Results 25,461-25,480 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: There are no proposals in the Government's legislative programme that would require an employer to recognise a trade union or compel an employer to engage in collective bargaining with a union. While Article 40 of the Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to form associations and unions, it has been established in a number of legal cases that the constitutional guarantee of freedom...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: As I outlined in my answer, the Constitution recognises the right to join a union and to select representatives, but it does not oblige employers to recognise trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. That is the law as it stands and it remains the law. The issue of collective bargaining and what happens where employers refuse to recognise unions has long been a contentious...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I indicated in my first reply that no proposals exist in the Government's legislative programme that would require such recognition by an employer of a trade union or to compel employers to engage in collective bargaining. As the Deputy is aware, this is a highly contentious issue and many companies that provide extraordinarily good employment do not recognise unions. This issue will not be...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 30 together. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to ensure that Irish law on employees' right to engage in collective bargaining is consistent with recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. This process will require consultation with stakeholders, including employer and worker representatives, and a review of the...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: On the first question, the present system already allows a registered employment agreement to replace a JLC. The form of collective bargaining envisaged is clearly a trade union bargaining with employers. This is the current definition. The issue of whether that would go further is contentious and on which there are different views between the social partners. It will require to be...

Employment Rights (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: There is no such proposal. This change in respect of the ILO refers to a very narrow set of circumstances which involved victimisation of workers. It is not reversing the entire edifice of existing Irish law; this is a fairly narrow flaw which was exposed. There needs to be consultation to ensure our legislation is not equally frail on that subject.

Departmental Responsibilities (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: At the Government meeting on 24 May 2011 an order was made to transfer part of the trade function from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, now the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, now the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. The order came into effect on 1 June 2011 and it has strengthened the role of the Department of...

Departmental Responsibilities (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Staff have been transferred. Some three posts are to transfer to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, comprising one principal officer, one higher education officer and one clerical officer. They are currently working in the bilateral trade unit of my Department and it is expected that their transfer to the other Department will...

Departmental Responsibilities (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: There will be combined responsibility. The export council will they chaired by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It was previously chaired by a Minister of State. The strategy that was drawn together was largely about how we get the resources we have in the field to work more effectively together. It will now be driven at a much higher level. No criticism is...

Departmental Responsibilities (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I do not imagine that the diplomatic service will be amalgamated.

Departmental Responsibilities (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: There are protocols of co-operation and both bodies involved are involved in InterTradeIreland, which is a joint body working on innovation and trade promotion and supports those. The Deputies question goes beyond the one I was asked and I would have to get more information to outline what level of co-operation is now occurring. Clearly there are a lot of very good relations and joint...

Business Regulation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 15 to 18, inclusive, 23, 24, 31, 34, 35 and 40 together. I have already dealt comprehensively with the issues raised in this series of questions in my earlier reply to the Priority Questions on the issue of the review of employment regulations orders and registered employment agreement wage setting mechanisms. However, I would like to reiterate the main...

Business Regulation (9 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I held consultations and all Ministers were aware that I would be introducing a wider range of recommendations to my discussions with the social partners. No one Minister was involved. In our discussions with the social partners we focused on key recommendations. The recommendations to which the Deputy referred have not been excluded and are receiving due consideration. Many of them are...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Access to the employment dispute settling bodies under the Industrial Relations Acts is governed by the definition of "worker" in Section 23 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990. The following categories of workers are excluded from access to the dispute settling bodies under the provisions of Section 23: - a person who is employed by or under the State, - a teacher in a secondary school,...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Other than paying telephone bills, my Department and the State development agencies, under the auspices of my Department, have not provided public funds to the company. I am very concerned about the job losses that have been announced in the Dundalk area and of the impact that they have had on the workers concerned and their families as well as the communities affected. I can assure the...

Written Answers — Industrial Development: Industrial Development (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Balbriggan is located in County Dublin and the data available on site visits is tracked on a county basis. The number of site visits to County Dublin from 2007 to date in 2011 is set out below: Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 to date Site visits 91 92 90 129 57 Balbriggan, in Fingal, North County Dublin forms part of IDA Ireland's East Region, which comprises Dublin City and County as well...

Written Answers — Work Permits: Work Permits (8 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: All applications for Work Permits are processed in the date order in which they are received and in line with the Employment Permits Act 2006. Since the issue of the work permit in this case was raised by the Deputy on 7 April last, I am pleased to advise that a work permit has issued in respect of the individual concerned on the 7 June, 2011.

Written Answers — Wage-setting Mechanisms: Wage-setting Mechanisms (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 164 together. I have no functional responsibility for the remuneration of officials of trade unions or staff associations. All policy, whether in relation to wage setting or otherwise, is made by the Government.

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: Directive 2009/38/EC of 6 May 2009 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees makes minor amendments to the existing legislative provisions regarding transnational information and consultation of employees. It aims to improve provisions...

Written Answers — Wage-setting Mechanisms: Wage-setting Mechanisms (7 Jun 2011)

Richard Bruton: I propose to take Questions Nos. 166 and 168 together. On 24 May last, the Government decided to publish the Report of the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders and Registered Employment Agreement Wage Setting Mechanisms. The review is a commitment under the EU/IMF programme, which provided not only for agreement with the European Commission on the terms of reference but also...