Results 12,421-12,440 of 12,596 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Its time will come.

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I welcome the opportunity to speak on this proposal. I have raised some doubts about the wisdom of holding the referendum on the same day as the local and European elections and I am not alone in that — I am reliably informed there was a detailed Cabinet discussion of the subject. I recognise there are strong and compelling arguments on both sides but in this case I find I am in a minority...

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2004: Second Stage. (21 Apr 2004)

Willie O'Dea: My concern related to the holding of the elections and the referendum on the same date and I do not resile from that. I have no difficulties with the timing of the referendum because it is my view, as was clearly expressed this morning by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and others, that this problem has been allowed to fester for far too long and it is time we...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I really do not know what the problem is and I still cannot see how I can accept the amendment. As I explained on Committee Stage, the European Communities (Burden of Proof in Gender Discrimination Cases) Regulations 2001 give effect to Council Directive 97/80/EC on the burden of proof in cases of discrimination based on sex. The regulation applies to gender discrimination cases taken under...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I will have a look at it.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I have a great deal of sympathy with Senator Tuffy's point of view, as I indicated on Committee Stage. For the record, section 34(4) of the Employment Equality Act 1998, which represents the current law, provides that: Without prejudice to subsection (3), it shall not constitute discrimination on the age ground to fix different ages for the retirement (whether voluntarily or compulsorily) of...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Senator Phelan wants my support for the principle of equal pay to be stitched into the legislation. On this occasion, he will have to be satisfied with it being placed on the record because I am advised that it is not appropriate to write the principle into primary legislation, nor has it been, to the best of my knowledge, anywhere else. As I stated on Committee Stage, the proposal is...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: The new section replaces the provision under section 16(3) of the Act of 1998 as regards the duty of employers and persons engaged in vocational training to do all that is reasonable to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities to enable them to access and participate in employment or training, as applicable. At present, the requirement on employers is limited to the provision of...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: While I have a certain sympathy for the sentiments expressed by the Senator, the position is that, under the Constitution and in accordance with a decision of the Supreme Court, one cannot oblige an employer to take any measures to accommodate people with disabilities if they would impose more than a nominal cost. In this legislation, we have been able to move away from the Supreme Court's...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I still argue that we are narrowing it. The original legislation was section 25 of the Employment Equality Act 1998. This was an excluding section. It excluded certain activity from the scope of the legislation. What we are doing here is replacing section 25 in its entirety with a section which excludes certain activity, in effect, the same activity, from the operation of the legislation. It...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Paragraph (b) of this section inserts a new subsection (4) in section 35 of the Act of 1998 in response to Senator Terry's proposed amendment on Committee Stage, which I agreed to examine. The Senator's proposal sought the inclusion in the section of a provision prohibiting "a different rate of remuneration paid pursuant to subsection (1) below the level of the National Minimum Wage in force...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This amendment arises from a clerical error in the text of the Bill as passed on Committee Stage. This provision was agreed on Committee Stage and enables the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to remunerate the board of the Equality Authority. In recent years social type boards, such as the authority, have been brought within the...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Before I respond to Senator Tuffy I want to ask the Chair to direct the Clerk of the Seanad, under Standing Order 121, to make a minor correction. The word "Office" in page 19, line 45, should not have a capital "O".

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: In response to Senator Tuffy's amendment, this is dealt with essentially in section 69 of the 1998 legislation. To the best of my knowledge — I am open to correction — we have received no representations on it from any quarter. I will make further inquiries about it. The purpose of Part 6 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 is to provide guidance to employers, particularly large...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: With respect to amendment No. 12, there has been discussion on this issue during the preparation of the legislation. The effect of the amendment would be to remove jurisdiction for discriminatory dismissals from the Labour Court. In view of the discussions which took place, the conclusion was that the redress structure provided for in section 77 of the Employment Equality Act, places such...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: When I addressed this amendment on Committee Stage, I explained there was no requirement on the non-gender grounds in either the framework employment directive or the race directive for access to unlimited awards. The amendments would allow access to the Circuit Court for all employment discrimination cases. In the event that the EU Council of Ministers had intended to make available equal...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Senator Tuffy made a compelling case on Committee Stage and I agreed to examine this amendment. Having done so, my view has not changed. I was delighted at the terms of the directive because I knew it would compel national governments, including this Government, to extend the ambit of these protections to people in what is loosely termed "domestic service". We have agreed to exclude that...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: My practice, either in this or the Lower House, is that when I say I will look at an amendment, I do so. It is not for the sake of getting rid of Members. Senator Henry made an excellent case for this amendment on Committee Stage. I have discussed this in the interim with the Minister for Education and Science. We looked again at the issue of higher education grants and the proposed section...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: As promised on Committee Stage, the Government has brought forward amendment No. 17, which I now propose to accept instead of amendment No. 18. I thank Senator Tuffy for identifying this necessary amendment which occurred by reason of the enactment of the Immigration Act 2004. I am delight to accept the substance of her Committee Stage amendment.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Report and Final Stages. (24 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I thank Senators from all sides of the political divide who contributed so constructively to the debate on this Bill. The debate helped to improve the Bill. I realise, in reply to Senator Henry in particular, that there were a number of matters that I undertook to examine between Committee and Report Stages. These were examined and I apologise to Senators who worked hard on their amendments...