Results 121-140 of 12,346 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This section replaces section 25 of the 1998 Act. Section 25(1) refers to discrimination against A in respect of employment in a particular post if the discrimination results from preferring B on the ground, that by reference to one or more of subsections (2) to (4) the sex of B amounts to an occupational qualification for the post in question. Subsection (2) states: For the purposes of this...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I do not think it will be an alibi for employers to open up an avenue of discrimination on gender grounds. If the employer refuses a person a job, which he advertises and is available, because of their gender and the person takes him to the equality tribunal the onus will be on the employer, provided a prima facie case is made — because of another section in the Bill — to prove that the...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: On Senator Tuffy's question on the minimum pay legislation, an amendment to that effect will be discussed next. We will discuss the issue then. I do not know why the amendments are not being taken together. I have listened carefully to what has been said and I agree with Senator O'Toole, who is speaking from a lot of experience, although I am not saying that other Senators are not doing so....

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: They will be.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Only where they are measurably doing less.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: There would be fewer if I accepted the Senator's amendment.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: The Government and I have reviewed carefully the matter and I have no notion of accepting the Senator's amendment. The proposal is off the wall. We do not live in a perfect world. The Senator is saying this is the equality we want. We will never have perfect equality, but I would prefer to have a type of equality which encourages employers to bring in more people with disabilities rather than...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: The Government introduced the concept of the minimum wage, therefore we do not wish to introduce legislation which would enable employers or anyone else to deviate from it. It was not intended that the provision would be used by employers to pay anyone less than the minimum wage. I thank Senator Terry for bringing this matter to our attention and I will consider the amendment sympathetically...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: Section 37(1) was inserted to permit discrimination by religious bodies in certain circumstances. These provisions are not affected by the provisions of the equality directives, the transposition of which is the purpose of this legislation. Article 4(1) of the framework employment directive narrows the provisions in section 37(1). I understand what Senator O'Toole is saying but such...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: In regard to the example the Senator gave about a teacher having a few scoops privately, I cannot envisage how that would undermine the religious ethos of the institution in which he or she is working provided he or she does it privately in his or her own time.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I do not believe it would. The authority concerned would not be justified in sacking a teacher in those circumstances because section 37(1)(b) specifically states that the action which is protected must be reasonably necessary to prevent an employee from undermining the religious ethos of the institution. As the saying goes, "saying it don't make it so". I understand what the Senator is...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: In regard to amendment No. 16, we are transposing the terminology directly from the directive. Therefore, I do not consider there is any reason to accept that amendment. We have been asked to transpose the directive, and we can go further, but, in reality, I do not believe it is going any further. This section amends section 37 of the 1998 Act to take account of the framework directive in...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: It is, both from the point of view of what is allowed and what is excluded.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This amendment to section 44 of the Act of 1998 is proposed to enable 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 sphere of such payments, and I propose to include the Equality Authority in this category.

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This amendment inserts additional provisions in section 67 of the Act of 1998 to further clarify matters relating to the Equality Authority's role in providing assistance to persons in taking proceedings under the Act. The principal new provision is contained in the new subsection (5). This makes explicit that the relationship between a solicitor employed by the authority or a barrister...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: The purpose of Part VI of the Employment Equality Act 1998 is to provide guidance to employers, particularly large enterprises, in taking a proactive approach to implementing equality legislation in the workplace. Section 69 gives the Equality Authority particular powers, at its discretion, to invite a particular business or business group or sector to carry out an equality review or to...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: This is a minor technical amendment to the new provision in section 27(d) of the Bill, inserting a new section 75(3). The intention in this provision is to enable the director of the Equality Tribunal to issue appropriate guidelines or guidance notes to ensure that redress in equality cases taken before it is met with an efficient and fair response. It is considered that the provision, as...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: It was thought, when the legislation was being drafted and this office was being created, that it was better to give the director the power to recruit the staff in view of the fact that he or she would be best qualified to decide the calibre of employee required. It is a highly specific area. However, whatever staff are normally recruited by the director will be subject to the consent of the...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: As Senator Tuffy has said, the amendment in her name removes jurisdiction from discriminatory dismissal cases from the Labour Court. I deduce that she wants it to remain with the Equality Tribunal. The redress provided for in section 77 of the Employment Equality Act 1998 places such jurisdiction with the Labour Court for the good reason that this body has extensive statutory powers and long...

Seanad: Equality Bill 2004: Committee Stage. (18 Feb 2004)

Willie O'Dea: I do not think so. Under section 77(3) of the Employment Equality Act 1998 the option for a claimant in a general discrimination case to refer it to the Circuit Court is available, in order to allow access to an unlimited award of compensation. This is a requirement of the gender equal treatment directive, following the 1993 judgment of the European Court of Justice in the Marshall case....