Results 341-360 of 1,049,982 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Kathleen Funchion OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Okay, that is interesting. Let us imagine that tomorrow morning the Minister picks up the phone and says he is minded to abolish sub-minimum rates of pay, that all of them should be gone and he wants to do it. Would the Department do that via this legislation or would Mr. Smyth feel it necessary to draft the Department's own legislation? If there is a difference, the witnesses might...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I appreciate that but sometimes we discuss legislation here and we are mindful of potential knock-on consequences. Are there no stumbling blocks other than it being subject to legal advice? I am not asking for a specific legal opinion. Ms Pyke's instinct is that it would be-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Exactly, and that is my view as well. I sometimes think that, with legislation, less is very often more. The more you put in, the more likely it is you could be tripped up. The opening statement states, "the incidence of sub-minimum youth rates may increase during recessionary periods". That happens because things are tight during recessionary periods and employers will, by necessity...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I understand that. I do not want to put words in the mouths of the sponsors of the Bill but I think what they want to do is take away from an employer the option of having the facility there to access cheaper and cheaper labour. The Department's submission refers to those who advocate for the retention of these rates doing so because they believe they are necessary to reflect different...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Ms Pyke is making my point for me. There is no academic evidence; there is only a feeling. If we speak to someone working on a shop floor they will often say that what a person might lack in experience they will make up for in other ways and it will even out. That there are training rates, and that making a link to experience could not be done, points to the fact that experience is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: There is no evidence to support not eliminating this. When I look around for evidence, employers cannot provide it but they say they feel it. It is little bit like when the minimum wage was introduced and we heard terrible tales of woe about all of the businesses that were going to close but it did not happen. Perhaps there is a little bit of that with the people who are arguing against...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Sorry to interrupt but I am well aware of all those non-specific schemes. I am talking specifically about the submission that was made about the elimination of sub-minimum rates of pay and the reference in it to the potential need for supports for those employers who could be affected were this legislation to be enacted. I am aware of the generality and catch-all, although some would say it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Okay. Has the ESRI been asked to do that work? Is it doing it at the moment or is it part of a bigger body of work it is doing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Is there any timeline on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: It is all part of the economic impact assessment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: That is fine. Those are all my questions. I thank the Chair and the witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I turn to previous recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. It obviously recommended the introduction of the sub-minimum rates. How quickly was that done and how much assessment was done? How much of a delay was there? Deputy Murphy has pointed out that there is a bit of a time lag between the recommendation and any potential action. How fast does it usually happen?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I thank Ms Pyke.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: That is what I am saying. In the intervening time, how many reports - by Indecon or the ESRI, or whoever - were done and how much stakeholder consultation was done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sub-Minimum Rates of the National Minimum Wage: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Sep 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Okay. That would be important because it seems like a lot of questions have to be asked when the balance is shifting in the other direction. The committee would benefit from having that.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Renewable Energy Generation (18 Sep 2024)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the Deputy. The answer indicates the Department of housing has no plans to introduce more specific guidelines on how solar farms should be developed. The Deputy asked about that. The Department is saying it is bringing in regional capacity allocations. In other words, these are projections for the amount of solar power we have produced in each region of Ireland. Those are to be...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Renewable Energy Generation (18 Sep 2024)

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 11.14 p.m. go dtí 9 a.m., Déardaoin, an 19 Meán Fómhair 2024. The Dáil adjourned at at 11.14 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Thursday, 19 September 2024.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Road Projects (18 Sep 2024)

Ossian Smyth: The proof that road projects are proceeding and being completed in Kerry is shown by the Listowel bypass, which was completed this summer. This year, €4.7 million was allocated for the construction of new national roads in Kerry and another €9.7 million was allocated for the improvement of the existing network. This is in addition to approximately €119 million in...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Road Projects (18 Sep 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: No money, no fun.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Road Projects (18 Sep 2024)

Ossian Smyth: Due to the funding constraints for national roads this year, a prioritisation exercise was necessary. In line with the NDP and Government policy, the Minister for Transport has allocated national roads funding for 2024 in a manner which seeks to achieve the following outcomes: protection and renewal of the existing national road network; progressing major projects in or near construction;...