Results 1,581-1,600 of 6,431 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: In relation to amendment No. 18, section 6 inserts a new section 10D in the 2000 Act to the effect that: 10D.(1)Within 3 months of the date of receipt of a recommendation and report submitted to him or her under section 10C(2) and having considered the report and recommendation and having had regard to section 10C(3), the Minister may—(a) by order declare a national minimum hourly...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: No.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: I am sorry.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: I will repeat what I said earlier and what I have been saying since this concept first started to evolve under my aegis. The ESRI report pointed out in 2006 that there was a danger and a fear, certainly in the business community, about infrequent large step-changes in the national minimum wage. We are modelling this system very closely on the model that has been applied in the UK since the...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: Amendment No. 21 proposes to introduce a new section 7 to the Bill to introduce anti-victimisation protections for workers who have made a statement or have given evidence to the Low Pay Commission via their representative organisation.As the House will be aware, there are already a considerable number of protections in place for workers who consider that they have been the subject of...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: This is a technical amendment to correct an incorrect reference to a subsection in the Act of 2000.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: I appreciate the spirit in which the proposed amendment has been tabled.It provides for a nine-member commission, comprising an independent chair and three members who have a deep understanding of the interests of low-paid workers. It will also comprise three members, as Senator Quinn outlined, who have a deep understanding of the interests of employers, particularly small to medium-sized...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: I am complimenting them.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: As they are members of a commission appointed by the Government, I do not think they will have any difficulty being referred to in that light. Deputy Norris, I mean Senator Norris, I apologise that I may have demoted him.

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill: Committee Stage (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: As I stated on Second Stage, these are members from trade unions and civil society who have spent their entire professional lives, often in voluntary capacities, representing the interests of working people, particularly those in low pay or those on the margins of our society and economy. The commission will not just be confining itself to desk-bound analysis of detailed economic and...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: Section 3 of the Schedule to the Bill deals with the resignation and termination of office of members of the Low Pay Commission. Section 3(2)(c) provides that the Minister may remove a member of the commission from office if, in the opinion of the Minister, the member has not complied with section 14 of the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995 in the performance of his or her functions as a...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: This amendment addresses a grammatical error in section 5(1) of the Schedule to the Bill where the word "is" is included twice in succession.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Conditions (16 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: I note the findings of the survey which the Young Workers Network conducted on the working lives of the under 35s, with particular reference to low pay and Zero Hours Contracts. I understand that they have forwarded the findings to the University of Limerick for consideration in the context of the study I commissioned UL to carry out, following a competitive tendering process, into the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Employment Rights (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: First, my thoughts at this difficult time are with the 134 Clerys workers and their families, and with the 330 staff employed by the concession stores. They have been treated in a cold and callous fashion and simply cast aside by the new owners, with neither the respect nor dignity they deserve after, in many cases, many decades of service. Since the events of last Friday, I have been...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Employment Rights (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: The matters raised by Senator Cullinane are of great concern to all right-thinking people. In recent days, a number of representatives of business organisations have contacted me to express disgust at the manner in which the workers at Clerys have been treated and the practice that led to their dismissal. Senator Cullinane raises some important matters which, strictly-speaking, fall within...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: It is worth reminding the House that the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 provides for the national minimum wage only. It is quite restricted in terms of how it views the minimum wage. That Act sets out provisions for reviewing the minimum wage and the mechanisms available for those purposes. When this Bill is enacted, it will give the commission a duty to assist as many low-paid workers as...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: Senators will be conscious that the establishment of a Low Pay Commission is just one element in a suite of measures I am in the process of introducing as part of the employment rights and dignity at work agenda and Government efforts to ensure decent, sustainable employment. Section 4 sets out the clear objectives of the national minimum wage, which is designed to assist as many low paid...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: Senator White can be reassured that I addressed the Clerys issue in response to a Commencement matter tabled by Senator Cullinane this morning. Section 5 of the Bill sets out a very comprehensive and demanding set of factors that the commission must take into account in any year in coming to a recommendation on the appropriate rate of the national minimum wage. These reflect those contained...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: I will do my best to address the concerns expressed by Senator Zappone. The Low Pay Commission, almost by definition because of the sheer number and proportion of women existing on the national minimum wage, will have a particular focus in its work on how the minimum wage and low pay in general affect women. It is also worth noting that there is nothing in the Bill excluding the Low Pay...

Seanad: National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (17 Jun 2015)

Gerald Nash: Amendment No. 12 introduces a number of specific tasks that the commission will be required to undertake as part of its functions, namely, monitor the incidences of low pay by examining the prevalence of pay at two-thirds or below of median earnings, monitor key patterns in paid and unpaid open market internships and monitor the effectiveness of existing policies to enforce the national...