Results 6,461-6,480 of 12,646 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: However, back in the real world that we encounter everyday, the problem of unemployment gets steadily worse. In October of last year, the Tánaiste and leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, said "There has been a significant reduction in unemployment. The jobs initiative is working."

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The latest statistics from the CSO indicate that, at 14.9%, unemployment has reached its highest rate in 18 years. More than one in two of those people has been unemployed for more than a year and one in three has been unemployed for two years or more. We welcome the fact that more people are now on training schemes but that masks the real rate of unemployment. Some 75,000 people per year...

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I hear what the Minister is saying but when he and his colleagues were on this side of the House, they gave short shrift to that type of defence of the unemployment situation at the time.

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: On 30 June 2010, the Tánaiste said the biggest crisis facing the country at the time was the level of unemployment, which was then that a lower rate than now. He went on to berate the Government and said it should not spend another week in office because of the level of unemployment. What has changed?

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The Labour Party is soul searching again.

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: When the previous Government left office in February 2011, 350,000 more people were at work than when it took office. I doubt this Government will ever be able to make that boast. Is the Minister for Education and Skills aware of the statements this morning from across the social spectrum, including the statement from ISME that the Government's job policy is a shambles? ICTU called on the...

Leaders' Questions (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I asked the Minister if he agreed the problem is being effectively tackled.

Order of Business (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The Minister is aware of the plight of a number of trainee pilots who have been stranded in the United States after their families paid a king's ransom in fees for their course. Has the Government had any engagement in the situation, in particular the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade? Will the Government arrange for the consular section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade...

Order of Business (5 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: -----to them and to arrange for them to be brought home? The Minister wishes to comment.

Written Answers — National Lottery: National Lottery (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: Question 11: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress that has been made to date in the awarding process for the National Lottery licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32484/12]

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I will speak briefly in support of the amendment. We must bear in mind that the people we are speaking about are on pretty derisory wages, in many cases on approximately 10% more than the minimum wage across the board. I do not know why the Government wants to establish a statutory code with guidelines that I presume will not be enforceable. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I am aware we are discussing this legislation in the context of the Minister's proposals on the workplace relations legislation generally. I take comfort from the fact that he regards the provision in amendment No. 25 in my name that, before a complaint is presented to a rights commissioner, the employer should be notified of the contravention in writing and given a period of 14 days to...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I support the amendment. We are dealing with a situation that affects those who are at the very bottom of the pay scale. The section deals with circumstances where employers can seek exemptions in the context of not paying the low levels of pay that will inevitably be awarded in any event under the EROs. It would not be unreasonable, therefore, to request information on payments made to...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: The legislation provides that the joint labour committee can recommend minimum rates of remuneration. For certain categories of people, including trainees, it can recommend minimum rates of remuneration that are a percentage of the recommended rates. In my amendment, I seek to ensure this training period cannot last indefinitely. Most employers are responsible but there are those who will...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 17: In page 19, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: "(6) Such reduced hourly rate, as that which would apply to a worker to whom subsection (5)(d) applies, shall only be permitted where, such worker is given access to a course of study or training, within an appropriate period to achieve skills commensurate with a higher remuneration rate.".

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I move amendment No. 19: In page 20, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "(f) the impact on working poverty and adequate income.". Section 12 sets out the various measures the joint labour committee must take into account when submitting proposals for an order to the Labour Court. It must take into account the desirability of maintaining competitiveness in the sector in...

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I acknowledge that the Minister made an amendment on Committee Stage. Nevertheless, I did not envisage a JLC undertaking a deep analysis of poverty, sociological studies, etc. I suggest that, when a JLC formulates its proposal, account should be taken of the fact that the more one depresses the wages of the lower paid, the more poverty and unemployment there will be.

Industrial Relations (Amendment)(No.3): Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I note that amendment No.9 is being taken in conjunction with amendments Nos. 24 to 26, inclusive, and I wish principally to address my remarks to those amendments. Under the Industrial Relations Act 1946, if employees felt they were not getting a fair wage in accordance with the terms of an employment regulation agreement or if they were working excessive hours or too few hours and so on,...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: I tabled a similar amendment on ERAs, amendment No. 22. To add to what has been said, one of the reasons the JLC system was struck down by the High Court in John Grace Fried Chicken Ltd & Ors v. Catering JLC & Ors was that the committee was acting on its own without proper supervision and there was no set of principles to govern the decisions the committee had to make. We have set out the...

Industrial Relations (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2011: Report Stage (4 Jul 2012)

Willie O'Dea: First, I wish to make clear that I do not question in any way the bona fides of the particular Minister opposite. Nevertheless, if this is the advice of the Attorney General, I would seriously question that advice on foot of my own reading of the case. If one reverts to the High Court case, that court was presented with a scenario whereby these committees, which were set up to provide pay...