Results 941-960 of 14,554 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (11 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95 and 97 to 99, inclusive, together. I regret to advise the Deputy that I am precluded, by virtue of data protection considerations, to provide the Deputy with the company specific information he has requested. It has always been, and continues to be, my Department's policy and practice not to disclose details of redundancy rebate payments made in the case...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (11 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation. I...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (11 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers are insolvent and/or in receivership/liquidation. I...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (11 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: It is current Government policy to issue new work permits for highly skilled, highly paid positions or for non-EEA nationals who are already legally resident in the State on valid employment permits or where there is an officially recognised scarcity of workers of a particular type or qualification. There are no restrictions on non-EEA nationals changing employer after a period of one year....

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (11 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: Adjustments in the gross wages of employees in the private and public sectors have occurred as a consequence of the severity of the current economic recession. The recession is having a direct impact on the level of agreed pay settlements in almost all areas of the private sector and this has also been reflected in the provisions of the Employment Regulation Orders that have been agreed by...

Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: Since 2004, a key element of our labour market policy has been to ensure that general labour and skills needs are met from indigenous labour and from within the workforce of the European Union. For strategic skills or labour shortages in designated occupations in key economic sectors, our policy is to issue employment permits for the employment of non-EEA nationals for specific vacancies and...

Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: I am not aware of the specific document to which the Deputy refers and I will revert to the Deputy. Our green card system is still very responsive to the areas mentioned by the Deputy. Green cards are still issued for ICT professionals such as computer systems managers, analysts, programmers and testers. Green cards continue to be issued for health care professionals, for all medical...

Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: I reject the assertion. We are continuing to monitor and to work with the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland, MRCI and a range of Government agencies with regard to work permits. The target for processing correctly completed applications - these are the three key words - is 15 working days. Green cards, inter-company transfers and health care sector applications continue to be processed...

Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: -----which is due to the reprioritisation of resources within the Department. A large number of staff were moved from the employment permits section to the redundancy section.

Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The Deputy will be aware of the industrial relations difficulties.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008 – 2009 (paras 9.1 – 9.3) provides for the establishment of a review process to consider the legal and other steps necessary to enable the employee representation mechanisms that had been established under previous agreements – and in legislation – to operate as they had been intended. In furtherance to this commitment, two...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Under Redundancy legislation, all eligible employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on being made redundant. As a general rule, a redundancy situation exists where an employer requires fewer employees to do work of a...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The transfer of FÁS to the Department of Education and Skills will have no impact whatsoever on the waiting time for payment of redundancy rebates as they are completely unrelated. Responsibility for all aspects of FÁS including training and the governance of FÁS has transferred out of my Department and now resides, since the making of the Government order in early May 2010, with the...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The Towards 2016 Review and Transitional Agreement 2008 – 2009 (paras 9.1 – 9.3) provides for the establishment of a review process to consider the legal and other steps necessary to enable the employee representation mechanisms that had been established under previous agreements – and in legislation – to operate as they had been intended. The Agreement (para 9.4) also commits the...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: I am aware of the recent report published by the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland in the context of changes proposed to the system of issuing work permits. My Department condemn any practices by employers that may result in non-compliance with employment rights entitlements or any other mistreatment of employees including those on employment permits. Ireland's Employment Rights Legislation...

Written Answers — National Minimum Wage: National Minimum Wage (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: In November 2008, ICTU requested the Labour Court to review the national minimum wage and to make a recommendation to the Minister for Labour Affairs concerning its adjustment. The Court subsequently invited submissions on the issue. Various submissions were received, including from IBEC, ICTU and the Department of Finance. The Labour Court also held discussions with these parties. Under...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 88 together. My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. There are two types of payment made from the SIF – rebates to those employers who have paid statutory redundancy to eligible employees, and statutory lump sums to employees whose employers...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act, 2001 provides that all employee protection legislation applies to a person, irrespective of his or her nationality or place of residence, who has entered into a contract of employment that provides for his or her being employed in the State or who works in the State under a contract of employment. In 2009, €2.5 million in unpaid wages was...

Written Answers — Equal Opportunities Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The gender pay gap (defined as the difference between men's and women's average gross hourly earnings as a percentage of men's average gross hourly earnings) was estimated by EUROSTAT in 2007 at 17.6% on average in the EU. It exceeded 25% in two countries (Estonia and Austria) and 20% in seven countries (Slovakia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Germany, the United Kingdom and...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (12 May 2010)

Dara Calleary: The introduction of the Employment Permits Act 2006 entailed a radical overhaul of the administrative arrangements and work practices of the Employment Permits Section. Employment permits are now issued on the basis of different permit types with dedicated staff trained in decision making on specific types. This system has streamlined the work of the section allowing faster times for...