Results 1,281-1,300 of 1,111,306 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Michael McNamara OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Pippa Hackett OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Patrick Costello OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Willie O'Dea OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Richard Bruton6 OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Seán Haughey) in 'Committee meetings'

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Wastewater Treatment (23 Oct 2024)

Malcolm Noonan: I thank the Deputy for raising this critically important issue. The supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. The Minister has no function regarding...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I remind members participating remotely that they must do so from within the Leinster House complex. Apologies have been received from Deputy Shanahan. Today we will look at pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the protection of employees (employers’ insolvency) (amendment) Bill 2024. The Bill provides for a number of important amendments to the protection of employees...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank Ms Breathnach for her opening statement. I now invite members who wish to contribute to do so. As the committee will be aware, we have a rota in place so please indicate and I will call each member in. Deputy O'Reilly is first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I thank Ms Breathnach for coming in today and providing that information this morning. I have a couple of questions. This is quite technical but in respect of the gaps identified and referenced in the submission and discussed in the many meetings of the interdepartmental group, is the Department satisfied they all will now be covered and the directive will be fully transposed in a way that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: That goes towards my next question. Ms Breathnach referenced the need to make the scheme operational for workers. I know that work is not finished and I am not looking for a run-down on that. In engaging in the process, will it be the case that a worker will need legal representation or is it the intention that once it is done, it will be easy and accessible? Will it work through a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: That is where my interest is, that is, whether they can do it without legal representation. Unfortunately and Ms Breathnach has seen this herself, where she or I might say that is handy enough, it is a form and we can log on and fly through it, I would not like to think any person might say to another - and we all know the incidents I am referring to - that they do not need to have legal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: This covers holidays and any other incidentals that are-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: Anything to do with pensions - and I have one, as we all do - gets very complicated. To go in to that for a moment as that is where I envisage a person might need some kind of representation or someone to help them, pensions are very complicated and it is easy to see the money when you get it but the operation of pension schemes can be extremely complex. I have a small concern where a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: That is excellent, I thank Ms Breathnach. Part 4 of the historical employer deemed insolvent application will go all the way back to 1983. How many cases does Ms Breathnach think apply? It is possibly unknowable.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: I can appreciate that. In the event that there is an insolvency or deemed to be an insolvency and the employer is around but abroad, will it be necessary for the worker to make extensive efforts to contact them if they are in another jurisdiction? If they are simply not around, will this kick in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Louise O'Reilly: In the event that it happened that the person simply walked away and went to another jurisdiction, that would simply kick in? They do not have to come back or make contact or anything like that, they can be deemed as absent? Those are all of my questions. I apologise, I have to go, I am attending an event in Buswells Hotel. I thank the witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I call Deputy Stanton.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: I thank the witnesses for their work on this issue. I know this Bill was the cause of quite a bit of angst, with some high-profile liquidations that were not liquidations. What are the custom and practices with respect to the sole trader provision? A lot of sole traders just cease trading and do not enter into personal insolvency arrangements. They just wind up. Is this requirement of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: That brings me to another question. Ms Breathnach said the implications of being deemed insolvent under this provision are ring-fenced from any other implication. I imagine, unless there is an aggravated end to a business, that employees of a sole trader might not want to put their hand up to say their employer should be deemed insolvent. They would fear phraseology like that, which has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: Will the employer, that is, the former sole trader who was the employer, be notified that this happened?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: Could an employer who discovers that they cannot pay, but wants to process the thing, trigger this process which would be private and only between themselves and their employee, instead of having it the other way around, where the employee has to trigger this? As Deputy O'Reilly said, there is something of a burden in that and there is probably a psychological issue for people. Could an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: Are many of these are statutory entitlements, such as holiday pay?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: The Department is still requiring an application process and it is not allowing the employer to trigger this process where they recognise the statutory entitlements of their worker but are just not in a position to meet them at that moment. Would it be possible to consider that by way of amendment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: General Scheme of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2024 (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Bruton: Does Ms Breathnach mean that everything is paid up with sole traders?