Results 2,421-2,440 of 2,815 for speaker:Tony Killeen

Written Answers — Labour Force Development: Labour Force Development (29 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I assume the Deputy is referring to the public funding allocated to my Department for labour force development and training. This funding has been allocated by the Exchequer since 1997 to the labour force development subheads of my Department's Vote and by the national training fund, NTF, since its launch in 2001. Combined Exchequer and NTF expenditure in this area was as follows: Year ...

Written Answers — Hazardous Substances: Hazardous Substances (28 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I understand that the case to which the Deputy refers appears to be that of Mr. Sean Fay and Tegral Pipes Limited and others, the Supreme Court decision on which was given on 27 May 2005. The judgment of the Supreme Court arose out of civil proceedings and I am not in a position to offer a view on the implications for other former employees of the company. I would like to add that the...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (28 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: There were three reinstatements awarded by the Employment Appeals Tribunal in 2002, one in 2003 and five in 2004 under Section 7 (1)(a) of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977. In regard to the average payout to successful applicants, I have interpreted the question to refer to decisions of the tribunal in unfair dismissals cases generally and not specifically to re-instatements. The distribution...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Authority Investigations: Health and Safety Authority Investigations (28 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: The statutory remit of the Health and Safety Authority is confined to the investigation of accidents in places of work. Issues such as whether or not road surfaces laid down in road works are left in a safe state fall outside occupational safety and health legislation and the functions of the Health and Safety Authority. As I stated in the reply to the Parliamentary Question No. 409 on 14...

Written Answers — Departmental Appointments: Departmental Appointments (28 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: On 12 April I announced my intention to appoint an additional ten labour inspectors together with a team leader. The team leader has been appointed and commenced training within the inspectorate. In addition, preparations are under way to facilitate the transfer of six officers to inspector posts following a competitive interview process. It is anticipated that these officers will be in place...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (28 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: Redundancy payments often reflect the labour market culture of a country. Legislation is light in some member states to allow for a more flexible and competitive labour market. Other governments take a more active role to protect employees. In some EU countries, redundancy amounts are negotiated, while in this country and the UK redundancy is based on a legal right to a statutory redundancy...

Job Losses. (23 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue on the Adjournment. The active labour market programmes undertaken by FÁS comprise job initiative, community employment and the social economy programme. Between them these programmes provide about 25,000 places. The vast majority of participants, in the order of 21,600, are on community employment. Job Initiative is an active labour market...

Written Answers — Industrial Relations: Industrial Relations (23 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: The labour inspectorate of my Department has general responsibility for the enforcement of compliance with employment rights legislation in this jurisdiction. The inspectorate investigates specific complaints of infringement of those rights in respect of any employee, irrespective of nationality, including employees engaged on an Irish registered vessel. With regard to the company concerned...

Road Safety. (22 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I express my sincere sympathies to Sinéad McDaid's family on their tragic loss. The statutory remit of the Health and Safety Authority is confined to the investigation of accidents in places of work. In this case, where an accident took place on the Culdaff Road in Donegal, I understand the Garda Síochána has fully investigated it on the basis that it was a traffic accident on a public...

Driver Testing Service. (22 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I acknowledge the Deputy's concerns about the driver test centre at Jamestown Road, Finglas, Dublin 11. The process of upgrading the centre and providing off-road facilities for the testing of certain driving manoeuvres in respect of higher category vehicles, in accordance with the requirements of EU directives, has been ongoing for sometime. Plans for the refurbishment of the centre have...

Written Answers — Redundancy Provisions: Redundancy Provisions (22 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: The position is that illness alone is not a valid reason for redundancy. However, if a redundancy situation exists in a company, the person concerned could seek a statutory redundancy lump sum from the employer. In this case, the company is being taken over. Employees bring with them accumulated employment rights including service for the purpose of calculating statutory redundancy. The new...

Written Answers — Bullying in the Workplace: Bullying in the Workplace (22 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 to 179, inclusive, together. Violence in any sector of the economy is a matter for reporting to the Garda for investigation and prosecution where an offence has been committed. It would not be appropriate for me to single out any sector for special treatment by the Garda. Physical ill-treatment of workers has long been recognised as unacceptable. It is...

Written Answers — FÁS Training Programmes: FÁS Training Programmes (21 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: Persons with a learning disability have access to a wide range of training programmes with FÁS under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Initially, persons are assessed by FÁS employment services on their level of learning disability and are advised of the best opportunities available to them at that time. There are a number of training course options available...

Written Answers — Road Traffic Accidents: Road Traffic Accidents (21 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I express my sincere sympathies to the victim's family on their tragic loss. The remit of the Health and Safety Authority is confined to the investigation of occupational accidents. I understand that this matter was reported to the Health and Safety Authority on 3 June last. The authority contacted the Garda superintendent's office in Buncrana about it and it was confirmed to the authority...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (16 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: FÁS employment programmes, which comprise community employment, CE, social economy and job initiative schemes, will provide 25,000 places in 2005. CE provides work experience and training opportunities for the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups with the aim of assisting participants to progress to jobs in the open labour market. On foot of a review of FÁS employment...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: From the Seanad. (15 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: The case outlined by Deputy Howlin has been made to me by some people, while the converse case, that the previous practice to review safety statements annually — even in circumstances in which they should be reviewed much more frequently or where significant changes have taken place — has also been made. I agreed to the amendment on the basis that placing emphasis on significant change...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: From the Seanad. (15 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I agree with Deputies Morgan, Howlin and others that the introduction of regulations is urgent and constitutes the only means of achieving what we all seek in this regard. This is one of the reasons I held meetings on the matter today. I did considerable work on the issue recently, during which time we pinpointed the issues that could potentially cause difficulties. Now that we are aware of...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: From the Seanad. (15 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: Subsection (1)(c) of the proposed new section empowers the inspectorate to require that a safety statement be amended. Throughout the legislation, considerably more pressure is placed on employers to be vigilant and take account of any changes in the risk which arises. On balance, the amendment serves the purposes of the Bill better than the previous provision did.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: From the Seanad. (15 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: Until now, the practice has been that an annual review was undertaken and that was it. I would prefer, in the context of this legislation, that people would undertake a review when there has been a significant change in the matters to which a safety statement refers. I will not give a detailed treatise on the word "significant" but, in the context of this Bill and the extent to which it...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: From the Seanad. (15 Jun 2005)

Tony Killeen: I am sure he or she could do so. However, that has not been happening. The requirement for an annual report is seen as more than adequate and, as a result, there is no emphasis on monitoring the work place and ensuring that anything which changes leads to a review of a safety statement or risk assessment. That is the kind of culture I am aiming to introduce following the enactment of this...