Results 2,661-2,680 of 3,356 for speaker:Feargal Quinn

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I do not fully understand the Minister of State. My two points referred to private and public undertakings and not-for-profit organisations. Is it the Minister of State's intention that the Bill would apply in these two cases?

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: We need clarity. I thought the Minister of State would be quite clear and would provide a yes or no answer to my query. On the basis of what he said, I think the Bill would be improved by the amendment. I do not know why my colleagues in the House should not propose that this item should not be put off until Report Stage. I wait to hear the views of Senators White and Coghlan.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I am impressed by Senator O'Toole's attempted removal of the right of an employee to go to the courts. Obviously, he has had a change of heart from his traditional way of thinking but I wonder whether he is wise to do so. Is it not a constitutional right that an employee can go to court? I am not quite sure why the Senator proposes to remove this right from employees.

Seanad: Order of Business. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: The World Health Organisation can rarely be accused of scaremongering. Yesterday it criticised the lack of international co-operation in preparing for the avian flu and the serious risk that it may become pandemic. This does not merely affect birds, it affects humans. The World Health Organisation has compared it to what happened in 1918 when a flu swept the world and killed millions of...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I, too, welcome the Minister of State and the work he has done on the Bill. I apologise for some of the words I used on Second Stage, during which I criticised the Minister of State for announcing he would be tabling amendments. I have looked through the amendments and, as the Minister of State said, they are practically all of a technical nature. Yesterday morning I was in the business...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: Senator O'Toole has asked if I could explain a system for appointment. I recently talked to an entrepreneur who has businesses around the world and approximately 3,000 employees, a couple of hundred of whom are employed in Ireland. The entrepreneur has a choice where to go. He contrasted the manner in which Ireland enforced certain European legislation with the manner employed in Britain. It...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: Are a number of amendments being taken together here?

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: We normally receive a list of the amendments that are being taken together. Perhaps that is what we are getting now. Government amendment No. 2: In page 3, subsection (1), between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following: "'Commission' means the Labour Relations Commission,".

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I notice that amendment No. 52 is being taken with amendment No. 2. Does that mean that when the House comes to amendment No. 52, Members may not speak on it again?

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I am caught on the hop with this. I had not realised what was happening. Amendment No. 52 is in the name of Senator O'Toole. I do not quite understand why that should be taken with amendment No. 2, which stipulates that the word "Commission" refers to the Labour Relations Commission. To take amendment No. 52 with this amendment——

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: No, I am happy with that.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I support Senator McDowell's proposal to take amendments Nos. 3 and 7 together now and amendments Nos. 48 and 49 together later.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I remind Senators that the legislation is entitled the Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005. The Bill covers solely the provision of information and is unrelated to negotiation. The danger is that the amendments will lead to a significant increase in bureaucracy. Given the possibility that only one or two employees will be in interested in receiving information on...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: There is a difference of opinion here between my colleagues and myself. Only 25% of private businesses are unionised. If we are not careful, the trend will almost be to state that one must have a union. It is not necessarily traditional. There is a voluntary system which has worked well in Ireland. The number of trade union members as a percentage of the total workforce has reduced...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Committee Stage. (12 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: The only change Senator O'Toole is suggesting, in amendment No. 3, is the removal of the words "one or more employees". That, one or more employees, is exactly as it should be and is what is intended. That is how it should remain.

Seanad: Order of Business. (11 Oct 2005)

Feargal Quinn: An event occurred yesterday which deserves attention, that is, the swapping of forces personnel among the PSNI and the Garda Síochána. There were two areas in which it happened. Superintendents are now working both in Belfast and Dublin in plain clothes. We should recognise this as a very worthy step, particularly in light of a point made in the House some time ago but which we have not...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (29 Sep 2005)

Feargal Quinn: This is an interesting debate. I welcome the Minister of State and his first few words, where he stated, "research both at home and abroad demonstrates the tangible benefits that effective and meaningful information and consultation arrangements can bring to both the business and the individual". I agree entirely with this statement. However, I am worried about the Minister of State's last...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (29 Sep 2005)

Feargal Quinn: Every Thursday morning I did so with my colleagues in the company which I ran for over 40 years. We began on the shop floor at 8 a.m. every Thursday, visiting each of the departments and talking to practically everyone in the company. We told them about how well or badly we were doing and about the problems and successes. We shared information on sales, customers and profits. The benefits of...

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (29 Sep 2005)

Feargal Quinn: I am simply taking the United Kingdom as an example.

Seanad: Employees (Provision of Information and Consultation) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (29 Sep 2005)

Feargal Quinn: This man employs thousands around the world and hundreds in Ireland. However, he said we should be careful about foreign direct investment and what those who have a choice of where to invest might think. We must ensure we do the right thing and do not stifle the enthusiasm that has made Ireland high on their agenda. Senator O'Rourke has spoken wisely about education and about her second point...