Results 13,521-13,540 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: I indicated on Committee Stage that I would consider this amendment further and respond to the Senator on Report Stage. I have done that and I am informed that it is currently the standard practice of NERA to issue a receipt in circumstances where it is necessary to remove original documents either for copying or for use in the course of the inspection or court proceedings. It is also...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: This amendment is of a technical nature to ensure consistency of terminology in the subsection. Section 27(4) provides a statutory basis to allow a judge of the District Court, in specified circumstances, to issue a warrant to an inspector appointed under this legislation. The warrant will permit a named inspector, accompanied by such other inspectors or members of the Garda...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Amendment No. 37 is not appropriate as section 7(2) of the Bill already provides for the criminal liability of certain persons connected to a body corporate in certain circumstances in the case of offences under this Act. To extend liability for the debts of an insolvent company to the officers of the company would, I am advised by the Attorney General, be constitutionally suspect and would...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: This amendment is of a drafting nature and does not result in any substantive change to the Bill.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: This amendment to subsection (1) of section 30 is required so as to clarify that an inspector, acting on foot of a direction of the Labour Court, may enter any premises belonging to the employer named in the Labour Court's direction for the purpose of performing his or her statutory functions not only in relation to those premises but also, specifically, at the premises. Clearly, in respect...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The reason is that the changes we are making, such as in the areas of adjudication and enforcement, have a knock-on impact on dozens of pieces of legislation elsewhere. One has to ensure the original legislation is correctly amended to reflect the new process. That involves going back over swathes of legislation to ensure everything is correct. In all cases the amendments are technical and...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: On amendment No. 41, section 32, as drafted, is strictly limited in its application to information relating to the alleged commission of an offence under a relevant enactment or the contravention of a relevant enactment. For this reason, the Senator's proposed amendment is inappropriate, as it is inconsistent with the section taken as a whole. Essentially, the issue here is that agencies...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Senator may be mistaking what is being provided for here. This provision is dealing with fixed payment notices and the penalty for such fixed payment notices. Essentially, they are minor offences and these are fixed charges that are issued without proceedings and they concern only limited offences. One is a requirement on the employer to consult with employees' representatives in...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Amendment No. 43 seeks to provide that a complaint that has been referred to mediation or case resolution could only be dealt with by a mediation officer or by way of teleconference in exceptional circumstances and upon the agreement of the complainant. It is implicit that the consent of both parties is a prerequisite to all forms of mediation and case resolution. The Senator's proposed...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: As the Acting Chairman noted, these are technical drafting amendments and make no substantive change.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: I think it goes somewhat further than that. This amendment seeks to introduce a new subsection to section 39, which would provide that a case resolution officer could direct either or both parties in the dispute or complaint that is the subject of mediation to produce documentation and evidence to the other party upon which that party intends to rely in respect of their respective cases. As...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: I wish to assure the Senator that a selection procedure has been carried out by the Public Appointments Service, PAS, in order to deliver high quality staff with a capacity to adjudicate. I assure the Senator that all successful applicants have been required to undergo an accredited adjudicator training programme which has been delivered by the National College of Ireland during the past...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Amendment No. 50 is intended to ensure that all complaints in disputes referred to a rights commissioner prior to the commencement of Part 4 of this Bill when enacted, can be decided by an adjudication officer who was, immediately prior to the commencement, a rights commissioner. This additional subsection(10) specifically provides that in respect of such complaints and disputes, the...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: This amendment is being introduced to bring clarity to the situation as regards to whom complaints can be made under the Employment of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012. The 2012 Act is a unique employment law in that there are three actors involved: the employee who is the agency worker; the employer who is the agency and the hirer which is the entity for which the agency worker...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts will continue to govern the presentation of complaints of discrimination to the WRC and the adjudication officers will have regard to the specific provisions governing such cases in the Equality Acts and not the provisions of section 42. Section 42 does not apply directly to employment equality and equal status cases but rather sections...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: This is a technical amendment to section 42(4)(b). It reflects the drafter's proposed reconfiguration of the Schedules. Senators Norris and Craughwell queried why trade unions had been singled out for mention in section 42(3)(a) of the Bill. This section 42(3)(a) provides for the presentation of complaints by an agency worker or any trade union of which the agency worker is a member, that...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated on Committee Stage I have afforded further consideration to this issue with a view to addressing the matter by way of amendment, if necessary. I have carefully considered this issue and thoroughly explored the matter with officials in my Department.I am not satisfied that an amendment to this effect is warranted for a number of reasons. The system that will apply following...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have introduced a uniform six-month timeframe within which a complaint must be submitted. This period can be extended by a further six months. The Senator proposes to introduce a longer period, which would not be practicable or workable. This is an issue on which there is a difference of view.

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: The proposed amendment is inappropriate as it would have the effect of the giving the District Court jurisdiction to award uncapped financial compensation in certain cases of unfair dismissal. This would be inconsistent with the status of the District Court as a court of local and limited jurisdiction under the Constitution. It would also be inconsistent with the scheme of the Unfair...

Seanad: Workplace Relations Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (1 Apr 2015)

Richard Bruton: Amendments Nos. 63 and 65 are of a technical nature and are intended to ensure certainty regarding the jurisdiction in which District Court proceedings for the enforcement of a decision of an adjudication officer and the Labour Court should be commenced.