Results 701-720 of 1,045,260 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Terry Leyden OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Gino Kenny OR speaker:Peter Burke)

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: It will come into effect in August.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: No, the current SEO has not expired. The new one will be in place from next August and will also allow for increased remuneration the following August. One reason we tend to sign the SEOs about six months in advance is to give employers enough notice to take account of them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: The weekly contribution coming into effect from August 2025 will be €2.37 for employers and €0.63 for employees, which means the total weekly contribution will be €3.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: I am pleased to hear the Senator wants this to be passed quickly. That is absolutely our intention. For his son who is a third-year apprentice, this will mean he will be at 75% of the craft rate from August 2025, or 75% of €23, which is about €17.25. This is, I hope, good news for the Senator's son and all apprentices in his position. Where somebody is being paid below that,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: Their trade union is there for that reason. That is why people organise in a collective way. Five trade unions were at the table to negotiate this and have worked closely with employers in this sector to agree terms and conditions. Employers will now be legally and statutorily bound from August, once we sign this into law, to pay appropriately in that regard and unfair dismissals...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: The CSO does research on the sector but it is not broken down by craft. We have given a breakdown by craft, so it is a bit difficult to compare and contrast. Ultimately, we saw that the construction sector was a very unfavourable one in which to work during the recession and that this had a considerably negative impact on the pipeline of apprentices. It took Ireland a long time to recover...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: One of the things we have done through the negotiations is set out a stepped pay scale for apprentices. In year one, apprentices are paid one third of the craft rate, but when they get into year two, they are paid half of it. They are paid 75% of it in year three and 90% in year four. This is to recognise the training, development and additional skills they gain each year. Although...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank Deputy Stanton.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2024: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank the Senator. We expect this problem to be resolved very shortly. The WRC inspectorate is staffed by civil servants from my Department. The staff are ranked at executive officer and higher executive officer levels. Resources at inspectorate level in the WRC have increased by almost one third since 2020, with the WRC now having been sanctioned for 80 inspectors, representing an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Messages to Dáil and Seanad (6 Nov 2024)

Emer Higgins: I thank everybody involved, including the five unions, employers, officials in my Department and the Labour Court. We have got to a good place and I will be happy to sign the statutory instrument.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: Good morning, everybody. I want to start off with one of the central themes of this particular issue for the past 50 years, which has been political will to really address issues around drug dependency and so forth. The citizens' assembly and the special committee on drug use issued recommendations and they were largely progressive in terms of looking at different policies and approaches to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: Obviously, we have had the status quo and what would be termed as a health-led approach. We have had this health-led approach for the past six or seven years and it has largely been lip service in terms of really getting down to the nitty-gritty of trying to save lives. Ireland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe. Some of those deaths could have been prevented. There are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: We have to be bold and radical in how we look at this issue. We need to look at the underlying issues of dependency and at different forms of how different countries have tackled drug dependency. Portugal has been cited. It is not perfect by any means but it is better than what we have at present. The elephant in the room that many people do not want to talk about, however, is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: That is an observation. I do not know if the witnesses want to comment on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: That is perfectly legal.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: That is a good point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: I always find strange the juxtaposition between drugs and alcohol. Alcohol is a perfectly legal substance to buy, while drugs are completely illegal. I find that parallel a bit of a contradiction in terms of our policy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: I want to drill down into the figures around the problematic use of drugs and those who are seeking treatment, although I am not sure the Department can give a breakdown of this. The figures are startling and they have increased by nearly 50% since 2017. Can the Department give a breakdown of the substances that people are seeking treatment for, in particular with regard to problematic...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces: Discussion (6 Nov 2024)

Gino Kenny: There is a definite trend since 2017 in the context of those presenting with an addiction to cocaine and the decline in heroin use.