Results 20,321-20,340 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permit Criteria (16 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: A person on a student visa may apply for an Employment Permit subject to all of the usual criteria for an Employment Permit. Persons on student visas are permitted to work for twenty hours per week during term time and for forty hours per week during the academic holidays without an Employment Permit.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Commencement of Legislation (16 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: Acts currently in force, for which I have lead responsibility which have parts or sections yet to be formally commenced, are as follows:- Title of Act Section yet to be formally commenced Details or Purpose of Section Consumer Protection Act 2007 It is not intended that Sections 48 and 49 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 will be commenced as the Attorney General has advised that the...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Senators for a worthwhile debate and wish to quickly respond to points raised. I do not believe in sectoral regulators of competition because it is a bad precedent to create and exposes one to what Senator Barrett talked about. Clearly, certain monopolies have them because the wider public interest must be served. In the competition sector, generally, the right approach is the...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: Clearly, it will be in the interests of the commission to protect the anonymity of individuals. That will be its mode of operation. It also has independent powers to investigate cases in which it believes there are abuses. This proposal would not add anything to these protections. As the Senator pointed out, if one is prosecuting and the evidence of the accuser is necessary, anonymity...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: This amendment, as I understand it, seeks to allow the decision on whether to have a contract governing the chain of supply to be voluntary on the part of one side. Such a provision would undermine the operation of the Bill. The thinking behind the Bill is that if there is a contract, there is a trail of evidence that can be examined by an independent body to see were the terms of the...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: We discussed this issue on Committee Stage and basically the issue hinges on whether something of this nature should be put into primary legislation which it is set for all time and in all cases or whether it should be left to regulations where, as we now have under section 63B(2)(q), regulations may "specify the manner and timeframe in which payment for grocery goods supplied to relevant...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: We discussed this matter on the last occasion and, as Senator Darragh O'Brien acknowledged, there is nothing wrong with the retention of title where both sides agree within the contract. The issue arises as to whether we should make this a compulsory element of every contract. As we pointed out, it has a knock-on effect on workers and other suppliers who might be exposed in the event of...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I recognise that this is a complicated issue. The danger is the law of unintended consequences. The type of regulation sought by Senators will not deliver what they wish it to do. Individual companies, in the publication of profit returns, do not disaggregate product by product. They do not detail the profit made on potatoes, beef and so on. That is not how companies make their returns....

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The background to this is the same. This is just a subset of what Senator Ó Clochartaigh's amendment would have provided. For the same reasons, I am not disposed to start picking individual sectors and applying new regulations to them that we have not given any background thought to. This is not a practical amendment.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: We discussed this and I produced an amendment in the Dáil which I think accommodated the original concern that led to the tabling of these amendments. The issue of franchises has two sides. The individual operator who holds a franchise licence is the franchisee and the overall higher-level operator is the franchisor who operates and controls the franchise. While the majority of...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: This issue was discussed previously. It really boils down to what we can reasonably expect this legislation to do. What we are seeking to do in this legislation is to regulate contracts between suppliers - typically smaller suppliers - and larger retailers or vice versain the case of small grocery shops with larger wholesalers. We cannot guarantee the viability of any individual player in...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: We debated this proposal in the other House and on Committee Stage here. It goes back to the recommendations of the mergers group which clearly used the term "prevalent". This is about defining "diversity of content". If one uses the word "present", it will require the itemisation of every single strand of thought and a decision on whether these strands are represented in the context of an...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I go back to the background which prompted the legislation. It was on the back of a number of studies carried out by Oireachtas committees of the groceries sector which found that some very large retailers were thought to have a disproportionate influence on the supply chain. It was considered that we needed to regulate contracts in order that small suppliers in the groceries supply chain...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Health and Safety (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The duty to protect persons from impairment of their mental condition as a result of work activities is contained within the Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Under this Act employers have responsibility to ensure that all their employees are provided with a safe place to work - this duty extends beyond physical safety. An employer must ensure that no employee, in the carrying out...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: International Bodies Membership (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Government's priority in the area of science, technology and innovation is to implement the recommendations of the National Research Prioritisation Exercise which will see the majority of public research funding aligned with priority areas where we are most likely to get economic and social returns, particularly in the form of jobs. Ireland's membership of international research...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: IDA Site Visits (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I am informed by IDA Ireland that up to the end of June 2014, there were a total of 250 site visits by potential investors to various locations across the country. Details of the number of site on a county basis are set out in the attached tabular statement. Data on the site visits is maintained on a county basis only. As the Deputy is aware, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is, and will...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Missions Expenditure (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: Under my Department, Enterprise Ireland is responsible for the development and internationalisation of Irish enterprises. Enterprise Ireland has a network of 30 offices worldwide to help Irish firms develop overseas markets. Each year, Enterprise Ireland, following dialogue with my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade organises a series of targeted Ministerial...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Work Permit Applications (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I am pleased to advise the Deputy that a permit issued in this instance on 9thJuly 2014.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Appeals Tribunal (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy has not been in a position to provide any specific details as to the names of the parties in this case I am not in a position to provide any information in relation to the date of any hearing or in relation to the issue of any determination. In the circumstances, I can only again give you the normal expected times taken for the issue of a determination in the average case....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Unfair Dismissals (15 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Rights Commissioner Service is part of the Labour Relations Commission, a statutory body independent of my Department in the performance of its functions. I understand that, in this instance, while the claim referred to an unfair dismissal, it was lodged under the Industrial Relations Acts 1969 to 2001. The Rights Commissioner’s Recommendation issued on 2 May 2014. In the case...