Results 4,361-4,380 of 6,308 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Company Closures (20 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: One of the first actions that was taken in the context of the Clerys liquidation was the undertaking of a review by me of the circumstances around it. We were all appalled at the treatment of the Clerys workers and concession holders. We were very focused on the need for the Department of Social Protection, as the main creditor who had to pay out of its insolvency fund for statutory...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Company Closures (20 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I agree that the focus needs to change. The Skillnets programme is operated by a lot of our business representative organisations and I have seen some of the programmes sponsored by, for example, ISME, which work very well for SMEs right across the country in upskilling people who are in employment to make sure we have the appropriate skills for the job and career challenges of the future....

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Living Wage (20 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: The Living Wage concept is grounded in the idea that a person’s wage should be sufficient to maintain a safe, decent standard of living. At an individual level the resources required to achieve a minimum essential standard of living is very dependent on family circumstances and thus the interaction of individual earnings with household income and State-provided supports such as Child...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-hour Contracts (20 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: The Statement of Government Priorities, July 2014 committed to conduct a study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts among Irish employers and their impact on employees and make policy recommendations to Government on foot of this. The University of Limerick was appointed in February 2015, following a competitive tendering process, to carry out a study into the prevalence of zero hour...

Confidence in Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection: Motion [Private Members] (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: Correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: The Deputy might ask his fellow Mayo man when he intends to hold the election.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I was asked in November to bring recommendations to the Government in a timely fashion. I would like to see proposals brought to the Cabinet in the next few weeks. We are working on them. Submissions were sought and we are in the process of going through them, but many of the detailed submissions are diametrically opposed. Finding the balance will be critical. This is important work, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Senator for his comments. He comes to the issue with great experience in the marketplace. He is right; it is a very difficult balancing act. Nobody around this table should have any truck with legislating anybody out of a job. Neither should we accept the idea of jobs at any cost. There should be a threshold of decency. Senator Quinn would accept this and the vast majority...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Deputy. I agree. There is a dignity involved in work. It bestows dignity on a person and a family, and it is important we have strong employment protections, which we have always striven to have. The report is important and will feed the process we are engaged in with a view to getting to a better place in which we can balance the needs of business with the requirements of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I will respond briefly to Deputy Tóibín's point. He asked what we could introduce before the Dáil is dissolved. This is the first time any Government has expressed any keen interest in this area. It took time to institute a comprehensive study. We are considering the next steps and I am here today to hear the views of committee members in terms of what the they should be. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: As I said in my opening statement, the Government statement of priorities focused exclusively on the area of zero-hour contracts, but zero-hour contracts do not exist in the same way in Ireland as they do in the UK because of a provision of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. We want to capture the reality and data, quantitative and qualitative, on low-hour contracts, which we defined...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I do not have those cost figures. As the Deputy knows, they are matters for the Departments of Education and Skills and Health, which have engaged in the open consultation process. Following my request, I met employers before we started the formal consultation process - I also met trade unions and other groups - to assess their early views in response to the report's publication. I recall...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I realise Senator Cullinane has been raising these issues for some time. I raised them myself as a backbencher. I am pleased that I have had the opportunity to try to advance this agenda during the past year and a half. Senator Cullinane has always spoken eloquently and passionately about his interest in this area. We have many things in common in terms of how we would like to see these...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-Hour Contracts: Discussion (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to appear today to discuss the University of Limerick report, A Study on the Prevalence of Zero-Hour Contracts Among Irish Employers and their Impact on Employees, which was published in November 2015. I am anxious to hear the views of the committee because, following public consultation with stakeholder bodies, we are currently in the process of...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-hour Contracts (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: The Deputy is referring to recommendations made by the University of Limerick (UL) in its study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts among Irish employers. It is important to point out that this is an independent study and the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made in the study are those of UL. Therefore, it was essential that the various stakeholders who...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Zero-hour Contracts (19 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: The Statement of Government Priorities, July 2014 committed to conduct a study on the prevalence of zero hour contracts among Irish employers and their impact on employees and make policy recommendations to Government on foot of this. The University of Limerick was appointed in February 2015, following a competitive tendering process, to carry out a study into the prevalence of zero hour...

Hospital Emergency Departments: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (14 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: That is a significant reform, whether Deputy Kelleher likes it or not. The Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, has mentioned the need for accountability. The Government does not support the privatisation of hospitals, but it recognises that if hospital groups are to have more autonomy, they and their constituent hospitals must be held to account. Action will be taken if improvements are...

Hospital Emergency Departments: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (14 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank Deputies for their contributions. We are all aware of people's concerns and frustrations regarding the number of patients on trolleys, the overcrowded conditions in which they wait for treatment and the difficulties in moving patients from acute care to long-term, community or home care. My colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Leo Varadkar, has spoken in detail on this issue...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Road Safety (13 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I thank Senator Moloney for raising the matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Heather Humphreys. Wild deer in the State are protected under the Wildlife Acts. It should be noted that while the National Parks & Wildlife Service of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht licenses hunting of deer, the Department does...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Road Safety (13 Jan 2016)

Gerald Nash: I understand the point being made by my party colleague, Senator Moloney, and it is important that the Department and the Minister respond directly to her concerns. If it is the case that there was a wall there, perhaps some form of secure fencing could be erected in the area to protect motorists. It is terrible to hear that deer may have been responsible for accidents in the area.