Results 1,801-1,820 of 11,114 for speaker:Damien English

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: No, I am sorry-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: Am I allowed to answer the question, Chairman?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: We are very clearly saying we do not see how it assists. I think the authors have said so as well because the Senator has tried to get them to say so, from what I could see from reading the transcripts. They did not say that their report was applicable to the Debenhams situation. Their report was about companies in deficit situations. They have indeed referred to some cases where that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: To be clear, the State does honour statutory entitlements. It always does and it will do in every case. It pays out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I am sorry, the Senator made-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: To clarify again, the State pays out. In relation to Debenhams, over 1,700 applications have been made and they have been paid out in most cases as well. We understand the plight of the workers there and we will try to work with them as best we possibly can. We will try to engage with the unions who are still engaging with liquidators trying to see if they can source extra funds to pay out...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: As soon as they are ready. Our hope is to have a lot of this work completed towards the end of December. Certainly if it is in conjunction with the review of the company law review group which is targeted for the end of December. We should be in a position to do that. As soon as we have it I am happy to engage at the committee. This is a very open and transparent process we are involved...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: We all understand how difficult it is for all those involved in Debenhams or who are in any situation like that. It is not a nice place to be and, certainly, the workers feel strongly about it. As the Senator said, they have been out on the picket lines for more than 200 days. I have met and engaged with some of the employees and with the unions quite a lot around this. I fully understand...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: What was important for me was that the Debenhams workers and the unions had been negotiating with the liquidators and were, on the face of it, making progress. An offer was put on the table earlier in the summer. That was not accepted, or was not deemed to be enough. That was not my decision. It was up to the employees, shop stewards and unions to make a decision on that. Negotiations...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I do not see why that should not be the case. There were some complicated cases but we are working through those. The Department of Social Protection has gone through most cases and a commitment has been made in that respect. In the majority of cases, payment is made in less than eight weeks. The most recent figure I saw is that more than 750 payouts have already been made under the two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: The Senator will be familiar with the position relating to sick pay. She and others introduced a Bill, which we debated, and the Government gave a commitment to enter into a process to bring that to a conclusion. The Tánaiste stated that he wanted to see changes in the area of sick pay and committed to introducing a sick pay scheme. That kicked off a process spanning a few months...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: The process is under way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: There are far-reaching consequences in that regard. That is why it is important to look at company law and employment law together to get the balance right. Nessa Cahilll is right that some of these recommendations could be implemented but Ms Cahill and Mr. Duffy also said-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: -----that the existing legislation covers the majority of cases. It is not a case that there is no law in place.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I wrote to the stakeholders again this week with a list of other questions to be teased out. Deputy Louise O'Reilly and other members asked about the fund and we want to tease that out more and get views and other questions. A few suggestions have been made today. In my letter, I asked for a report by, I believe, 11 December. We should be in a position to have another meeting on 15 or 16...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: We will be in a good position after the second round of consultations to come back to the committee with our thinking on where we can go with this. I am not going to tie myself to a timeline because I am involved with other stakeholders and I cannot dictate their diaries, but that is the hope.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: The Duffy Cahill report relates to specific cases connected with assets. It does not cover every redundancy and insolvency.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: It is desirable and they do that. That is a private discussion they enter into and agree enhanced terms, be it of redundancy or in other situations. That is privately done. The State has legislation and statutory obligations. The Duffy Cahill report refers to this. If employees come to a private arrangement that they are entitled to more redundancy, the question we have to ask is who...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: I think the Senator is wrong on that. Her colleague, Deputy Nash, brought forward legislation to clarify the position in that regard in 2015. Workers do have access to collective bargaining.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Implementation of Duffy Cahill Report: Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (25 Nov 2020)

Damien English: Workers have negotiated collective agreements. The Duffy Cahill report was about how to honour those agreements afterwards.