Results 3,301-3,320 of 5,873 for speaker:Gerard Craughwell
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I should have allowed Senator Joe Reilly earlier. He is sharing time with Senator Lombard. He only has one minute. I am sorry.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: There are two other Senators waiting.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I cannot allow it. I am sorry.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I cannot allow it.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: Other people are due to speak. I call Senator O'Reilly.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: The Senator is over time.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Senator.
- Seanad: Annual National Transition Statement on Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I call Senator Humphreys. He has eight minutes.
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I will also oppose the amendment. This is a good, strong section. Small employers are no different from anybody else. They should have systems in place and when they take on employees, it should be standard from the one-man operation right up to the large multinationals. Senator Higgins adverted to the fact that some companies have large numbers of employees and many of them are...
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I support the Minister on this. The way forward is to let the committee deal with it. I cannot see anything coming out of a report after the first 12 months and quite a lot of time and effort would need to be expended on providing nothing. The legislation will take two years to bed in so I agree with allowing the committee to discuss it, maybe after two years.
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I was not saying the report would be frivolous in any way, just that I do not see how a report after 12 months would work, something on which I agree with Senator Nash. The committee is the place to establish whether this legislation is working. Any of the representative bodies can make contact with the Chair of the relevant committee and seek a hearing if they feel the Act is not working.
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: Hear, hear.
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: One of the aspects specific to language schools is that so many people working in language schools have been badly hurt by the sharp practices that are operated by these cowboys. Perhaps it does not come under this legislation but I ask the Minister to look at how we might bond workers through any of these companies in order that if such a company decides to close overnight - as happened...
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I fully support Senator Humphrey's remarks. A similar issue arose with the Clerys group during the previous Government, and the Government acted quickly in that case. I acknowledge my two colleagues from the Labour Party, who were quick on the ball that time. As Senator Humphreys said, tomorrow morning those teachers need to see somebody from the Department who will be present and will...
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I support the amendment. From my time being involved in the Teachers Union of Ireland, I know it was an issue that caused significant distress to teachers who were employed in professional posts for four or five hours a week. Since they only taught a specific subject they could be kept on that for years. It always amazed me that employers, particularly education and training boards, would...
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: The Minister mentioned the working time directive. The State is one of the worst culprits in that regard. The Defence Forces have 35 cases before the High Court and the most recent case cost the State €200,000 in legal fees and a five-figure sum to settle the case, which was the seventh. There are 35 more cases in train and there will be further multiples of 35 coming after them....
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I appreciate what the Minister is trying to do but if she takes a worker who is on 26 hours, the question arises as to whether he or she is in band E or band F. It reminds me of when I did some computer programming, I was quite amused to find that there are two values of zero. There is a minus zero and a plus zero from the point of view of computer programming. An employer could reasonably...
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: Ryanair is probably one of the best examples of people being allegedly self-employed, even thought they are on very good salaries. It denies revenue to the State and so on. It works its way down through the system. One computer manufacturer in this country had about 6,000 employees, with not one working for the company. Most recently I have heard of builders' labourers being told after...
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: And cabin crew.
- Seanad: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2018)
Gerard Craughwell: I am happy to say that I am unlikely to meet anyone in the hair business who is bogus self-employed.