Results 24,541-24,560 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: This approach is standard in other Bills such as the transfer of undertakings legislation and, therefore, we are not innovating. If there is a clear obligation on the hirer, he will be responsible. The case should be pursued against the hirer and it is the responsibility of the hirer to honour his obligations under the legislation as they relate to vacancy notices and workplace facilities....

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Members for those various contributions. To start with the last comment first, the purpose of this legislation is to deal with temporary agency workers who have been clearly exploited where they have been brought in and paid at an entirely different rate. Basic pay and conditions is the issue. This is not seeking to state that short-term assignments are identical to the...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Deputy Mick Wallace who has practical experience in this area has made the point that the nature of temporary agency work is often intermittent and serves to meet the need to fulfil additional work obligations as they arise. That flexibility is needed in many workplaces and the reason temporary agency work arrangements have developed. Such arrangements suit certain workers who are not...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I move amendment No. 8: In page 7, to delete lines 4 to 11 and substitute the following: " "pay" means— (a) basic pay, and (b) any pay in excess of basic pay in respect of— (i) shift work, (ii) piece work, (iii) overtime, (iv) unsocial hours worked, or (v) hours worked on a Sunday, but does not include sick pay, payments under any pension scheme or arrangement or payments under any scheme...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I move amendment No. 11: In page 7, line 26, to delete "employed" and substitute "employed under a contract of employment". These are technical amendments which aim to clarify beyond doubt that as the Bill refers to persons who are employed under a contract of employment this extends also to persons employed by the State or in the wider public service such as local authorities or the HSE,...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I move amendment No. 12: In page 7, line 31, to delete "employee of" and substitute the following: "employee employed under a contract of employment by".

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I understand the desire of Deputies in supporting this amendment. However, putting into a Bill of this nature such a provision implies there is in place a sanction for an employer who fails to address a matter but no such sanction is implied or provided for. What the Deputies seek to introduce is a regulatory obligation which would have no oversight mechanism. I will ensure that the...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: This is what I believe any proper employer would do. However, there is no sense in stating that were an employer to correct the situation and deal with the issue on the 15th or 16th day, such an employer still would be in some sort of breach. The Government does not intend to introduce a form of sanction regime for a new provision that really comprises the substance of a guideline to good...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: That is not the point. The Government seeks to achieve good practice and to get in place a compliance culture among employers, not to introduce an obligation that sets out in primary legislation time limits and time lines in a highly precise way that could lead to unexpected and unnecessary outcomes, while still ensuring that there is a robust system in which a worker who has not got a fair...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy raised these issues on Committee Stage. We had a discussion about and reflected on them. The first amendment concerns cases in which the overall package is good but some individual terms are not as good. The directive is clear in this regard. It does not allow us latitude to take an aggregate package. Essentially, the view is that if such arrangements were permissible, they...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Order for Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

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

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy raised this on Committee Stage. I have received advice from the Attorney General that this is the correct way to proceed, arising from our EU obligations which include that this be effective from 5 December. As the Deputy knows, there was considerable negotiation and hope that there would be a provision for a qualifying period before equal treatment would apply. That did not...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Many other member states operate under a different system, with substantial collective agreements which de facto implement the directive.

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The arrangements in other countries are different. These extensive collective agreements are specifically provided for in the directive. I suspect that is why other member states are in a different position from us. Ireland is implementing the directive. We have an obligation under its terms to ensure agency workers are entitled to protection as and from 5 December last. We have taken...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Not on the amendment. I have dealt with it.

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: That is the intention. I have consulted the Parliamentary Counsel. The phraseology used refers to persons employed under a contract of employment with an employment agency. That does not include the instances to which the Deputy refers. The Parliamentary Counsel has assured me that the wording is robust and that there is an implicit exclusion. In addition, my Department will issue...

Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011: Report Stage (22 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, to delete lines 27 to 30 and in page 6, to delete lines 1 to 11 and substitute the following: " "basic working and employment conditions" means terms and conditions of employment required to be included in a contract of employment by virtue of any enactment or collective agreement, or any arrangement that applies generally in respect of employees, or any...

Written Answers — Company Law: Company Law (21 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: Any company that wishes to list on the Irish Stock Exchange's main market must implement the Corporate Governance Code. While the legal obligation to comply with the Code only applies to companies listed on the main market, the Irish Stock Exchange's own Listing Rules require companies on the secondary market to report on how they have applied the principles of the Code or, where they have...

Written Answers — County Enterprise Boards: County Enterprise Boards (21 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: As the Deputy will be aware, under the recently launched the Action Plan for Jobs, I propose to establish a new "one-stop-shop" small and micro-enterprise support structure. These "One Stop Shops" will be called "Local Enterprise Offices" and will build on the significant work done by the CEBs to date. The new structure will be achieved through the dissolution of the existing CEBs and the...

Written Answers — Job Creation: Job Creation (21 Feb 2012)

Richard Bruton: The Government published its Action Plan for Jobs earlier this month. The objective of the Action Plan for Jobs is to transform the operating environment for business in order to support enterprise growth and enable job creation. The Government will achieve this objective by systematically removing obstacles to competitiveness, promoting innovation and trade, supporting new and existing...