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Is employment law in Ireland over-regulated?
(1 Paper / 3 CPD Points) - Buy now

Industry complain there is too much regulation governing their business especially in regard to Employment Law while trade unions believe that there is still room for more regulation. This debate sets corporate Ireland against unions and set out their respective arguments.

Two teams debate this issue:

Duncan Inverarity, BCM Hanby Wallace (Chairman)

Duncan Inverarity is a Partner in the Employment Law department of BCM Hanby Wallace. He advises both public and private sector employers and regularly appears in Employment Law Fora, including the Rights Commissioner Service, the Equality Tribunal, the Labour Court, the Employment Appeals Tribunal, the Circuit Court, the High Court and Supreme Court.

Mark Fielding, CEO, ISME

Mark Fielding has been the CEO of the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, ISME, the Independent Business Organisation, since August 2001. He has worked in the UK, France and Ireland and has assisted in the start up of more than 300 enterprises prior to taking up his current role of CEO at ISME. ISME is the independent lobby group for the Irish SME sector with in excess of 8,500 members nationwide.

Loughlin Deegan, Solicitor, IBEC

Loughlin Deegan is a solicitor in the Employment Law Unit of IBEC. He represents and advises IBEC’s member companies across the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters. Loughlin qualified as a solicitor in 2001 from 2002 to 2007 he served as Special Adviser to the Attorney General. He has been a member of the Employment and Equality Law Committee of the Law Society of Ireland since 2007.

Michelle Quinn, Independent Colleges

Michelle Quinn LL.B; LL.M, is a Lecturer in Law at Independent Colleges Dublin. From 2007 to December 2008, she acted as Senior Tutor for the Tutorial School of Law at University College Dublin. Prior to that, she worked as a Legal Researcher for Professor John P. Madden of Madden Mediation & Arbitration Ltd.

Michael Halpenny, SIPTU

Michael Halpenny is head of the Legal Rights Unit of SIPTU. He was formally National Industrial Secretary and is a Trade Union Organiser and activist for over thirty years. He is a qualified barrister and a graduate of the National University of Ireland and Trinity College, and is an associate lecturer in employment law in the National College of Ireland.

Esther Lynch, ICTU

Esther Lynch is Legislation and Social Affairs Officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Has participated at senior level in negotiations on national agreements. Member of the Board of the Heath and Safety Authority. At EU level, she is a member of the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) NETLEX, labour law experts group and the EU Commission’s High Level Advisory Group on the Free Movement of Workers.

Ercus Stewart, SC

Ercus Stewart, S.C., Barrister-at-Law, England, Wales and Northern Ireland; NSW, Australia; F.C.I. Arb., Dip.Intl.Arb.Law (DIT), Dip.Int.Arb. (UCD) is a leading Employment and Arbitration Law Practitioner in Ireland. His publications for are: Arbitration: Commentary and Sources; co-author of Compensation on Dismissal: Employment Law and Practice and co-author of A Handbook of Essential Employment Law and Regulations.

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