Results 4,941-4,960 of 11,893 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Asylum Seekers (21 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: With regard to your question of buildings owned by the Church for the accommodation of refugees and asylum seekers, including the provision of former school buildings owned by the Catholic Church, the Department has utilised offers that have come through the Association of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland (AMRI) for religious buildings such as seminaries and convents for IPAS...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Childcare Services (21 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My Department successfully secured €69 million under the revised National Development Plan (NDP) allocation for the Building Blocks Capital Programme, designed to meet current and long-term Early Learning and Childcare infrastructure needs. The Building Blocks Capital Programme includes three Pillars: - €9m Building Blocks - Improvement Grant - €45m Building Blocks -...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (21 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Accommodation Recognition Payment, provided under the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, is a tax-free monthly payment available to those providing accommodation to Ukrainians who arrived in Ireland under the EU Temporary Protection Directive since March 2022. The rate of payment doubled from €400 per property per month to €800 with effect from 1 December 2022....

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Ukraine War (21 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, my Department continues to work as part of the whole-of-Government response with a focus on meeting the immediate accommodation needs of those fleeing the war. My Department is focused on the short-term accommodation needs of those who have fled here. To date, more than 75,000 people have arrived in Ireland and in excess of 55,000 of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Departmental Legal Cases (21 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: There were no discrimination cases taken against my Department in the last 10 years.

Co-ordination of International Protection Services: Statements (16 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I want to begin by setting the context in which we are having this debate. As we sit here this evening, Ireland is in the midst of the greatest humanitarian effort in the history of the State. More than 70,000 people have fled here from a war in Europe: a war inflicted on a country that did not seek it, and that has killed more than 7,000 civilians. It is the biggest displacement of people...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator for speaking on behalf of Senator Currie. These amendments propose to delete or alter the proposed section 13B(4) in part or in full. It provides that a flexible working arrangement for caring purposes cannot commence before an employee has completed six months of continuous service with the employer concerned. Providing a minimum length of service of six months before...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: As Senator Seery Kearney has stated, any employer is entitled to provide flexible arrangements in contracts now, and many do. The Senator has already spoken about how many employers get really good employees by making work as attractive as possible. What we are working to put in place here is a statutory system that, as Senator Seery Kearney has said, employers will not be able to contract...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I do not believe we are at variance here but I am concerned about adding these in. It is important to say that the list of documentation provided for under the legislation is not exhaustive. The proposed section 13B(7) provides for the information an employer may require from an employee who has made an application for a flexible working arrangement, which includes documentation such as a...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The legislation outlines the information an "employer may reasonably require in relation to the person in respect of whom the request is made", which includes the documents set out in section 13B(7)(a), the section the Senator is seeking to amend, and, in section 13B(7)(b) which states: "in the case of a person referred to in subsection (1)(b): (i) the employee’s relationship with the...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: These amendments harmonise the language in the drafting of the Bill. They ensure that the provisions can be clearly understood and there is continuity of language in the relevant provisions. They do not substantially change any of the provisions referenced but merely ensure that the policy intention is clear. I commend amendments to the House.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The new section 13C to be inserted into the Parental Leave Act sets out the obligation on the employer to consider a request for flexible working and the process and time limits to be followed. The provision sets out that employers must consider their own needs and the employees' needs. I appreciate that the amendment seeks to add more detail to this point, but there is a risk that this...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am speaking on the use of the language on the needs of the employee and the needs of the employer. That is language set out within the directive and that is why it is being reflected in these provisions.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The language used for direct transposition is in the context of the flexible working provisions. However, we also think that in respect of the coherence of the legislation, it is important that we use similar language and a similar approach throughout it.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the right to seek remote working, in requesting remote working, an employee must have the opportunity to set out his or her needs, that is, the reason they are seeking the right to remote working. The requirement to share a need is intended to be a practical element of a request to support fair and balanced consideration by the employer. It is not intended to force employees to share...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator. A lot of thought has gone into the process of how these requests will be made, and there is an element of trying to balance the needs of the employees, as the Senator articulated, and the needs of employers. We are covering a diverse range of employers, many where the right to request remote or flexible working will be easily or reasonably easily provided for. However,...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator. These amendments seek to amend the provisions relating to the termination of a flexible or remote working arrangement and could represent an undue interference in how the employer operates his or her business. The proposed insertion of the words "reasonable and demonstratable" is unnecessary. The bar for termination is set appropriately high. Employers cannot...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Amendments Nos. 37 and 58 are amending the process around termination. It is important to make the point that the provisions of the Bill do not preclude employees from making a request for follow-on, flexible working or remote working arrangements to commence, once a period of seasonal variation concludes. A flexible working agreement could address the seasonality of the workplace with...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: We discussed this earlier with respect to how the employer, in making a decision on a flexible working relationship, has the right to consider his or her own needs and the rights of the employee. In doing so, the seasonal nature of a business will no doubt be a significant part of the considerations about the decision to grant flexible working arrangements or not but also how those flexible...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (15 Feb 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senator and thank her for her engagement with me and my officials on this point. Section 13 inserts a new section 21A into the Parental Leave Act that sets out the process for the consideration of a dispute between an employer and an employee related to Part 2 of this Bill. Section 21A(6) sets out that an adjudication officer or the Labour Court shall not assess the merits of...