Results 581-600 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I thank Senator Gavan for giving me the opportunity to have this conversation and discuss the issue again. Others have also tabled amendments. The Senator quoted what Deputy Bruton said on Committee Stage. I participated in that debate and we had a good lengthy discussion on many amendments and the Bill. It was a worthwhile discussion and we teased through the issues. We introduced some...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: This legislation is not just because of Covid. Certainly, Covid is forced on our minds in the context of the Bill. One of the first discussions I had when I became a Minister of State was on a Bill of this nature. It has been recognised for a long number of years that Ireland does not have a statutory sick pay scheme. Therefore, Covid or no Covid, it is an important move in the right...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I understand the general purpose of the amendment and the case put forward by the Senator in the context of his son. Amendments Nos. 6 and 7 aim to alleviate the financial strain on lower-paid employees who do not benefit from having a medical card or a GP visit card. However, while I understand the intent of the amendments, it is important that there are safeguards for employers. With...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: That is something on which we want to work. According to the Senator, Ireland is a low-pay economy. That is not true or reflective. I accept that approximately 7% or 8% are on the minimum wage.

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: We are committed to moving to a living wage, as are some of the Senator's colleagues. A move towards a living wage is provided for in the programme for Government. That will be a positive journey but, again, it is a cost that will affect the creation and protection of jobs. We have to get that balance right, too. It is important to recognise that, in the context of the minimum wage and a...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I did acknowledge the example put forward by the Senator in respect of his son. We have had plenty of discussion on this in both Houses. I ask him to acknowledge that the Government is bringing in a new statutory sick pay scheme. Today, a worker who is sick may not get payment. People go to a doctor for more than one reason. They do not just go there to get a medical certificate; they...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I remind the Senator that what we are starting here is a payment for three days. It kicks in after that. It will move to ten days in the next couple of years, as committed to by my party and the other parties in government. I am not sure what Sinn Féin would do. It has a very different view when it comes to creating and sustaining jobs. I will not go into that today. The Government...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I hope the Senator’s son is better. I hope he is not still sick. To be very clear on this - there is no sick pay legislation in place at the moment. There is no statutory sick pay scheme. I ask the Senator to perhaps acknowledge that we are improving the situation. It is not the case that there is no financial gain and there is only a loss on the first day. That is not true.

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: The Senator quoted the prices charged by GPs. The cost involved in attending a GP or obtaining a medical certificate differs throughout the country. I do not agree with the Senator at all that somebody is at a loss on the first day. That is his assertion, and it is reflected in the figures he is putting forward. New new employment legislation has been brought forward, which is a positive...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: In case there is any doubt, the point made by Senator Burke is that this legislation is beginning of a statutory sick pay scheme. It is not and cannot be about access to or the cost of health services. That is a separate discussion. We both agree that there is improvement needed in respect of access and the cost of health services, but that is completely separate from the debate on this...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I will try to cover most the points raised. I had a note on some of the points made earlier but, for the life of me, I cannot find it, so if I do not answer some of the Senators' points, I ask them to throw them back at me and I will try to come back on them. I do not where I put my note. Before turning to the amendments, an issue was made earlier of amendments not being accepted by the...

Seanad: Sick Leave Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: The Senator can check the record and I stand to be corrected.

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: The group of amendments relate to the insertion of a new section in the Bill. Amendment No. 1 means that the Minister will be defined for the purpose of the Bill as the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It is required because of the new provisions we are inserting requiring a review of the Bill once it is enacted and in force for more than a year. The new section 9 provides a...

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: In regard to the new section under 4D it provides that if an employer describes a mandatory charge as a "service charge" or a similar term in a tips and gratuities notice or, for example, on a restaurant menu, the employer must treat the charge as if it was a tip or gratuity received by electronic mode of payment. That means that the service charge must be distributed to staff in a fair and...

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: When is the Senator going to start paying?

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I acknowledge the history of the Bill. I was certainly not rewriting Sinn Féin's Private Member's Bill. To be clear, I do not think it was opposed on the grounds of money. I think there were some technical difficulties at the time in 2017 or 2018. In Senator Doherty's absence, I wish to mention that when she was the Minister with responsibility for social protection, she brought...

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I appreciate that is a bit of a mouthful, but we will try to deal with as much as we possibly can. Amendment No. 3 proposes that “mandatory service charge” be renamed “mandatory charge”. This reflects our decision to refine our approach to service charges and transparency. Again, the Tánaiste committed reviewing this since the Second Stage debate here in...

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: The new section 4B contained in the Payment of Wages (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022 requires employers to distribute fairly and in a transparent manner tips that are received in electronic form, that is, through debit or credit cards. It also provides that employers may not retain any share of tips or gratuities received by the employer electronically, unless such retention is required or...

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: I will try to deal with this as best I can. Senators are keen to extend the Bill to cover all cash tips and gratuities. I understand this. We would all like to do this but it is exactly as Senator Casey has said. It is about what is possible to trace and manage in law. With respect, I cannot disregard what the Workplace Relations Commission recommends to us. It is the body that will be...

Seanad: Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022: Committee and Remaining Stages (29 Jun 2022)

Damien English: Senator Buttimer need not worry. I am only slagging. I am the same. I see it in practise. Many people pay their bill electronically and then pay the tip in cash separately. The issue we would have, exactly, as Senator Casey said, is how the Workplace Relations Commission would trace the case. This legislation has to be workable and enforceable if we are to achieve what we want to...