Results 8,761-8,780 of 12,474 for speaker:Louise O'Reilly

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: That is very welcome. I ask that when the Minister and Minister of State consider the amendment that they ensure the people who are intended to be captured in it do not have an additional requirement. Reference has been made to the need for a worker to be repeatedly employed. Let us say we stick with the 13 weeks, then a worker will end up with a 26-week requirement in a certain instance....

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I move amendment No. 6: In page 5, line 31, to delete “continuous”. On the basis of the commitment given by the Minister of State, I withdraw my amendment but reserve the right to resubmit on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I will speak to my amendment No. 11. Deputy Murphy identified some of the issues with this section. The section is very heavily weighted in favour of the employer rather than the worker, which is problematic. Let us start with the premise that sick pay is an important tool in protecting public health and that no worker should consider going to work if he or she is sick. The intention is...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I want to reject that as well. It is constantly being said that the employer is paying. We could equally say that they have not been paying for decades and that they have been getting away with it for decades. It does not need to be referenced in that way. For this to work, we must not come at it from the perspective of this being some kind of gift that is being bestowed on workers....

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I move amendment No. 11: In page 6, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: "(b) the state of society generally, the public interest and employee wellbeing;".

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: The Minister of State needs to look at the burden in this. While an element of paid sick leave is welcome and a statutory sick pay scheme is long overdue, and we have discussed this, it cannot exclude people because they are on low incomes. They will have to put their hands in their pockets to go to the doctor. I tabled an amendment that would have eliminated this until such time as we...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I am asking the Minister of State to take on board the concerns that were raised, particularly in respect of low-income workers, and do the maths regarding someone who is, for example, on the minimum wage or €13 per hour and how likely it is that they would have €55 or €60 to go to a doctor and then take that out of the 70%. I ask that he please do that exercise and...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: We had a discussion on the accessibility or otherwise of the proposals. The absence of access to free GP care was cited by Dr. Laura Bambrick of ICTU during the pre-legislative scrutiny phase. She made the point that very few people who are working have access to GP cards or medical cards. This means that here is a significant cohort of workers involved. I again ask that the Minister of...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I would also be very strongly opposed to this. I respect the need to remain within the boundaries of other legislation and so on, but this makes it a risk worth taking not to grant it. All of the discussion we have had today is centred around recognition of the need for this, but it has to work. Deputy Bruton described the draconian process that an employer has to go through to go at the...

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: That is fair enough. The original proposal was 20 weeks, but now it is two. That is a 90% reduction, albeit a reduction in something employees did not have. In this case, though, I do not believe that we can say that you never miss what you never had. This will be missed. There has to be some element of a deterrent. As matters stand, it is a risk worth taking.

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: Twenty.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I move amendment No. 1: In page 106, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 21 of Act of 2014 28.Section 21 of the Act of 2014 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection: “(2) When considering the provision of moneys to be provided to the Commission, the Minister may give consideration to the additional powers the Commission...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: I thank the Minister of State for the reply. What he pointed out about the Directorate-General for Competition is important. The legislation provides that "the Minister may give consideration". It does not compel the Minister and nor does it compel the Minister to only look at the previous year and use that as the basis; it is just something to be considered. I have a particular concern...

Rising Rental Costs: Motion [Private Members] (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: We are discussing this motion that has been put forward by my colleague, an Teachta Ó Broin, whom I wish to thank, not only for this motion but for all the work he does on behalf of people who are really living at the business end of the Minister's policies and what he, his party and his pals in government have done to the housing market. The housing market is almost broken beyond...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: 229. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the passports of persons (details supplied);; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21772/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Strategies (4 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: 489. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the programme for Government commitment to explore the potential for introducing a 24-hour triage and health concerns telephone and website service which will help to direct patients into appropriate streams of care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21973/22]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (10 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: 282. To ask the Minister for Finance if his Department will consider removing VAT on automated external defibrillators, AEDs, following the publication of the European Union Council Directive EU 2022/542 of 5 April 2022 amending Directives 2006/112/EC and EU 2020/285 as regards rates of value added tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23410/22]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (10 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: 283. To ask the Minister for Finance the work that is being undertaken in his Department to amend existing VAT rates following the publication of the European Union Council Directive EU 2022/542 of 5 April 2022 amending Directives 2006/112/EC and EU 2020/285 as regards rates of value added tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23411/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (10 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: 779. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the projects that received funding from the Sláintecare Integration Fund; if they were funded afterwards; the number of the 122 projects that continued to be funded through his Department or the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23161/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Charges (10 May 2022)

Louise O'Reilly: 780. To ask the Minister for Health the circumstances under which medical card patients are exempt from charges for phlebotomy services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23162/22]