Results 1,201-1,220 of 2,815 for speaker:Tony Killeen

Seanad: Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2006: Second Stage. (20 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I thank Senators for their contributions to the debate on this quite complex legislation. It is a large and technically complex Bill which manages to cover many important areas of land and conveyancing law in considerable detail. We all recognise the importance of the subject matter, as well as the need to bring this area of law up to date so that it can accommodate changing needs and modern...

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 78 together. Article 10 of the Labour Inspection Convention 1947 provides that the number of labour inspectors shall be sufficient to secure the effective discharge of the duties of the inspectorate and shall be determined with due regard for the importance of the duties which inspectors have to perform, in particular; the number, nature, size and...

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Deputy has asked about the system of recruitment and the time period over which it will be completed. Recruitment will commence pretty shortly. It is intended that the full 90 will be in place by the end of 2007. I remind the Deputy — Members who have been attending Question Time will be aware — that there is a considerable amount of work to be done in the process of recruiting people...

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The background to this arises from the document The Mandate and Resourcing of the Labour Inspectorate. Very considerable work was done in this document and the specific difficulties which had arisen were pointed out clearly. Some of these difficulties related to issues such as the poor quality of payslips that were acceptable under the previous regime. Much work remains to be done in that...

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The undertaking is to begin immediately, but there are some challenges to be taken on in ensuring that all factors are taken into account and that all information is available to the inspectorate.

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I presume that Deputy Bruton is not telling me that we will now have too many inspectors. We need to acknowledge, not just on the basis of the high-profile cases but on the basis of other evidence, that there were difficulties. It is incumbent on the Government to address those issues. An element of Deputy Morgan's question related to the manner in which the figure of 90 was reached. I agree...

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I will provide the Deputy with some information on that.

Labour Inspectorate. (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: There will undoubtedly be an increase in inspections, but the greater challenge is to ensure that workers coming into the country and others in the workforce are aware of their entitlements. That kind of information must be disseminated in a much more user-friendly fashion than has been the case heretofore. The figure of 90 was arrived at by consensus, as is the case with all social...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Health and Safety Authority were involved in 40 legal proceedings — 22 summary and 18 on indictment in 2005. The overall conviction rate was 85%. In addition to the prosecution options, the Health and Safety Authority also has a range of other enforcement remedies available to it, including the seeking of a High Court Order to have a dangerous workplace closed down and the issuing of...

Written Answers — Bullying in the Workplace: Bullying in the Workplace (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 101 together. The Expert Advisory Group's Report on Workplace Bullying was launched and published by me on the 17th August 2005. The 2005 Report follows on from a 2001 Report by the Taskforce on the Prevention of Workplace Bullying. The recommendations of the 2001 Taskforce were implemented; the main ones being, ∙the publication of the dignity at work...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: It is a matter for the Courts to determine the application of penalties on conviction for breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and other occupational safety and health legislation. Section 78 of the 2005 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act sets out detailed provisions relating to the penalties that may be applied by the Courts for breaches of that Act. Where the...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66, 93, 99 and 122 together. The National Employment Survey, which is conducted by the Central Statistics Office, provides more detailed comparisons than previously available of employees' earnings. This Survey is a valuable source of information and will help in the consideration and development of policies in the relevant areas. Primary responsibility for...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The fact that there is a disproportionately high level of fatal injuries in the workplace among non-Irish nationals is a cause of considerable concern both to me as Minister for Labour Affairs and to the Health and Safety Authority, the State body charged with overall responsibility for administration, enforcement and promotion of workplace safety and health. A total of 9 non-Irish national...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 75, 104 and 123 together. The Law Reform Commission in its report on corporate killing in October 2005 recommended that as the current law of corporate liability for manslaughter does not provide a clear basis for constructing liability, a new basis, in legislative form, is necessary. The Commission also recommended that there should be individual statutory...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The enforcement of Employment Rights Compliance is primarily based around the legislative provisions governing the statutory records that employers are required to maintain. The generality of investigative work undertaken by Labour Inspectors does not require that they be competent in a variety of languages. Where the need for interpretation services are required, such as in the area of...

Written Answers — Industrial Disputes: Industrial Disputes (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Labour Court operates as an industrial relations tribunal, hearing both sides in a trade dispute. It then issues recommendations setting out its opinion on the dispute and the terms on which it considers the dispute should be settled. In line with the voluntarist nature of the industrial relations system in this country, Labour Court recommendations for the resolution of trade disputes...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Health and Safety Authority carried out a campaign in 2005 which focused on health and safety issues within Local Authorities and, in particular, on roadworks. While most local authorities are in broad compliance with health and safety requirements I understand that some of them would need to do more to demonstrate full compliance. A concentrated inspection campaign was instigated during...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Labour Inspectorate of the Department is responsible for monitoring certain employment conditions for all categories of workers in Ireland. In the area of pay and conditions, it is primarily the provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 and the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 that apply to employees who are employed in domestic service. Employees, working in the provision of...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I am conscious of the difficulties sometimes experienced by non-native speakers in understanding their rights and conditions of employment. With particular regard for the needs of employees from overseas the Department has translated key Employment Rights information into nine languages namely Chinese, Czech, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, and Russian. The...

Written Answers — Job Losses: Job Losses (21 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The number of actual redundancies for the first four months of 2006 was 7746 a 12.4% increase on the same period in 2005. The months of April and May 2006 have seen a drop in the numbers of redundancies at levels of 27% and 10% respectively, below those for the same months last year. Cumulatively, from January to May 2006 the number of redundancies was 6.6% up on the first five months of...