Results 1,541-1,560 of 2,815 for speaker:Tony Killeen

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: There is nothing to chase in such circumstances. In many instances, workers are equally at a disadvantage because they are unable to negotiate more than the statutory level. There is a strong argument, in many respects, for directing a great deal of attention at the level of actual statutory redundancy. It is worth trying to devise a formula to apply to cases like Comerama and Castlemahon....

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: The Comerama workers have left me in no doubt that they believe they made their decisions on foot of a particular outcome which ultimately could not be delivered. They believe they would not have made that decision if they were not in a position in which they had to make it on that basis. Many of the Castlemahon workers believe that if they had been given information that was made available...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: Deputy Quinn highlighted one of the key decisions that will have to be made by my successor in this office. He or she will have to decide whether to consolidate the existing legislation, or to incorporate in the consolidating legislation two or three Bills that are promised in Towards 2016 and relate to issues of this nature which are crying out to be addressed in a much more proactive and...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: The proposed fine of €250,000 is a 20-fold increase on the previous one. An employer who falls foul of this legislation will have to contend with many other monetary problems. For example, the employees will be likely to receive payments of up to five years' salary. That provision will impose a huge monetary penalty. In view of our discussion on section 9, I believe payments made by an...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: It is important to remember that the increased fine would be imposed in the case of a collective redundancy where the dismissals occur before the expiry of the 30-day period. That may not be the most important issue. There are very good reasons, separate from the fine, that an employer should go beyond that period in any event. The increase in the fine is substantial. Even in cases such...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: I move amendment No. 26: In page 14, line 38, after "State," to insert the following: "(except where the employer has an existing operation with established terms and conditions)". The amendment will facilitate a company with established operations in different locations which may need to restructure, to move part of its operation to another existing location within the country and with...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: That would not be the case. The difficulty that would arise if we did not have this provision is that companies would find themselves unable to restructure in Ireland, effectively being forced abroad. In the case of the employees cited in the Deputy's example, it would leave them worse off as they would have no alternative to redundancy. It was never intended that exceptional collective...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: I move amendment No. 27: In page 18, to delete line 5 and substitute the following: ""(2A) Without prejudice to the applicability of any of the provisions of section 6 to the case, where——". This amendment provides that, to avoid doubt, the applicability of the provisions of section 6 of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 to the type of dismissal described in the new section 5(2A) of that Act...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: I move amendment No. 28: In page 18, to delete lines 14 to 16 and substitute the following: "in determining whether, in those circumstances, the dismissal is an unfair dismissal, the rights commissioner, the Tribunal or the Circuit Court, as the case may be, shall have regard, for that purpose only, to—". This covers a somewhat similar situation. The amendment clarifies that the specific...

Protection of Employment (Exceptional Collective Redundancies and Related Matters) Bill 2007 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and the Members opposite for co-operating with this legislation. I pay tribute to the social partners for the work they put in. Some very important points were raised. The issue brought up by Deputy Morgan regarding the level of penalties will undoubtedly be addressed in the forthcoming employment rights legislation and a whole raft of legislation to which...

Public Holidays. (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which implemented EU Council Directive 93/104/EC, of 23 November 1993, concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, provides for an entitlement to nine public holidays per annum. Publication of data by the European Employment Observatory shows a wide variation in the number of public holidays among EU member states. The average...

Public Holidays. (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: I will not engage in prophecy at this stage but it is important to remember the context of the league table of public holidays. I find league tables in general to be quite misleading, and this table does not take account of the holiday entitlements of people, which are in many respects considerably more flexible than set public holidays, as long as people have the choice of when to take...

Public Holidays. (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: I am afraid Deputy Quinn is setting the bar somewhat high with his requirements for the next public holiday, whenever it is announced. There are benefits to having public holidays, although families would indicate that public holiday weekends tend to be the most expensive in many of these locations. For many ordinary working families, the flexibility which entitlements to ordinary leave...

Written Answers — Labour Inspectorate: Labour Inspectorate (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: The data recording and analysis system for recording case information within the Labour Inspectorate is known as RECONCILE. This system captures data and information inputted by Labour Inspectors arising from inspections into compliance with certain employment rights legislation and manages case workflow in terms of production of standard documentation and the logging of communications and...

Written Answers — Labour Inspectorate: Labour Inspectorate (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: Under the National Social Partnership Agreement "Towards 2016", the commitment to staffing of the Labour Inspectorate is "to progressively increase the number of Labour Inspectors from 31 to 90 by end-2007". The necessary arrangements and selection processes to recruit the additional Inspectors are well advanced, including arrangements for the recruitment of ten Labour Inspectors with...

Written Answers — National Minimum Wage: National Minimum Wage (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: Following the identification, in early 2006, of anomalies in the employment contracts of some sub-contracted staff at the Moneypoint Environmental Retrofit Project (MERP) site, both the ESB and the Labour Inspectorate conducted investigations into the matter. As a result of these investigations a Memorandum of Understanding between the ESB, the contractor and sub-contractor was agreed in...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: The Health and Safety Authority carried out a programme of inspections in hospitals in 2005 and 2006. The accident and emergency departments of 17 hospitals were covered in 2005 and the 2006 inspections covered the entirety of 16 hospitals. Following the 2005 inspections, advice letters were issued in all cases with recurring themes, notably, violence, training, risk assessments, manual...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: Under the Data Protection Acts certain persons and bodies who control the contents and use of personal data (Data Controllers) are required to register details regarding this data with the Office of the Data Protection Commission, which maintains a Public Register. This Department is registered as a Data Controller with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner under a number of...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: The Whistleblowers Protection Bill 1999, following a Government decision which agreed to address the issue of whistleblowing on a sectoral basis as distinct from a "one size fits all" approach, as envisaged in the Bill, was removed from the Dáil Order Paper following a motion, debate and vote on 4th April 2006. By virtue of the Government decision, Ministers in the course of preparation of...

Written Answers — Equal Opportunities Employment: Equal Opportunities Employment (26 Apr 2007)

Tony Killeen: There is no age discrimination in employment rights legislation and there are no provisions in Employment or Equality law that impose a compulsory retirement age in relation to employment. I would point out that the upper age limit of 66 years for bringing claims under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2005 was removed by the Equality Act 2004. The effect of this is that a person who is...