Results 8,821-8,840 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The section states that "the Court shall have regard to" the following elements, including: "the desirability of maintaining established arrangements for collective bargaining"; "the benefits of consultation between worker and employer"; "the desirability of agreeing and maintaining ... sustainable rates of remuneration"; and "the desirability of maintaining competitiveness in the sector in...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senator Cullinane for his contribution. Again we must consider the reason we are in the current situation. These orders were struck down by the High Court on a number of grounds, one was they were not referring to policies and principles when they made orders. Let us not forget, as the court found, that these orders had potential criminal implications for the people who were found...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I ask the Senator to look again at what is happening. The structure being put in place by the new construction is that the JLCs consider an issue and then come forward with a set of recommendations, which then go to the Labour Court for adoption. The Labour Court adopts them. It is the Minister who makes the order. The court made it very clear that when a Minister is making such an order...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The courts cannot make an order. It is the Minister who makes the order.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I was trying to be of assistance.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I was a Senator too.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: While I do not wish to repeat myself, Senator Feargal Quinn is right. We need this freedom, not to give the Minister discretion to strike down decisions that have been reached by the joint labour committees and adopted by the Labour Court but in order to make it constitutionally sound from challenge in the courts. Senator White referred to the Duffy-Walsh report. Duffy-Walsh did not...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: It is those superior courts that have told us this is the way it has to be implemented.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: There are two amendments tabled by Sinn Féin that deal with the issue of the maximum duration for a derogation under the inability to pay clause. Section 9 of the Bill inserts a new section 33 in the 1946 Act providing that where an REA so provides, an employer in financial difficulty may apply to the Labour Court seeking temporary exemption from the requirement to pay the rates of...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: We had a lengthy discussion on a similar amendment in the Dáil. This amendment seeks to add to the absolutely general power of the Labour Court to request any information it may reasonably require. We have been confidently informed that if we specify certain categories of information that the Labour Court should have the power to request, while leaving out other categories of information,...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: This matter was debated in the other House. One needs to recognise the limited nature of the review we are talking about. The purpose of the review is made clear in the proposed new section 41A(4), which is about the existence of the joint labour committee rather than about the agreement. The proposed section provides that following a review, the Labour Court can decide to maintain the...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Senator must bear in mind that the Duffy-Walsh review recommended that the JLC system be radically reformed. The authors cited the need to adjust to the changes in the economy and the pressures that exist. They also openly acknowledged that the rules in respect of Sunday working were unduly burdensome, particularly in sectors in which Sunday is a normal working day. We must recall that...

Job Creation (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy Conway for raising this issue. She is correct that the IDA had a record year last year, with 13,000 jobs and a net expansion of 6,000 jobs. It was the highest job creation rate in a decade and the lowest rate of job loss in a decade, and that pattern is being continued into the first half of this year. The Deputy is also right in saying that the south east is an area that has...

Job Creation (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I take the point. I will ask for that to be done in that we will examine the reason companies ultimately choose to locate elsewhere. Very often it is not Waterford competing with Limerick. It is Ireland, or Waterford, if it is the preferred location, competing with Scotland.

Job Creation (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The issues are to do with what many of these companies are now looking for, namely, ICT skills and language skills. There may not be the same depth of skill base in Waterford compared with some of the competing locations. In other areas we have Genzyme, on the pharmaceutical side, and we use established companies as the main reference sale. It is people who have come here and been...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I am currently in the process of introducing a Microenterprise Loan Fund that will facilitate the growth and expansion of viable microenterprises from all industry sectors across the country, that have been refused access to credit from the banks. The Fund has a significant entrepreneurship focus to encourage all would-be entrepreneurs across the country who may be unemployed, but have the...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 makes provision for the safety, health and welfare of persons at work, for the enforcement of the statutory provisions and the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. The Act imposes duties on employers, employees, and persons in control of places of work as well as general duties on...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Enterprise Ireland approved funding support in the form of repayable preference shares to the company in 2009, which was drawn down in 2010. The funding was provided as a contribution to the capital requirements of the company, to help it grow its business through increased exports as well as to sustain and create employment in Ireland. It was approved at a time when many viable Irish...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 216, 218 and 219 together. The achievement of balanced regional growth continues to be a core objective of Government. Promoting entrepreneurship and facilitating the key infrastructural needs of Irish enterprise across all regions is vital to ensuring a vigorous pipeline of new business leaders, new business ideas and entrepreneurial activity. Enterprise...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (17 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 217, 220 and 221 together. The Forfás Annual Employment Survey reports on job gains and losses in companies that are supported by the enterprise development agencies. Data is compiled on an annualised basis. The survey shows that in the four year period 2008 to 2011 a total of 332 jobs were created in IDA Ireland's client companies in County Kerry. The...