Results 4,581-4,600 of 6,307 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Aquaculture Licence Applications (9 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I thank Senator Conway for raising this issue which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In 2012 Bord Iascaigh Mhara submitted an application to the Department for an aquaculture licence for the cultivation of fin fish near Inis Oírr in Galway Bay. The application and its accompanying environmental impact statement are being considered under the...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Job Losses (9 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: What has happened in Clerys is very shocking and those who were directly employed by Clery’s and the concession holders and their staff have been treated appallingly. Earlier this week I submitted a report to the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to further inform Government on the issues surrounding the sale and liquidation of Clerys. I also briefed my Government colleagues on the report...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Minimum Wage (9 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I propose to take Questions Nos. 131 and 133 together. 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...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Trade Union Recognition (9 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: It has been the consistent policy of successive Irish Governments to promote collective bargaining both through a legislative and an institutional framework that is fully supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations and one that is premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association. This approach is consistent with the Constitution and has served our country well in...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Industrial Disputes (8 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I understand that members of the Unite trade union who work at the Bulmers plant in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary have voted to begin industrial action on Wednesday July 15th. I further understand that, while the dispute centres around a single employee, the core issue relates more generally to severance terms for managerial employees. I would like to assure the Deputy that the State’s...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: This is a technical amendment which removes references in section 23(1) of the Industrial Relations Act 1990 to an officer of a vocational education committee and an officer of a school attendance board. These amendments are consequential arising from an amendment brought forward on Report Stage in the Dáil which amended a reference in section 23(1) to a member of staff of an education...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I thank Senator Cullinane. The purpose of the amendment is to allow an employer sign up to an existing REA as a new party to the agreement. However, section 8 already provides for a mechanism by which an REA can be varied in its application to any worker or workers to whom it applies. In this regard, the variation provisions under section 8 would allow for an application by a new employer...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Section 10(5) provides that the Labour Court may cancel the registration of an employment agreement if it is satisfied the trade union party to the agreement is no longer substantially representative of the workers concerned. The purpose of amendment No. 3 is to require the court to give three months' notice to the trade union of its decision and to allow for an appeal within six weeks of...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Section 13 provides for a definition of "remuneration" for the purposes of a Labour Court recommendation for the terms of a sectoral employment order. The definition is based on the definition of remuneration included in the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012. The definition includes basic pay and a list of other elements in excess of basic pay that may be included as...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Section 16 sets out a comprehensive and a challenging set of factors that the Labour Court has to take into account when making a recommendation to the Minister in respect of a sectoral employment order. Amendment No. 5 would add two further factors that the court would be required to take into account. I have given significant consideration to these criteria with Government colleagues. I...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: It is as clear as the nose on my face that the legislation on sectoral employment orders seeks to ensure fairness and the same rate of remuneration. This is a requirement to reach an SEO or for an SEO to be made. That takes into account rates of pay and the fairness of rates of pay in a given sector. This architecture has been supported by the trade union movement, which has not found...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to Senator Cullinane on this point. The Mandate trade union has not formally made the point to me about hours of work, but it has made the point, publicly and privately, that the utility of the collective bargaining legislation is clear in terms of potentially assisting the trade union in the context of the dispute to which Senator Cullinane...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: It is an interesting point. Let me start with the Senator's reference to harmonious industrial relations, a principle with which those engaged in the sector will be familiar. The Minister of the day will need to be satisfied before signing an order that it will promote industrial peace and harmonious industrial relations. In the absence of the old REA system which was struck down by the...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Amendment No. 7 seeks to include a prohibition on the blacklisting of a worker in the anti-victimisation provisions in section 19 if workers are covered by an SEO. The blacklisting of persons, for whatever reason, is an abhorrent practice, particularly for those exercising their rights regarding their remuneration or terms of employment. If there is evidence that this is a widespread...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Amendment No. 9 seeks to provide a role for trade union officials in the enforcement of registered employment agreements, registered employment orders which are more correctly entitled sectoral employment orders and employment regulation orders. It would also provide for the Minister making regulations providing for a right of access for trade union officials to the workplace and employees....

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Amendment No. 12 deals with the issue of access by retired persons to the industrial relation machinery of the State and provides for the insertion of a new section to the Bill providing that the Minister may by regulation provide for a mechanism to provide for representation by or on behalf of retired employees in regard to pensions matters. I fully appreciate the concerns of retired and...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I am pleased to have an opportunity to respond to Senator Cullinane who made some very important points. I am also pleased that he very responsibly pointed out the constraints and limitations in terms of the Constitution, because not everybody who is contributing to the debate acknowledges that. Senator Cullinane has widely acknowledged the point, not just today but regularly in his public...

Seanad: Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (7 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: Section 43, which was introduced on Report Stage of the Dáil, provides for an amendment to the definition of “Agriculture” in the Industrial Relations Act 1976, for the purposes of giving effect to the Labour Court recommendation on the scope of the agriculture JLC, arising from the 2013 review undertaken by the court of all existing joint labour committees. In addition,...

Topical Issue Debate: Job Creation (2 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Deputy for his contribution to this debate on the ongoing work of the committee and his input into its report. The importance the Government is placing on the retail sector is reflected in the fact that there are 12 discrete actions in the 2015 Action Plan for Jobs designed to support recovery in the retail sector. They includes a commitment to review the recommendations made in...

Topical Issue Debate: Job Creation (2 Jul 2015)

Gerald Nash: I know that as a member of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Kyne has a genuine interest in seeing a recovery in the retail sector and has made a strong contribution in that policy area. The retail sector is an important part of the social fabric of both rural and urban areas. The retail and wholesale sector employs more than 270,000 people and constitutes...