Results 1,221-1,240 of 2,815 for speaker:Tony Killeen

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

Tony Killeen: The number of employees who received collective redundancy notice as advised to the Department under the Protection of Employment Act, 1977 has seen an increase for the first five months of 2006 of 44% over the same period last year. I should point out that the more reliable indicator of redundancies relates to those people who have actually been made redundant during the same period. The...

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

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 154 and 155 together. Ireland only ratifies ILO Conventions where we can accept every single provision with which our legislation is fully in conformity. This also allows for absolute compliance. In adopting Conventions, the ILO operates by way of a double discussion procedure whereby proposals for International Labour Standards are discussed over two...

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

Tony Killeen: Section 14(4) (as amended) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 provides that where an employee is dismissed, the employer shall, if requested, provide particulars in writing of the principal grounds for dismissal to the employee within 14 days of the request. However, the Unfair Dismissals Acts generally do not apply to employees with less than one year's continuous service, with certain...

Written Answers — Flexible Work Practices: Flexible Work Practices (27 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Carer's Leave Act 2001 applies to all employees and, by extension, their employers. The Act sets out the procedures to be followed by employees who wish to avail of carer's leave. The Carer's Leave Act 2001 was amended by Section 48 of the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act 2006 (No. 5 of 2006) which increased carer's leave entitlements to workers from 65 weeks to 104 weeks with...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (27 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 provides that a part-time employee is an employee whose normal hours of work are less than the normal hours of work of an employee — defined as a comparable full-time employee — in relation to him or her (i.e. that part-time employee). The 2001 Act provides that a part-time employee shall not be treated less favourably than a...

Criminal Law (Home Defence) Bill 2006: Second Stage (Resumed). (28 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: I wish to make it clear the Government is also mindful of the concerns raised by Deputies in the debate on this Private Members' Bill in the name of Deputy Jim O'Keeffe. It is fair to say concern for the safety of law-abiding people in their own homes is not the sole preserve of any party or Deputy. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, is already on record stating...

Written Answers — Office for Employment Rights Compliance: Office for Employment Rights Compliance (28 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Social Partnership Agreement, Towards 2016, sets out a number of commitments with regard to employment standards and compliance including a commitment to establish an Office of the Director of Employment Rights Compliance. The Office will be established through the enactment of primary legislation and will be led by a Director at senior management level together with administrative...

Written Answers — Unfair Dismissals: Unfair Dismissals (29 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2001 protect employees from being unfairly dismissed from their jobs by laying down criteria by which dismissals are to be judged unfair and by providing an adjudication system and redress for an employee whose dismissal has been found to be unfair. To qualify under the Unfair Dismissals Acts, an employee is normally expected to have at least one year's...

Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage (Resumed). (30 Jun 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Government has proposed the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006 to provide for the establishment of an insurance scheme for persons infected by blood and blood products administered within the State. The sad history of the infection of blood and blood products with hepatitis C and HIV will never be erased. Families continue to experience the hurt and sadness these...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (5 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Health and Safety Authority has responsibility for the administration and enforcement of legislation dealing with the protection of the public and employees from the risks of exposure to asbestos fibres. A range of detailed legislation currently applies, comprising— (i) European Communities (Protection of Workers) (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 1989 (S.I. No. 34 of 1989), (ii)...

Written Answers — Employment Conditions: Employment Conditions (6 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Labour Inspectorate of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is responsible for monitoring certain employment conditions for all categories of workers in Ireland, including foreign workers. The Inspectorate operates without any differentiation with regard to worker nationality as statutory employment rights and protections apply to foreign workers in exactly the same manner...

Written Answers — Construction Industry: Construction Industry (6 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: I understand from the most recent statistics available from the Central Statistics Office that there are 253,800 people employed in the construction industry. I do not have details according to work category within the sector. The assignment of previously announced additional Labour Inspectors was completed in November 2005. That brought the complement of serving Inspectors to 31 Officers....

Written Answers — Labour Inspectorate: Labour Inspectorate (6 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: The assignment of previously announced additional Labour Inspectors was completed in November 2005. That brought the complement of serving Inspectors to 31 Officers. The increase in staffing represents almost a doubling of the number of Labour Inspectors in the last 2 years. A major package of measures has been agreed by the parties at the recent Partnership negotiations, including the...

Written Answers — Pay Differentials: Pay Differentials (6 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: Primary responsibility for policy in relation to equal pay is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Addressing the factors behind the gender pay gap is, however, a multi-faceted task involving a number of Government Departments. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment undertakes the following actions. The National Framework Committee on...

Written Answers — Employment Appeals Tribunal: Employment Appeals Tribunal (6 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: This Department has not in the last 20 years been asked by the Employment Appeals Tribunal to refer a matter on a point of law to the High Court. The tribunal established by section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967, known as the Redundancy Appeals Tribunal was changed to the Employment Appeals Tribunal by section 18 of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977. The Department is unable to trace...

Written Answers — Employment Appeals Tribunal: Employment Appeals Tribunal (6 Jul 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Prosecution and Enforcement Unit of the Department deals with the enforcement of determinations of both Labour Court and Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT). Eight applications seeking enforcement of a determination of the EAT under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 have been received since this Act came into force. None have been in respect of a Government Department or a...

Written Answers — Private Employment Agencies: Private Employment Agencies (27 Sep 2006)

Tony Killeen: ILO Convention No. 181 on Private Employment Agencies was adopted at the International Labour Conference in 1997 and came into force from 10 May 2000. To date, the Convention has been ratified by only 20 Member States of the ILO. Ireland only ratifies ILO Conventions where we can accept every single provision and where our legislation can be fully in conformity. This also allows fully for...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (27 Sep 2006)

Tony Killeen: Statistics on workplace accidents are collected and published by the Health and Safety Authority. The following table shows the number of workplace fatalities over the past 6 years both across all sectors and in the construction sector. However, statistics in regard to the age of people involved in workplace accidents were not recorded prior to 2003 and are therefore not available. Year...

Written Answers — Trade Union Recognition: Trade Union Recognition (27 Sep 2006)

Tony Killeen: Responsibility for the resolution of trade disputes is a matter for the parties involved. The State provides the industrial relations dispute settlement machinery to assist the dispute resolution process, which, in line with the general principles of industrial relations in Ireland, is voluntary in nature. There are also statutory provisions designed to back up the voluntary process in...

Written Answers — Unemployment Levels: Unemployment Levels (27 Sep 2006)

Tony Killeen: This Department does not keep separate redundancy statistics in respect of the science and technology sector. However, it does keep statistics for actual redundancies in respect of the following economic sectors, a number of which would have science and technology sub-sectors, given the importance to the economy of scientific research and development. The sectors for which actual redundancy...