Results 941-960 of 1,150 for speaker:Frank Fahey

Public Holidays. (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The reaction of many people on the employer's side to the addition of 1 May as a public holiday was that it would have a costly impact on our competitiveness. While everyone would welcome further public holidays, we must be careful in terms of matters such as competitiveness, productivity etc. Given that progress has taken place in the talks on Sustaining Progress and previous national...

National Minimum Wage. (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: Discussions regarding the national minimum wage are taking place in the course of the current talks on the second phase of the pay element of Sustaining Progress. As the talks are still ongoing it would be inappropriate for me to comment further on this issue.

National Minimum Wage. (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: It is certainly Government policy that there should be a national minimum wage, unlike the policy of previous Governments. It is for that reason the Tánaiste introduced a national minimum wage in April 2000, which was a most welcome development. The increase from £4.40 to €7 since then has been reasonable.

National Minimum Wage. (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The Government is anxious to ensure people on lower pay are adequately rewarded and that every effort is made to ensure the minimum wage increases in line with the consumer price index or by more. That has been happening to date and this issue is being considered in the talks. It is Government policy to ensure the minimum wage increases to protect the interests of workers on lower wages. It...

National Minimum Wage. (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: It is important the gap does not widen. The thrust of Government policy has been to ensure people on low wages are brought up to speed and, in addition, that the tax burden for people on low wages continues to be decreased. The Deputy can take it that it is Government policy that this should continue. That is the position regarding the current talks, in addition to a desire to further...

Written Answers — Radon Gas Levels: Radon Gas Levels (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The exposure of workers to radon gas in workplaces here is controlled by the Radiological Protection Act 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Order 2000 (S.I. No. 125 of 2000) and is enforced by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. Therefore, enforcement is primarily a matter for the institute. Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989, employers are required to identify hazards...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The day-to-day responsibility for the administration and enforcement of occupational safety and health legislation is a matter for the Health and Safety Authority. The legislation includes the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 and a range of regulations, including the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 1993 and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: Last October the Law Reform Commission prepared a consultation paper on corporate killing. It recommended that a new offence of corporate killing be established and be prosecuted on indictment without exclusion of any entity whether incorporated or not. The offence would apply to acts or omissions of a high managerial agent that would be treated as those of the undertaking. To reflect the...

Written Answers — Employment Schemes: Employment Schemes (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The participation rates in respect of job initiative participants are as follows: Yearly Average At End of Year 2001 2,793 2,762 2002 2,663 2,525 2003 2,391 2,207 FÁS estimate that there will be an average participation rate of 2,100 on the programme in 2004 and 2,000 participants will be employed by the end of the year. The total funding allocation for employment schemes in...

Written Answers — Community Employment Schemes: Community Employment Schemes (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: Active labour market programmes includes community employment schemes, job initiative, education and training and back to work programmes. A review of them was mandated by the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and outlined in the programme for Government. The standing committee on the labour market is chaired by my Department and it undertook the review. It was unable to produce a final...

Written Answers — Trade Union Recognition: Trade Union Recognition (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 40 and 47 together. In my reply to Question no. 56 of 13 May 2004, I identified one meeting that I had in the past five years in which the issue of trade union recognition was raised in a substantive way. In the time available to me to answer Deputy Ferris's current question, I have not been able to examine all relevant records before 1999. I will continue to...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: Proposals to repeal and amend the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989 have been developed at departmental level, and the Government has approved the publication of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Bill 2004. The proposals in the Bill are largely the result of a review carried out by the tripartite board of the Health and Safety Authority, which includes representation from the...

Written Answers — Partnership Agreements: Partnership Agreements (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 55 together. Social partnership has made a significant contribution to the Irish economy over the past 17 years. The scope of national partnership has widened and deepened over the years, and national agreements now cover not just pay but a broad range of issues, including employment and enterprise development, competitiveness and greater social...

Written Answers — Job Protection: Job Protection (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The commitment in the programme for Government was met by the 15% increase in the special income exemption limits for those aged over 65, resulting in an almost doubling of the limits since 1997. The redundancy review group report of July 2002, which produced recommendations for the updating of statutory redundancy legislation, considered that increasing the upper age limit of 66 for...

Written Answers — European Council Meetings: European Council Meetings (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 59 together. The Employment Social Policy Health and Consumer Affairs Council met on 1 and 2 June 2004 in Luxembourg. I chaired the employment items on the agenda. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Coughlan, chaired the social protection items and the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Dea,...

Written Answers — Flexible Work Practices: Flexible Work Practices (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The development of work-life balance policies in Ireland is addressed on two fronts: through appropriate legislative measures which provide for statutory entitlements such as maternity leave, adoptive leave, carer's leave and parental leave and through the work of the national framework committee for work-life balance policies, allied to a partnership approach in the workplace between...

Written Answers — National Minimum Wage: National Minimum Wage (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: The national minimum wage in Ireland is €7 per hour. The table below sets out the monthly minimum wages in euro in the US and the EU member states and candidate countries with statutory national minimum wage rates. As most of the countries have a minimum wage which is set at a monthly rate, for comparative purposes, the minimum wage for each is calculated at the monthly rate. Data in...

Written Answers — Health and Safety Regulations: Health and Safety Regulations (17 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: According to the Health and Safety Authority's records, six inspections were carried out at the national car testing centre in Deansgrange, County Dublin, comprising three routine inspections for compliance, two complaint investigations and one follow-up visit, between June 2000 and April 2004. It should be noted that this centre is only one of many national car testing centre centres...

Written Answers — FÁS Training Programmes: FÁS Training Programmes (1 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: As part of the Government's decision in 1999 to restructure community employment, CE, future participation in CE by an individual was capped at three years, effective from April 2000. Offshore island residents are exempt from this change. Aughinish is not an offshore island and participants in projects such as the one at Aughinish are subject to the general CE eligibility criteria. The three...

Written Answers — Employment Schemes: Employment Schemes (1 Jun 2004)

Frank Fahey: Persons in receipt of the deserted wife's benefit for one year or longer, and who are 25 years of age or older, are currently eligible to participate in community employment, CE. Eligibility for job initiative, JI, is confined to unemployed persons 35 years of age or older, in receipt of an unemployment payment or one parent family payment for a minimum of five years. Spouses of unemployed...