Results 1,281-1,300 of 4,787 for speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Topical Issue Debate: National Monuments (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I wish to emphasise that the Minister has no function in the operations of NAMA and has no role in the disposal of its loans or assets. The Minister's involvement in the Moore Street issue, as she has made clear countless times, arises from the preservation order that was placed in 2007 on Nos. 14 to 17 under the National Monuments Acts. Any plans or proposals for the wider area outside the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug Treatment Programmes Policy (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: There is currently a problem with street injecting in Dublin and elsewhere which is unhygienic and unsafe for both drug users and the general public. Medically supervised injecting facilities exist in a number of other countries, and have been suggested as a response to the problem of street injecting in this country. According to a recent report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug Treatment Programmes (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Medically supervised injecting facilities exist in a number of other countries, and have been proposed as a response to the problem of street injecting in this country. According to a recent report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, drug consumption facilities can be effective for difficult-to-reach populations of drug users and have resulted in immediate...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I hope my visit to the House this afternoon will be more productive than my visit here this morning. Before addressing the content of amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, and amendment No. 19, I hope I may be allowed to make one or two brief introductory remarks. We had an unusual Committee Stage and an unusual journey to get to Report Stage. I appreciate that the rules under which we...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Amendment No. 2 introduces a definition of the "Act of 2000" as we need to refer to the Equal Status Act 2000. Amendment No. 3 deletes the definition of "Minister" as we do not need this as we are amending existing legislation that already has this definition. In Amendment No. 19 we are making consequential changes to the Short Title, collective citation and the commencement provisions....

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The principal equality directives have essentially the same definition of indirect discrimination. I will quote from the Framework Employment Directive 2000/78/EC, which contains the following definition: "indirect discrimination should be taken to occur when an apparently neutral provision, criterion or practice would put persons having a particular religion or belief, a particular...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The group of amendments includes amendments Nos. 5, 7 and 9, but, due to the structure of the Equality Acts, part of amendment No. 8 is also relevant. However, as that amendment mainly deals with a different issue related to the position of Swiss and EEA nationals, it has been grouped with amendment No. 18 with which it will be discussed. We are considering a group of amendments that relate...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: When the framework employment directive, Directive No. 2000/78/EC, which outlaws age discrimination in employment, was transposed into law by the Equality Act 2004, reliance was placed on the wording of recital 14 of the directive which states: "This Directive shall be without prejudice to national provisions laying down retirement ages". The conclusion is that it was not necessary to amend...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I am informed that we do not have a national framework in this area. Effectively, there is no discrimination on the basis of age if the offering of the fixed-term contract reflects the practice or the nature of the business over a period of time. It is unusual for a termination to take place in the context of this legislation, but we are effectively transposing requirements from EU...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The provision brings the Bill in line with the law as it stands. There is effectively no change other than streamlining existing legislation to ensure clarity.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Section 12(7) of the Employment Equality Act and section 7 of the Equal Status Act 2000 provide different fees, grants and admission arrangements for vocational training and access to education may apply between Irish and EU citizens on one hand, and citizens of other states on the other. The State is obliged under EEA agreements and EU-Switzerland agreements to ensure the benefits extended...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I am going to miss section 37 when it has been enacted. It has been a part of my life for the last three years. This was a long and tortuous process and many of us worked hard on a cross-party basis to bring the Bill to this stage. We are now at the heart of the Bill and, while I am conscious that it has not been possible to have a real debate on the text and options previously because the...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Senator Zappone seeks to delete a significant section from the Act. I wish we could do so. I also wish we were not dealing with the existing education system and Constitution or the reality in which we find ourselves. Yesterday, when I met many of the groups represented in the Gallery, I made the point that the education system perpetuates inequality by its very constitution. Since its...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I was unnerved for about 30 seconds when I found myself in agreement with Senator Mullen but then I was gratefully relieved by the rest of his contribution.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: On amendments Nos. 1 and 3, it is important to note that the existing section 37(1), in permitting favourable treatment on the religion grounds or action to be taken in relation to the undermining of the institution's religious ethos, does not permit discrimination on any of the other grounds allowed in the Employment Equality Act 1988. However, it has had a chilling effect and it does not...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Okay. Members can predict what I will say on amendment No. 2.

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Senator Norris is holding the space over there. The suggestion that Ireland did not transpose the employment directive properly in section 37(1) has been addressed by the Attorney General in advice to the Department, quoting the text which is relevant here, Article 4.2: Member States may maintain national legislation in force at the date of adoption of this Directive or provide for future...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: We will have to agree to disagree. I do not agree with the Senator. My suggestion would be that an individual, privately funded church or congregation of people who have a particular belief system could legitimately take a case on the basis that it is a private institution, privately funded with a particular belief system and therefore is constrained by what we are trying to do here and...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: A thousand thoughts come to mind. On the amendment, teaching in a religious ethos school is not just about the teaching of religion. It should run through every subject taught and throughout the entire day. Technically, a teacher in a Catholic school is supposed to teach history, geography, mathematics etc. through the Catholic ethos. This is not only about the teaching of religion. In...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (9 Jul 2015)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: No.