agreed programmes of activity. The number of civil and public servants employed and remunerated by the Department its' Offices and Agencies was...

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

Richard Bruton: The figures in respect of jobs created in 2010 and 2011 in Enterprise Development agency-assisted companies, including companies supported by the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) are set out in the table accompanying this reply. The Government's Action Plan for Jobs has set a target of supporting the creation of 100,000 net new jobs over the period 2012 to 2016, with the longer term...

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

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 307 and 308 together. In the Action Plan for Jobs 2012, the Government has identified a number of key sectors where Ireland can gain competitive advantage in global markets, including the area of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) which takes in call centres. Ireland has an opportunity to operate as a Centre of Excellence for BPO and Shared Services –...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The accompanying table sets out the taxable and non-taxable allowances in the nature of pay that are currently being paid to staff in my Department and the Offices and Agencies for whom my Department provides payroll services. The rates payable are sanctioned by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. An annualised amount has been provided where possible. In respect of some of...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: My officials advise me that this permit application was refused on 28th June 2012 on the basis that new employment permit applications are currently only considered for highly skilled, highly paid positions or for positions where there is an officially recognised scarcity of supply in relation to a particular qualification or occupation type. New and renewal applications may also be...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I refer the Deputy to the following appointments. Health and Safety Authority (HSA) Mr John Newham, Principal Officer, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation was appointed to the Board of the Health and Safety Authority on the 10th April 2012. Shannon Development Mr. Stephen Curran, Principal Officer, was appointed to my Department on 09 January 2012 and was subsequently appointed to...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Mechanisms such as Registered Employment Agreements that allow for the legal extension of voluntarily negotiated collective agreements throughout a particular sector are widespread in almost all EU Member States. In the 21 EU Member States where it is legally possible to extend collective bargaining agreements universally across a particular sector, such extension is normally conditional on...

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

Richard Bruton: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

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

Richard Bruton: Deputy Tóibín proposes to delete, in page 6, line 4, "the desirability of agreeing and maintaining" fair and sustainable rates of remuneration in the sector and substitute "the agreeing and maintaining of" fair and sustainable rates of remuneration in the sector. This issue relates to the principles and policies to which the Labour Court must have regard before registering an employment...

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

Richard Bruton: The contrary is the case. By saying "the desirability", it is clearly saying this is something we are trying to achieve whereas if one leaves out "the desirability", it is merely a neutral issue. This is not diluting the importance. It is making clear that, in the hierarchy of issues, these are matters that are desirable that the court must seek to pursue. It also recognises that there is...

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

Richard Bruton: It is important to bear in mind that we are seeking to reconstruct legislation which has been struck down by the courts. As Deputy O'Dea acknowledged, the existing legislation was found to be unconstitutional on a number of grounds. One cannot find a fairer reading of the impact of the High Court judgment than the Attorney General's views on what is now needed to make the structure robust...

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

Richard Bruton: In economics, one gets lots of opinions and with each economist, one gets another opinion. Perhaps it is not dissimilar in Deputy O'Dea's own profession, although I cannot speak of it with first-hand familiarity. The truth is that the court demolished the legislation in place for a number of reasons, including the lack of exercise of discretion by the Minister. It was not solely the issue...

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

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy O'Dea for raising these issues around the enforcement area, which is an area causing considerable concern. In the context of the workplace relations Bill on which I am working and the blueprint of which I have published, I am considering in great detail how enforcement operates and how we can improve it. The Deputy has submitted a number of amendments, some of which relate to...

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

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that that is not the intention. We are seeking to simplify procedures in the workplace relations commission. For example, we want to ensure, when a person makes a complaint, that within days the employer will be informed and have an opportunity to rectify or clarify the matter. This would be an early resolution phase. If the matter cannot be resolved, it can go for...

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

Richard Bruton: The two amendments proposed by Deputy Tóibín deal with the issue of the maximum duration of a derogation under the inability to pay clause. Section 9 of the Bill inserts a new section 33 into the 1946 Act. This provides that where a registered employment agreement, REA, makes such provision, an employer in financial difficulty may apply to the Labour Court seeking a temporary exemption...

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

Richard Bruton: On Committee Stage, Deputies Tóibín and O'Dea both referred to the importance of ensuring that details of the full financial affairs of a company are made available to the Labour Court when an application for an exemption from the requirement to pay the statutory wage contained in an REA is made. I explained on that occasion that the Bill already provides that employers will be required to...

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

Richard Bruton: The reason for referring to the tax clearance certificate is to establish the probity of the business - that it is a business compliant with its general tax obligations. The second provision, in the new section 33A(5)(b), permits the Labour Court to trawl for any information it deems appropriate. Singling out the tax clearance certificate does not have the same status and it is not...

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

Richard Bruton: The Sinn Féin amendment proposes to insert one of the considerations that the JLC will be required to take into account in framing employment regulation orders into the principles and policies to be considered by the Labour Court in its periodic review of the establishment orders of the JLCs. Section 11 inserts a new section, section 41A, into the 1946 Act to provide that the Labour Court...

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

Richard Bruton: Amendments Nos. 16 and 17 address different aspects of the variations in the sub-minimum rates that will apply henceforth to different categories of worker under employment regulation orders in line with the statutory differentiation of sub-minima that has applied under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 in respect of first-time job entrants and those engaged in structured training. Section...

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

Richard Bruton: There is no doubt that there could be that type of situation in that someone could have a PhD but might not have worked in the job for which he or she is being employed. The measure is recognition that entry rates are available to an employer through joint labour committees, JLCs. The intention is to provide for a minimum standard that must apply. I accept that an employer could decide...