Results 13,281-13,300 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Section 32, as drafted, is strictly limited in its application to information on the alleged commission of an offence under a relevant enactment or the contravention of a relevant enactment. As such, the amendment is inappropriate as it is inconsistent with the section taken as a whole.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: The amendment is in response to an amendment proposed by Deputy Peader Tóibín on Report Stage in the Dáil when I indicated that I would afford further consideration to it. I introduce amendment No. 51 to address the issues raised. The proposed amendment broadens the scope of the information the Workplace Relations Commission may disclose to a public contracting authority. As...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I think the Senators misunderstand the purpose of this provision. This is not a penalty for non-payment of the minimum wage. The non-payment of the minimum wage is a criminal offence subject to penalties elsewhere in legislation. The provision dealt with by these amendments is for a fixed payment notice which can only be used in certain limited circumstances. Only three offences are...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: This section is concerned with the penalties that can be issued by way of a fixed payment notice. It is like a traffic cop giving out a fine. An employer who commits the offence of breaching the national minimum wage would be prosecuted in the normal way. One cannot hand out a fixed payment notice of €20,000 in this relatively informal manner because, as I noted earlier, that would...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: This section deals with fixed payment notices.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: These amendments are of a drafting and technical nature and make no substantive change to the section.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: It is implicit that the consent of both parties is a prerequisite to all forms of mediation and case resolution. The Senator's proposed amendment is, therefore, superfluous in this regard and inappropriate in so far as it focuses only on the claimant.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Senator Norris is confusing what we are dealing with here. This is a mediation process, into which people enter voluntarily. The Senator is seeking in such a voluntary mediation process to give case resolution officers directive powers to compel the production of documentation and evidence to the other party that the party intends to rely on. That would be in conflict with a voluntary...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: If one is entering into a voluntary process, one does not introduce powers to compel. They are in conflict in that one is attempting to bring the two sides together voluntarily to agree. The Senator is seeking to give compulsion powers. It would drive people away from mediation because they would fear that if they went into it, they would suddenly be compelled to do this, that and the...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: One cannot on the one hand issue a direction and then on the other hand say that the parties should have a chat.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Senator should read the amendment.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I would have to take advice. In any mediation, people will exchange freely and will talk to one another. However, it is a voluntary process and one does not seek to codify that in the way the Senator is seeking. I do not see why an informal process of that nature seeking to explore a voluntary solution should be tied up in requirements of the sort the Senator is seeking. I will certainly...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: One cannot use the fact people entered mediation to grab powers that one would not have had if had they had not done so. The Senator is providing that people come in voluntarily and have a chat but then, before they leave, they must adhere to a number of requirements.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Mediation is an informal and voluntary process. It is better that the Bill remains silent on the question of representation at mediation and leaves it to the skill and experience of the mediator to manage the process. Either party may withdraw from the mediation process at any time. Therefore, I will not accept the amendment.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: We are sympathetic to the idea of having enforcement of mediated settlements being effected in the District Court, where possible. I am pursuing the matter with the Attorney General to see if a Report Stage amendment can be introduced to that effect.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: As initially published, the Bill made separate provision for the referral of complaints and disputes to early resolution or mediation. This distinction has not been maintained. Section 39 has been amended to cover the referral of complaints and disputes for resolution by mediation officer. Section 40 effectively replicates section 39 and is, therefore, rendered superfluous and unnecessary....

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: I give the Senator that assurance. The Public Appointments Service has carries out a competition and we now have a range of persons including experienced industrial relations officers, HR practitioners, employment lawyers and civil servants with appropriate skill and experience. This will ensure a diversity among the ranks of adjudicating officers. In addition, a course is being run by the...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: These are technical amendments.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Amendments Nos. 71 and 72 seek to include a provision in section 42(3) which would make it implicit that a practising barrister or solicitor or, where a complainant is under 18 years of age, his or her parent and guardian, in addition to an agency worker or any trade union of which the agency worker is a member, would be entitled to present a complaint to the director general under the...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Richard Bruton: Section 42 creates a common procedure for the presentation of complaints and referral of disputes under employment legislation to the director general of the workplace relations commission. The individual employment enactments under which a person may present a complaint or refer a dispute are listed in Schedule 5. This section provides for a standardised time limit of six month, extendable...