Results 23,801-23,820 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Jobs Initiative (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I certainly do not accept anything of the sort. We have inherited an economy in which under the stewardship of the Deputy's party unemployment rose from 4% to 14%, an increase of 10% in a three-year period. A total of 300,000 jobs were lost under that regime. The economy's underlying structure was severely damaged and there is a lot of work to be done to fix it. Nobody ever indicated that...

Jobs Initiative (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: That is a target in the Pathways to Work programme, which was introduced a number of months ago. It is a target for 2015. It indicates that we have now completely reformed the employment services that were inherited from the previous Government. We now have an employment service that is far more streamlined and is focused on identifying those who are at high risk of entering long-term...

Sick Pay Scheme (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Any proposals for changes in the sick pay scheme or to employer PRSI are budgetary matters which will be considered in due course by the Government. Any such consideration will include a thorough examination of the proposals, having regard to the overall impact of the measures proposed. The Minister for Social Protection initiated a consultation process earlier this year on the feasibility...

Sick Pay Scheme (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Every proposal needs to be examined carefully. Evidence suggests that small employers manage absence through illness extremely well and that the highest rate of sick leave is in the public sector. We need to look across the board at this issue. The Minister for Social Protection is undoubtedly correct that there has been considerable growth in long-term dependence on welfare owing to...

Sick Pay Scheme (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy is seeking to have me comment on a number of issues that will be discussed in the context of the budget. The matter will be dealt with by the Government by weighing up the evidence in due course. There is no doubt we ought to be extremely careful about anything that adds to the cost of employment. We must ask whether any proposed measure will be effective in reducing absences...

Credit Availability (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: There is ongoing dialogue between the Government and the banks through the Economic Management Council to ensure there is a flow of credit to entrepreneurs and businesspeople. One can say objectively that, in lending practice, the rate offered to businesses is always above the normal interest rate.

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 13 and 23 together. The county and city enterprise boards, CEBs, receive an Exchequer capital allocation each year towards the provision of grants and soft supports to the micro-enterprise sector. Within this, individual capital allocations are made by the CEB central co-ordination unit, CCU, in Enterprise Ireland. A systematic approach is adopted to...

County Enterprise Boards (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The allocations are based on a weighting of factors, including unemployment and the capacity of CEBs to deliver new projects. It is a balancing act, which is as it should be, to encourage high performers and so on. The Deputy is right, in that practices differ between CEBs. Some are in the habit of committing in advance and have high levels of commitment at any stage of the year while...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Senator must bear in mind that the Duffy-Walsh review recommended that the JLC system be radically reformed. The authors cited the need to adjust to the changes in the economy and the pressures that exist. They also openly acknowledged that the rules in respect of Sunday working were unduly burdensome, particularly in sectors in which Sunday is a normal working day. We must recall that...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senator Cullinane for his contribution. Again we must consider the reason we are in the current situation. These orders were struck down by the High Court on a number of grounds, one was they were not referring to policies and principles when they made orders. Let us not forget, as the court found, that these orders had potential criminal implications for the people who were found...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I ask the Senator to look again at what is happening. The structure being put in place by the new construction is that the JLCs consider an issue and then come forward with a set of recommendations, which then go to the Labour Court for adoption. The Labour Court adopts them. It is the Minister who makes the order. The court made it very clear that when a Minister is making such an order...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The courts cannot make an order. It is the Minister who makes the order.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I was trying to be of assistance.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I was a Senator too.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: While I do not wish to repeat myself, Senator Feargal Quinn is right. We need this freedom, not to give the Minister discretion to strike down decisions that have been reached by the joint labour committees and adopted by the Labour Court but in order to make it constitutionally sound from challenge in the courts. Senator White referred to the Duffy-Walsh report. Duffy-Walsh did not...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: It is those superior courts that have told us this is the way it has to be implemented.

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: There are two amendments tabled by Sinn Féin that deal with the issue of the maximum duration for a derogation under the inability to pay clause. Section 9 of the Bill inserts a new section 33 in the 1946 Act providing that where an REA so provides, an employer in financial difficulty may apply to the Labour Court seeking temporary exemption from the requirement to pay the rates of...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: We had a lengthy discussion on a similar amendment in the Dáil. This amendment seeks to add to the absolutely general power of the Labour Court to request any information it may reasonably require. We have been confidently informed that if we specify certain categories of information that the Labour Court should have the power to request, while leaving out other categories of information,...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed) (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: This matter was debated in the other House. One needs to recognise the limited nature of the review we are talking about. The purpose of the review is made clear in the proposed new section 41A(4), which is about the existence of the joint labour committee rather than about the agreement. The proposed section provides that following a review, the Labour Court can decide to maintain the...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No. 3) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (12 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senator Cullinane for tabling the amendment. As he recognised, there was substantial debate on this issue on Second Stage. I have been around the Houses and back to the Attorney General to evaluate the point being made by the Senator's colleagues in the other House. What is being done is a weighing up of a series of different principles, which will sometimes be in agreement and...