Results 7,241-7,260 of 12,033 for speaker:Regina Doherty

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Yes, because I must be reasonable. I do not think one day is reasonable. Five days to give the five simple pieces of information that empowers people and enables them to know what they are doing, where they are working and for whom they are working, is reasonable. I do not think one day is reasonable but we can have that discussion on another day.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: We can certainly try to accommodate each other.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I acknowledge what the Deputy is trying to do but the amendment would weaken the provision rather than strengthen it because it will restrict rather than protect an employee. The amendment confines adverse treatment of an employee to actions by the employer and under the Bill, penalisation includes adverse treatment by anybody acting on behalf of an employer. This could exclude agency...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I must point out the penalisation provision in the Bill provides that when an employee makes a complaint, it is presumed until the contrary is proven that the employee concerned has acted reasonably and in good faith in making the complaint because otherwise why would they make it? There is very strong protection for the employee. Then it goes over to being a matter for the employer to...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I did not say that. I stated it was not my argument.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I did not state I did not agree with it. I only stated it was not my argument.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Are they withdrawn?

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: The purpose of these amendments Nos. 18, 19 and 21 seems to be to abolish if-and-when contracts of employment altogether. It is important to state, because maybe nobody else will, that flexible working arrangements are not bad when they suit those who are involved. In certain sectors, the arrangements can help satisfy a peak demand and fill staffing gaps on a short-term basis. Such...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I ask Deputy Joan Collins not to press them and for us to discuss it offline before the Report Stage. If the Deputy presses them, she will be removing the protection offered currently to employees with if-and-when arrangements under section 18 of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. It means that when those employees were called into work, they would not receive the...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: There is probably nothing worse to say to a woman than she is predictable, but the Deputy knows that my answer will be similar to what I said to Deputy Joan Collins. There genuinely are some people who want the flexibility of dipping in and out whenever it suits them. The Deputy is trying to strengthen the position of people in that situation, but all of the Bill's other provisions go a...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I apologise for speaking while the Deputy was talking, but I had to ask a new question. I would have opposed this amendment because it would create an onerous situation for some employers. If one person asks to have a reflected look-back, four weeks would probably be too long and the employer should be reverting to him or her within a week or ten days. If 21 people in Spar in Navan ask...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: If the Deputy presses the amendment, I will have no choice but to object to it because the legislation will apply to everyone, be it a company that employs 10,000 people or one that employs ten people. I would object to the amendment on the basis that, if a large number of people came forward in a small organisation that did not have dedicated staff to perform the look-backs, only the boss,...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: That is very true.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Yes.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Can I speak to all the amendments as they are grouped together?

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Deputies will recall that the length of the reference period in section 15 of the Bill came in for particular scrutiny and attention during the debate on Second Stage. The general consensus was that a period of 18 months was too long and many Deputies suggested shorter periods. I indicated at that Stage that we would consider addressing the concerns that were raised. We are now introducing...

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: Yes.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I move amendment No. 32. In page 13, line 26, to delete “18 month” and substitute “12 months”.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I move amendment No. 34: In page 14, line 15, to delete “18 months” and substitute “12 months”.

Select Committee on Social Protection: Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Committee Stage (17 May 2018)

Regina Doherty: I ask Deputies Joan Collins and Clare Daly to withdraw the amendment to enable us to meet tonight, tomorrow or as soon as we can for one reason. Deputy Willie O'Dea hit the nail on the head - the Bill is specifically to address issues felt by people who are in precarious employment, particularly low paid workers. The outcome will affect every worker in the country. What is being proposed...