Results 18,861-18,880 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Workplace Relations Bill 2014: From the Seanad (Resumed) (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Section 87 makes provision for an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 to bring it into line with rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Schultz-Hof line of cases regarding how time spent on sick leave should be treated for the purposes of the accrual of annual leave. It will allow workers who are on long-term sick leave to accrue and retain annual leave for up to...

Workplace Relations Bill 2014: From the Seanad (Resumed) (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Chief Parliamentary Counsel has advised that there is a difficulty with the constitutionality of the provisions. As drafted, the legislation allows the prosecution to prove all the ingredients of the offence by way of statements in a document. The prosecution would not be required to call witnesses and, consequently, the defence would have no opportunity to cross-examine, which is a...

Workplace Relations Bill 2014: From the Seanad (Resumed) (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: This is a necessary deterrent to respondents in employment rights proceedings who fail to pay awards of compensation as directed. The amendment provides that it will be an offence for a party so directed to pay compensation to a complainant but who fails to do so, except in circumstances where that respondent can demonstrate to the court that his or her failure to pay the compensation was...

Other Questions: Workplace Relations Services (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: A huge amount of change has taken place and it is a credit to the people working in this area. We are merging five bodies into two and there has been huge support from those involved in simplifying the process. Some 30 forms have been reduced down to one and an online application procedure has been developed. A pilot early resolution procedure is available so that cases which can be...

Other Questions: Workplace Relations Services (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: We have not deflected any staff from the hearings or the progression of cases. We have simplified the whole procedure. There were situations where the same case was being run in parallel in two different hearing routes. The same substantive case was being heard in two different arena. We are streamlining the process, for example, by reducing 30 forms down to one. This change has been...

Other Questions: Job Losses (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Immediately after the announcement by the company concerned, I established an inter-agency group to co-ordinate the response to the proposed job losses. The group, chaired by Enterprise Ireland, will seek to secure alternative employment in the area affected and ensure departing workers will have access to supports they need from State agencies in seeking retraining, access to social welfare...

Other Questions: Job Losses (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I completely deny that that is the case. Enterprise Ireland will support any restructuring plan agreed by the unions and the company. Once they work out a plan, we stand ready to support it in many ways, for example, by developing lean processes, providing training and support in undertaking research and development. Obviously, a restructuring plan has to be negotiated between the company...

Other Questions: Job Losses (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The company has committed clearly, both to me and the workforce, to making this investment. That is the context in which the negotiations are under way. The negotiations were delayed to some degree, for reasons the Deputy will know, but they have now started. We stand ready, through the Labour Relations Commission, to assist on the technical side. The Labour Relations Commission has a...

Other Questions: Workplace Relations Services (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The Deputy will be aware that, as part of the current reform of workplace relations services, the functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal will be transferred to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court in so far as first instance complaints and appeals, respectively, are concerned, with first instance complaints being referred to the WRC and appeals to the Labour...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for his support for this initiative. It is not true to say, as he projected in his initial statement, that foreign direct investment only takes place east of the Shannon. In the western counties to which Deputy Calleary referred in terms of the report from the WDC, 4,000 additional jobs were created by the IDA in the past four years. There has been a stronger performance...

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated, the Government has provided €150 million for the IDA to develop property-based solutions across the country, only 30% of which is committed to the 12 advanced facilities. There is an IDA facility to support initiatives. It is a pity the Deputy was not at the regional enterprise forum because people genuinely examined our strengths and what we can build in the regions....

Other Questions: Regional Development (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Supporting enterprise development in all regions of the country in order to support job creation is a key objective of the Government. All regions have experienced jobs growth, as the Minister of State, Deputy English, has said, but the rate of progress in some regions is less than in others. That is why the Government is placing an increased emphasis on supporting job creation in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Competition Authority Investigations (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I can assure the Deputy that none of those details was provided. As I said earlier, the only function of the authority, myself and the Department was with regard to the effect of this transaction on competition in the Irish economy. No examination or briefing was provided on any other aspects of the transaction or the companies involved. To have done so would have been to act outside our...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Competition Authority Investigations (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The information provided to the Competition Authority, and from it to the Department, is solely related to competition impact and whether this would represent an increased concentration in the marketplace and so forth. None of the issues that have given rise to public concern was brought to the attention of the Competition Authority. However, the Minister for Finance has established an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Data (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: The concept of part-time underemployment is based on ILO and EUROSTAT definitions and includes job holders who are working part time, willing to work additional hours and available to work additional hours. The level of part-time underemployment in Ireland has been falling steadily from its peak in the second quarter of 2012 when it stood at 157,000 or 8.5% of total employment and now stands...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Data (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: This is a work in progress and we are making good headway, from the peak of 157,000 in 2012. When the statistics process started in Ireland, the number was 100,000 and we are getting back to pre-crash levels in so far as we know what the figures are. We are not concentrating on job creation in sectors that offer zero hour contracts or part-time work. The evidence is that the increase in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Employment Data (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I do not think they are a static group, with people leaving or entering the live register. Many of them are on the live register part time. There is a profile under the probability of exit, PEX, system which is shaping new programmes to assist people to get back to work. Also, it gives a rating for with whom the Intreo office should work because they are at higher risk of falling into the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Competition Authority Investigations (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: After the acquisition was agreed to by the parties involved, the Competition Authority received notification on 16 March 2012. Following this, notification of the proposed transaction was sent to me, as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, in accordance with section 23(1)(a) of the Competition Act 2002, on 20 March 2012 as the Competition Authority considered it to be a media merger...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: I welcome the publication of the EU’s draft Regulatory Cooperation Chapter which is intended to provide the framework for ongoing regulatory cooperation under TTIP. This is an area where significant mutual gains can be made which will promote trade and job creation. It will be a particular area of interest for Ireland with our large pharmaceutical and medical device sectors, It offers...

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Action Plan for Jobs (13 May 2015)

Richard Bruton: Action Plan for Jobs (APJ) 2015 was published in January this year and is the fourth in the multi-annual series of a whole of government approach to economic recovery, export growth and job creation. The Action Plan for Jobs set a target to increase employment by 100,000 by 2016 and we are well on track to achieve that figure this year, ahead of the target. Much work remains to be done...