Results 23,861-23,880 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputies for their co-operation with the passage of the Bill and my officials for their work on it.

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank Deputy O'Dea for raising these issues around the enforcement area, which is an area causing considerable concern. In the context of the workplace relations Bill on which I am working and the blueprint of which I have published, I am considering in great detail how enforcement operates and how we can improve it. The Deputy has submitted a number of amendments, some of which relate to...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I assure the Deputy that that is not the intention. We are seeking to simplify procedures in the workplace relations commission. For example, we want to ensure, when a person makes a complaint, that within days the employer will be informed and have an opportunity to rectify or clarify the matter. This would be an early resolution phase. If the matter cannot be resolved, it can go for...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The two amendments proposed by Deputy Tóibín deal with the issue of the maximum duration of a derogation under the inability to pay clause. Section 9 of the Bill inserts a new section 33 into the 1946 Act. This provides that where a registered employment agreement, REA, makes such provision, an employer in financial difficulty may apply to the Labour Court seeking a temporary exemption...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: On Committee Stage, Deputies Tóibín and O'Dea both referred to the importance of ensuring that details of the full financial affairs of a company are made available to the Labour Court when an application for an exemption from the requirement to pay the statutory wage contained in an REA is made. I explained on that occasion that the Bill already provides that employers will be required to...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The reason for referring to the tax clearance certificate is to establish the probity of the business - that it is a business compliant with its general tax obligations. The second provision, in the new section 33A(5)(b), permits the Labour Court to trawl for any information it deems appropriate. Singling out the tax clearance certificate does not have the same status and it is not...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Sinn Féin amendment proposes to insert one of the considerations that the JLC will be required to take into account in framing employment regulation orders into the principles and policies to be considered by the Labour Court in its periodic review of the establishment orders of the JLCs. Section 11 inserts a new section, section 41A, into the 1946 Act to provide that the Labour Court...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Amendments Nos. 16 and 17 address different aspects of the variations in the sub-minimum rates that will apply henceforth to different categories of worker under employment regulation orders in line with the statutory differentiation of sub-minima that has applied under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 in respect of first-time job entrants and those engaged in structured training. Section...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: There is no doubt that there could be that type of situation in that someone could have a PhD but might not have worked in the job for which he or she is being employed. The measure is recognition that entry rates are available to an employer through joint labour committees, JLCs. The intention is to provide for a minimum standard that must apply. I accept that an employer could decide...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Section 12 inserts a new section 42A into the Act of 1946 to establish the principles and policies to which a JLC must have regard when formulating proposals to be submitted to the Labour Court for employment regulation orders. These principles and policies are set out in section 42A(6)(a) to (d). The Fianna Fáil amendment proposes to introduce the additional principle of the impact on...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The question of how working poverty will be addressed is a matter of public policy in terms of the family income supplement. It adds another dimension to the debate, but it would be more appropriate to a wider policy context, one in which the State determines the issues. For this reason, provision is made through the Department of Social Protection in the form of the family income...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: It is important to bear in mind that we are seeking to reconstruct legislation which has been struck down by the courts. As Deputy O'Dea acknowledged, the existing legislation was found to be unconstitutional on a number of grounds. One cannot find a fairer reading of the impact of the High Court judgment than the Attorney General's views on what is now needed to make the structure robust...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: In economics, one gets lots of opinions and with each economist, one gets another opinion. Perhaps it is not dissimilar in Deputy O'Dea's own profession, although I cannot speak of it with first-hand familiarity. The truth is that the court demolished the legislation in place for a number of reasons, including the lack of exercise of discretion by the Minister. It was not solely the issue...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Order for Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Tóibín proposes to delete, in page 6, line 4, "the desirability of agreeing and maintaining" fair and sustainable rates of remuneration in the sector and substitute "the agreeing and maintaining of" fair and sustainable rates of remuneration in the sector. This issue relates to the principles and policies to which the Labour Court must have regard before registering an employment...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The contrary is the case. By saying "the desirability", it is clearly saying this is something we are trying to achieve whereas if one leaves out "the desirability", it is merely a neutral issue. This is not diluting the importance. It is making clear that, in the hierarchy of issues, these are matters that are desirable that the court must seek to pursue. It also recognises that there is...

Written Answers — Irish Language: Irish Language (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: The total expenditure by my Department and its Offices in relation to the provision of services through the Irish language in each of the past five years is as follows: 2008, €63,872; 2009, €85,350; 2010, €42,461; 2011, €48,424; and 2012, €12,989 (to date). The recorded expenditure in 2009 was higher than in other years, due in part to the translation into the Irish language of...

Written Answers — Visa Applications: Visa Applications (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Current Government policy is to issue new employment permits in respect of jobs requiring key skills, where there is a recognised scarcity of suitably skilled workers. A significant range of job categories within the technology and related sectors are eligible across the employment permit schemes. The issue of any employment permit is predicated on a job offer from a prospective Irish...

Written Answers — Enterprise Support Services: Enterprise Support Services (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Enterprise Ireland publishes all job announcements on its website as they are announced. A full list of job announcements since the beginning of this year is available at www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/News/PressReleases.

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (3 Jul 2012)

Richard Bruton: Details of all IDA Job and Investment announcements for 2012 and previous years are available on the IDA Ireland website (www.idaireland.com).