Results 29,281-29,300 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I am obliged to the Minister of State, who has made a coherent case. I have read a briefing document he provided for me, which was helpful. It is a question of approach. I approach the matter on the basis that everybody should have the protection of the highest standards of health and safety in their normal employment. It is possible to say that armies go to war, from which in terms of health...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: The sins of the senior Minister are beginning to rub off with another study.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: There are more amendments to come.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I wish to discuss my amendments Nos. 17, 18 and 26. When we debated this matter on Committee Stage, I thought the Minister of State acknowledged to an extent that real issues need to be addressed in this regard and I half-expected a ministerial amendment to this section. I would like to examine the basic principles of this legislation. Chapter 2 of the Bill sets out the general duties of...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister of State has drawn our attention to section 58, namely the regulation and codes of practice that will be drawn up, under Part 6. I always break out in a cold sweat when I read this part of any Bill because here, after all the detail has been debated, the draftsman writes that notwithstanding the detail the Minister may do all sorts of things that he or she deems appropriate. It...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: We will return to this on another day. This is a difficult issue to encompass in two minutes. The Minister of State needs to give a very clear indication of his intent on this. I am not content with an indication that it will be captured by a general provision. I do not know whether the Minister of State intends to exempt any category of work or specify a category of workers that will be...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Minister intend to exempt some categories and focus on other categories where it would be appropriate?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I had spotted it.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Agreed. Are there other groupings of amendments or will each amendment be discussed separately?

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 1: In page 9, line 22, after "AS" to insert the following: "AN tÚDARÁS SLÁINTE AGUS SÁBHÁILTEACHTA, OR, IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,". I would have liked to have sight of it because it is hard to examine groupings if they are handed to one when one is on one's feet. As on Committee Stage the Minister of State might bear with us in respect of groupings which it may not...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I am grateful to him because it has helped us understand the reasoning behind the Minister's position and in more than one instance punctured our own logic when we see the case set out. That is a useful way of dealing with legislation and I thank and commend the Minister of State for that approach. After that plámás I am sure the Minister of State will accept the amendment.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: Tá sé deacair a thuiscint conas a mbeadh deacracht ar bith ag baint leis an moladh atá os comhair na Dála an t-údarás a ainmniú as Gaeilge. I do not see how it could be difficult to put in an English version of the Bill the official title of the agency in the Irish language. The Minister of State has not proposed anything. He said he was advised that there might be deacrachtaí ag...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I am disappointed that a Minister of State who has a particular regard for and great competence in the Irish language would not accept this amendment. It is important occasionally to send a signal to the drafters that this is the will of the Oireachtas.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I propose that they be taken individually rather than together.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I wish to have them discussed individually.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 2: In page 9, line 33, to delete "Safety, Health and Welfare" and substitute "Health and Safety". This matter was discussed on Committee Stage. Given that the Bill is renaming the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health as the Health and Safety Authority it is appropriate that the Bill should be a health and safety at work Bill. I have had regard to the...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 3: In page 9, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: "(2) Pending the repeal of the existing enactments, those enactments and this Act may be cited together as the Health and Safety at Work Acts 1882 to 2005.". The purpose of this amendment is to highlight that the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 repealed all the previous health and safety...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: The Boiler Explosion Act 1992 is to be repealed shortly.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I am not satisfied with the Minister of State's response. Decisions made by the Oireachtas as long ago as 1989 cannot be brought into force for administrative or manpower reasons and in the year 2005, the House has not been given a definite timeframe. The Minister of State is not even proposing a different timetable to mine in order to do the business which the Minister of State has indicated...

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004: Report Stage. (23 Feb 2005)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 4: In page 10, line 6, after "enactments" to insert the following: "provided that section 4(2) shall be fully brought into operation within 2 years from the date of passing of this Act". The purpose of this amendment is to highlight the need to repeal the existing old legislation within a defined timeframe, given that it has been repealed once before by these Houses in...