Results 24,961-24,980 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Order for Second Stage (8 Nov 2011)

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

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: The purpose of the Bill is to strengthen the enforcement of competition law in Ireland. Breach of competition law is a white collar crime and, as with all other forms for crime, those who commit it must be punished accordingly. The legislation will provide a more effective deterrent and an improved sanctions regime for those who engage in price-fixing, cartels, abuse of dominant position...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (3 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: My priority is that any decision taken by Bank of America (BOA) will have minimal impact on employees at the Carrick on Shannon operation and ensure that jobs are maintained at the facility. I emphasised this when I travelled to the USA recently and held discussions with BOA CEO and senior management. While the company has not made any final sale decisions, I am satisfied as to its current...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (3 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: My Department has recently commenced issuing payslips electronically. All staff in my Department and its Offices can now view their payslips and other related payroll documents by logging on to a secure computer application. The new facility replaces the traditional method of providing each staff member with a hard copy payslip and it provides quick and secure access to both current and...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (3 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: As this is a day to day matter for the respective agencies, I have referred the question to them for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (2 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: The net Exchequer provision for my Department for 2011 is €844.840 million. This sum comprises €336.9 million in Current expenditure and €507.9 million in Capital expenditure and takes into account a targeted saving of €14.6 million on Programme Payroll and non-pay administrative savings for 2011 agreed in the context of the development of the National Recovery Plan. This allocation...

Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (2 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: I can advise the Deputy that my Department neither owns nor has any offices or property leased in County Westmeath.

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (2 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: The EU Directive on Temporary Agency Workers (2008/14/EC) is due to be transposed into Irish law by 5 December 2011 and my Department is working to meet this deadline. A central aim of the Directive is to ensure protection of temporary agency workers by applying the principle of equal treatment in their basic working and employment conditions. Government approval for the draft Scheme of a...

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (2 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: The current Irish law in the area of "transfer of undertakings" is the European Communities (Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings) Regulations 2003 – Statutory Instrument (S.I.) No. 131 of 2003. The Regulations implement the mandatory (i.e mandatory to transpose) provisions of EU Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 which is aimed at safeguarding the rights of...

Written Answers — Capital Projects: Capital Projects (2 Nov 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 141 together. The matters raised by the Deputy do not fall within my remit but would appear to be more appropriate to my colleague the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government.

Written Answers — Employment Rights: Employment Rights (26 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: I refer the Deputy to Question No. 90 which was answered on 29th September 2011 in this regard. Notwithstanding that this claim was scheduled to take place before the Employment Appeals Tribunal on 17th August 2010, it transpires that the claim was withdrawn on the day. The claimant's representative would have been aware of this as EAT procedures provide that only a claimant or their...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (26 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: I believe that the established dispute settling institutions should continue to play an important role in disputes over trade union recognition. The established procedures can be improved and secured without introducing a mandatory requirement upon employers to recognise trade unions for collective bargaining purposes. There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to ensure that...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: The list provided by the Deputy refers to a variety of organisations and groups, including Expert Groups, Councils, two Agencies and two Offices of the Department. The information requested by the Deputy in respect of those Agencies that have a Board structure and separate staff complement is set out in Table 1. In relation to the two Offices of the Department, the Office of the Registrar of...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: The information requested by the Deputy is as follows: The Competition Authority The County and City Enterprise Boards Enterprise Ireland Forfás The Health and Safety Authority IDA Ireland InterTradeIreland The Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority The National Consumer Agency The National Standards Authority of Ireland The Personal Injuries Assessment Board Science Foundation...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: On 26 July 2011 the Government agreed a package of radical reforms to the Joint Labour Committee and Registered Employment Agreement wage setting mechanisms. The reform proposals deal with recommendations made and issues raised in the Independent Report on the JLC/REA systems (Duffy/Walsh report) as well as the outcome of the recent High Court ruling in the Grace Fried Chicken constitutional...

Written Answers — Financial Services Regulation: Financial Services Regulation (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 239 together. As evidenced by previous replies to the Deputy in relation to this matter over the last 4 weeks (replies dated 20, 27 and 28 September and 11 October refer) I am aware that a number of Industrial and Provident societies have failed to file annual returns to the Registry of Friendly Societies, and of the legislative position with regard to...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: The employees of the Personnel Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) and Shannon Development are not paid out of Exchequer funds but are paid from the own resource income of the agencies themselves. In the case of the remaining non-commercial State agencies coming under my Department's remit, the employees are paid out of Exchequer funds, subject to the following exceptions and clarifications:-...

Written Answers — Employment Support Services: Employment Support Services (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: My Department does not provide direct funding or grants to businesses but rather provides funding to a number of State Agencies, including the County and City Enterprise Boards (CEBs) and Enterprise Ireland, through whom assistance is delivered directly to businesses. The role of the CEBs throughout the country is to provide a source of support for micro-enterprise in the start-up and...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: The information requested by the Deputy for the period from 2007 to the present date is set out in the following tables. The information from 2007 to end-October 2010 had already been collated in response to a previous Parliamentary Question that consumed considerable resources within my Department at the time. Information relating to the year 2006 is not readily available and the compilation...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (25 Oct 2011)

Richard Bruton: Core International license their CorePay payroll system by way of an annual maintenance and support charge on the elements installed. My Department's records indicate that for 2011 this charge amounts to €16,459.32. Additional Core licencing was required for new functionality modules implemented during 2011. My Department's records indicate that these licences cost €30,129 and attract...