Results 5,181-5,200 of 11,893 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am happy to be able to introduce this Bill. It is one of Ireland's most ambitious Bills dedicated solely to improving work–life balance. I look forward to the detailed discussion we are going to have. Not only will the Bill transpose EU law on work–life balance for parents and carers but it will also implement some important programme for Government commitments. It...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: My reading of the legislation is similar to that of Senator Seery Kearney in that the proposed amendment would appear to reduce the 26-week period to one week. As drafted, it would mean that only previous employment in the past week would qualify as continuous service for the purpose of calculation. I do not believe that is the intention of the Senator in the circumstances but it is the...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Section 6 inserts a new section 13A into the Parental Leave Act 1998 to provide for an entitlement to leave for medical care purposes for parents and carers. This amendment would extend the cohort of parents and carers who are entitled to avail of leave for medical care purposes. I appreciate that there is a wide range of potential caring relationships but the Bill very much follows the...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: If the grandchild needs a parent or grandparent, that parent or grandparent can-----

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: If the grandchild needs-----

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: In line with Article 6 of the work-life balance directive, the Bill provides for five days leave for medical care purposes. The amendment would extend this entitlement to ten days. The Bill is introducing a range of new entitlements, and that is positive. These entitlements have been discussed at length with social partners, unions and representatives of employers. I have engaged in some...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment intends to remove from the Bill the provisions related to the ability of an employer to seek relative evidence of the circumstances in which an employee is taking leave for medical care purposes. The touchstone of policy development from a data protection perspective is that the design of the system should seek to achieve the minimum invasion of privacy rights, be they third...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: As I said before, we are reasonably confident we have achieved the right balance in the standards set. It is clear that what has been looked for here is whether the relationship between the employee seeking the leave and the individual is meeting the criteria of the directive in terms of the named relationships that are set out. I will chat to officials and confirm that we are happy that...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: These amendments are to correct drafting errors in the Bill as passed by Dáil Éireann. They ensure that the provisions of the Bill are technically correct and make no amendments to what is provided for. These amendments correct spelling errors where they occur, revise punctuation and insert accurate references, such as replacing “section 13F” with “section...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: This amendment proposes to amend section 13AA(1), which provides for the circumstances in which an employee is entitled to domestic violence leave. The amendment does not make any policy changes, but merely rewords the section for drafting clarity, including ensuring that the list of purposes for which an employee can avail of the leave is not exhaustive.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: It is important to state that the issue is not about whether to provide domestic leave but about the issue of the rate. That was misstated earlier. The introduction of new leave is negotiated with the social partners with whom the Government engages. As part of that engagement, some small employer groups raised real and genuine concerns, considering their circumstances, about the...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Section 8 inserts a new Part IIA into the Parental Leave Act to provide for a right to request a flexible working arrangement for caring purposes. The provisions of the new Part IIA go towards the transposition of Article 9 of the work-life balance directive. Part IIA has been carefully drafted to ensure that the directive is correctly transposed and provides the right to parents and those...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Senators. There are several amendments which seek to amend the age limits at which a parent of a child is entitled to leave for medical care purposes and a request for flexible working arrangements. The age limits for relevant parents to request a flexible working arrangement for care purposes are aligned to the age limits for applications for parental leave, that is, the leave...

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Disability allowance is a matter for the Department of Social Protection.

Seanad: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022: Committee Stage (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot give the Senator that answer but I trust the Senator.

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Equal Opportunities Employment (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Discrimination on nine specified grounds, namely, gender, civil status, family, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, membership of the Traveller is prohibited by law in the field of employment under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015. These include recruitment and promotion; equal pay; working conditions; training or experience; dismissal and harassment including sexual...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Equal Opportunities Employment (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: Discrimination on nine specified grounds, namely, gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, membership of the Traveller is prohibited by law in the field of employment under the Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2021 and in the supply of and access to goods and services under the Equal Status Acts 2000 to 2018.  This includes the area of...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Child Abuse (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: I wish to advise the Deputy that I wrote to St John Ambulance to seek information about the publication of the report on 12th December 2022. St John Ambulance replied on 23rd December and confirmed that they had received a completed report from Dr Shannon. The Commissioner of St John Ambulance stated that the organisation was committed to publishing the full report immediately after the...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Government is investing significantly in the early learning and childcare sector and there is an ambitious new funding model being introduced to improve stability and sustainability for providers. There are supports, financial and otherwise, available to services who need them. On 15th September, I launched Together for Better, the new funding model for early learning and...

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Early Childhood Care and Education (31 Jan 2023)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme is a universal two-year pre-school programme available to all children within the eligible age range. The programme is provided for three hours per day, five days per week over 38 weeks per year and runs from September to June each year, aligned with the primary school calendar. The figures supplied by the scheme administrator Pobal...