Results 16,201-16,220 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: There was legislation providing for such rights for those who were disadvantaged by the marriage bar.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I admire the Senator's industry in constructing this Trojan horse. However, I can assure him that when a person resigns from the public service, a resignation has occurred. This section does not apply to resigned civil servants.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: If they are on the panel.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator O'Toole made a point about contracts. A person does not have the same contract if he or she resigns. The same contract applies to a person in seasonal or part-time employment who still has a continuity of entitlement within the public service. That is what these subsections are trying to protect. The chasm to which I referred is that between a person with this entitlement and a person...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: They are not new entrants if they have an entitlement to be considered as part of a panel. Panels are constituted in a certain way: a person on the panel has a right to be sent for prior to the engagement of a person not on the panel.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Senator uses the phrase "under contract" but, as he must be aware from his extensive experience in industrial relations, not every employment relationship has a definite deed in a box with a label saying "Contract." These matters are often dealt with via circulars or correspondence. There is not always a binding document with a signature at the bottom. I am not aware of the particulars of...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Once that relationship is not terminated, the person cannot be a new entrant. If someone wrote to the Department of Foreign Affairs saying he no longer wished to be on the panel for employment in the Passport Office, the relationship would be terminated. The person would have terminated his entitlements.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Were that person then to re-seek employment in the Passport Office he would be a new entrant.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This is a very technical point. Of course there may be a new contract dealing with the actual payment of wages and the implied terms of the relationship, but there is a wider relationship, with legal consequences, which is acknowledged by the Department in that context. It is a labour law contract relationship. The employment relationship which entitles a person to be considered for return is...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: A famous jurist once pointed out that most confusions about law derive from the confusion of the physical and the legal. Legal concepts are distinct from physical concepts and they are crystal clear. Senator O'Toole should not fasten his mind on the physical body in the Passport Office.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: He should focus on the employment relationship. If he focuses on the terms of the legislation we are considering, he will notice that the phrase "under the same contract of employment" in both contexts is linked with the concept of "last day of service" in the next sentence. If there is a day of service and a person happened not to be in the building during a defined period of time, there is...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Walsh used the word "discrimination". The Bill is, in a sense, an act of discrimination because it discriminates or distinguishes between the present and future corps of public servants. This variation of status with regard to extension of service, which is voluntary, is seen as part of the overall set of measures which applies to new entrants. The option has not been created for...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In the case of a retired member of the Garda, he or she would be a new entrant on taking up a new position after retirement. That would be a new position and not an extension of an existing position.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: They are not affected by the legislation in any sense. If a teacher wishes to stay on, that can be arranged but the teacher does not draw a pension. However, if a different public sector position is sought and obtained, then the teacher could draw the pension and engage in the other position. I do not quite see how this matter arises on this Bill.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Serving public servants who were obliged to retire at 65 years of age could compete again for public service posts provided they wait for 26 weeks after retirement. Then they would be new entrants under the Bill and would have no retirement age. That is the practical answer to the queries posed.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: It is but it is the practical answer.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The intention is to allow the garda to make an election at the age of 55. The important proviso is that although the garda can elect to continue working up to the age of 60, this is subject to the powers of the commissioner. The commissioner must be satisfied that the member is fully competent, available and capable of undertaking the relevant duties.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: That is not our understanding.

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This relates to the arrangements for prison officers. The pension arrangements for prison governors were the subject of a separate agreement under the conciliation and arbitration scheme. The amendments proposed are to make specific reference to that agreement and to formally designate prison governors for the purposes of the 1919 Act. These amendments are to ensure that the pension position...

Seanad: Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004: Committee Stage (Resumed). (26 Feb 2004)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Notwithstanding the drafting of a particular section, the relevant age is 60 for prison officers and governors.