Results 1,161-1,180 of 15,516 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I thank Members of the Seanad for giving me the opportunity to update the House on the progress of implementation of the public service agreement known as the Croke Park agreement. I last spoke to Senators on this topic on 13 May. I will begin by reviewing what has happened since then and set out some of the challenges that continue to face us in that context. Last May, we were in a very...

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: The principal commitments given were to no reductions in pay, no compulsory redundancies and an extension of the period within which the January 2010 pay reductions will be disregarded for the purposes of calculating public service pension entitlements to the end of 2011. I encourage members of unions or associations that have stayed outside the process to consider their position carefully....

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: Yes.

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: It did not take any.

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: On the procedural issue, I have no difficulty returning to the House regularly. Those who take pleasure in kicking the work of this House of the Oireachtas should have been present this morning because we have had a good debate. Many proposals have been put forward for me to consider and implement and I have no difficulty with returning to the House in four or five weeks in whatever capacity.

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I have taken many notes and Members can be sure that I have taken on board all the suggestions and thoughts voiced this morning. Some general points must be made. I have taken the chance again today to outline the Government's position. The Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, have also done it. I wish Senator Doherty would change the album a little to reflect the times we are...

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: With regard to the savings and the assessment of the savings, that is the role of the implementation body. That body is now looking through the activation plans and when I return to the Seanad in four or five weeks I will give a better sense and model of how we will implement that. Senator O'Toole and Senator Buttimer raised the need for clear objectives and performance indicators. I agree...

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: A number of Senators raised the issue of non-productive public servants and the number of such people who are hiding in the system. There are undoubtedly many poor public servants and we have been incredibly restricted to date as to how we deal with that and poor performance. Every person one speaks to has had a bad interaction with one, two or three public servants. Equally, however,...

Seanad: Public Service Agreement 2010-2014: Statements (13 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I assure the House that as long as I am in this position I will be committed to this agenda. It is an agenda which the Taoiseach is directing and he is putting pressure on me to deliver on it. I am conscious of the remarks about specific information. We will work with the House over the next five weeks to produce more specific information and implementation plans. I thank the House for...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (14 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: The Joint Labour Committee (JLC) and Registered Employment Agreement (REA) systems have been the subject of a number of recent legal challenges which raised issues specific to particular Employment Regulation Orders (EROs) and REAs. The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2009, which has passed all stages in the Seanad and has completed Second Stage in the Dáil, aims to modernise and...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (14 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: Under the Redundancy Payments Acts all eligible employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy lump sum payment on being made redundant. The scheme provides that an employee is entitled to two weeks pay for every year of service, plus a bonus week, subject to the prevailing maximum ceiling on gross weekly pay that is currently set at €600. The statutory redundancy scheme operated by the...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (14 Oct 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 (14 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social Protection. 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 wish to...

Written Answers — Redundancy Payments: Redundancy Payments (14 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: My Department administers the Social Insurance Fund (SIF) in relation to redundancy matters on behalf of the Department of Social Protection. 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 wish to...

Chemicals (Amendment Bill 2010: Order for Second Stage (19 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Chemicals (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (19 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I move: "That be Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to bring before the House today the Chemicals (Amendment) Bill 2010. The main purpose of the Bill is to meet EU obligations to implement and enforce certain EU regulations. These include the EU regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, known as the "CLP regulation"; a replacement EU...

Chemicals (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (19 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. This Bill does not impose any additional obligations on industry. The regulatory impact assessment which was prepared for the 2008 Act included the CLP regulation, which was a draft EU regulation at that stage. It was not adopted in time for full inclusion in the Act but we included the provisions and obligations of the CLP in the regulatory...

Chemicals (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (19 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: -----regardless of whatever impediments the Deputy suggests were put in place. However, I will convey his remarks to the Minister. With regard to Deputy Bruton's worry about compliance in the Department, we are absolutely committed to reducing the regulatory burden on business by 25% by 2012. It is difficult in many areas to strike a balance - one is dealing with people's lives and daily...

Chemicals (Amendment) Bill 2010: Referral to Select Committee (19 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Innovation in accordance with Standing Order 122(1) and paragraph 1(a)(i) of the Orders of Reference of that committee.

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (19 Oct 2010)

Dara Calleary: In 2009, the number of cases, that were allocated a date for hearing, was 3,508. Some of these would have been allocated a 2010 Hearing date. In the period January to September 2010, the number of cases that were allocated a date for Hearing was 3,148. In 2009, the number of cases disposed of was 5,053. Some of these would have been allocated a 2009 Hearing date in 2008. In the period...