Results 1,841-1,860 of 2,815 for speaker:Tony Killeen

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The labour inspectorate contacted the principal parties in the ESB dispute on Tuesday, 13 March 2006 and subsequently met senior representatives of the ESB and its agents. These contacts have been ongoing since and considerable progress has been made. The enforcement of employment rights is often characterised as a discrete function undertaken solely by the labour inspectorate. There is an...

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The Deputy is correct in stating that it can be extraordinarily difficult to establish who exactly is the employer of a particular employee. For example, frequently on building sites not only is there a principal contractor — this has arisen in the case of Moneypoint as well — but also there is a subcontractor under which there might be other subcontractors. Therefore, there is a...

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: In so far as it can be addressed, that will form a central part of the legislation, which will arise from the current round of social partnership negotiations. The number of inspectors has nearly doubled in the 18 months during which I have been in the Department. That is not to say, however, that the number was in any way near to being adequate previously. Nevertheless, considerable progress...

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I am referring to the number of inspectors.

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: They rose from ten to 14 and from 17 to the current level of 31. Depending on which dates one takes, the number has more than doubled. In view of the history of numbers and dates quoted in the Chamber in recent days, however, it might be better for us to stay away from that territory.

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The review of the mandate and resources issue will inform whatever legislation arises in this area. I cannot say with particular certainty to the Deputy or to the House exactly what will be in the legislation. However, every attempt will certainly be made to ensure all the shortcomings that have been pinpointed, both in terms of mandate and resources, will be addressed in new legislation or...

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I certainly hope the talks will not drag on too long but it is inevitable that these issues would be central to the current round of negotiations. Even if the events in Gama Construction and elsewhere had not arisen, the reality is that these reports were commissioned from the previous round of partnership talks with a view to being considered in the current round. That was inevitably going...

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The number of workplace inspections/visits undertaken by the labour inspectorate, during and after normal business hours, and prosecutions initiated in respect of the years 2002 to 2005 and to date in 2006 are set out in the following tabular statement. Year Inspections/Visits Prosecutions Initiated 2002 8,323 25 2003 7,168 20 2004 5,160 14 2005 5,719 25 2006 2,985...

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I will get them for the Deputy. I do not have them at the moment.

Labour Inspectorate. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: As I said, I will obtain the exact numbers of successful and completed prosecutions for Deputy Lynch. In fact, that was one of the factors which influenced the report on mandate and resources because successful prosecutions are extraordinarily difficult to achieve due to the level of proof needed and the lack of clarity surrounding the quality of payslips required. We wish to encourage people...

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 13 together. A review group on public safety was established in November 1999. The group was chaired by Dr. Daniel O'Hare and was widely representative of Departments and various agencies and bodies. Its report, entitled A Review of Public Safety in Ireland, was published just over a year later. The key recommendation of the group was that an office of...

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: Deputy Hogan is correct that the background to the establishment of the review group was the fact that many cases referred to the Health and Safety Authority did not ordinarily come within its remit. In an ideal world there would be a clear delineation between the various agencies. There normally is such delineation, such as between the Garda Síochána and the Health and Safety Authority on...

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: As a general principle, road traffic issues are a matter for the Garda Síochána and I understand that was the case in that instance.

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: Some closure may have been achieved. It is difficult to delineate responsibility in some cases where accidents occur on what is de facto a workplace such as county council roadworks. The two most recent cases brought some clarity and a memorandum of understanding between the Health and Safety Authority and the Garda Síochána is visited in these situations. That is probably the situation...

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The recommendations of the review group are anything but conclusive. They are quite inconclusive. At this stage, the Government task force on emergency planning is the group which deals with situations of this nature. It is chaired by the Minister for Defence and perhaps a question to him might be more appropriate in terms of establishing the remit and role of that group.

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I cannot give the undertaking across the range of issues which Deputy Hogan mentioned.

Health and Safety Regulations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I will mention it to the Minister for Defence. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 considerably improved the situation, which we will see better soon when the general application and construction regulations are in place.

Departmental Investigations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The labour inspectorate of the Department is responsible for monitoring certain employment conditions for all categories of workers in Ireland, including immigrant workers. The inspectorate operates without any differentiation with regard to worker nationality as statutory employment rights and protections apply to immigrant workers in exactly the same manner as they do to other workers. The...

Departmental Investigations. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: The inspectors have access to interpreters in this case and make use of them. That was one of the matters which slowed down progress in obtaining information initially. To the best of my knowledge the Department's website was corrected and is back up and running since 21 March. I understand the correction was made in one place and it was assumed that the package automatically changed it...

Job Protection. (23 Mar 2006)

Tony Killeen: I am informed that the report, entitled Managing Migration in Ireland: A Social and Economic Analysis, commissioned by the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, and undertaken by the International Organisation for Migration has not yet been finalised. I understand that NESC is considering a draft of the report and that it will formulate its comments on it over the next few months. It...