Frank Trappe’s Post

https://lnkd.in/eWR8AfRK SIPTU members in Citizens Information ballot on strike action. SIPTU members employed in the Citizens Information Service (CIS) have begun a ballot for strike action which could close dozens of Citizens Information Centres around the countr. The action is being taken, SIPTU claim, due to a failure by their employers and the Department of Social Protection to respect a Labour Court recommendation on a pay increase for staff. SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, John King, said: “CIS staff provide a vital in-person service informing people of their rights and advocating on their behalf across the country. It is a service which our members are very committed to providing and will greatly regret being forced to suspend for an indefinite period unless the State provides them with what its own industrial relations court for dispute resolution, the Labour Court, has said is a fair and just pay rise. “Yet again we have a situation where a Government Department, in this case the Department of Social Protection, is attempting to shirk its responsibility to hundreds of workers who provide a vital public service on behalf of the State. They attempt to explain away this failure to respect these workers through a hall of mirrors trick in which the funding Government Department claims not to have an employer relationship with staff due to the monies flowing through supposedly independent companies before making it to them.” He added: “This situation is intolerable and workers throughout the Community Sector will no longer be treated as second-class citizens and have their commitment to the services they provide used against them due to a reluctance to take action which could impact clients. Rather, as with their colleagues in the National Advocacy Service earlier this year, they are showing they are willing to stand up in order to protect their rights and the future of the vital services they provide.” SIPTU Community Sector Organiser, Brendan Carr, said: “Approximately 300 workers operating nearly 50 offices across the country will be impacted by a vote for strike action. The proposed action will be indefinite in duration and result in the full closure of this vital service until action is taken to respect the Labour Court recommendation that was secured in June this year.” The CIS ballot is scheduled to be counted on Friday, 20th September, in Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.

https://lnkd.in/efkC_9YM Objections to Hearing Arrangements Guidelines. How do WRC hearings take place? WRC adjudication hearings may take place by way of an in-person hearing at a designated WRC location, or by remote means using the WebEx online platform. A ‘remote hearing’ is where the participants are not all in one place and includes a hybrid hearing. A ‘hybrid hearing’ is where one or more participants attends an in-person hearing by remote means; other parties may physically attend the hearing. All WRC hearings are conducted in a manner which is consistent with the dignified and orderly administration of justice.

https://lnkd.in/ekMcT9SJ Should Ireland have a Citizenship test as a part of the naturalisation process? 24 Member States (MS) provided information in relation to their Countries Citizenship Process. They were asked to answer the following questions: 1. Does your Member State require the foreigner to pass a citizenship test in order to acquired nationality? YES/NO. If you answer YES, can you please indicate which authority/institution is responsible for the administration of citizenship tests? 2. Which authority/institution is responsible for drafting the questions for the test? 3. What topics are covered by the questions in the test? The following Countries have a test as part of its naturalisation process: Austria 🇦🇹 Croatia 🇭🇷 Cyprus 🇨🇾 Czech Republic 🇨🇿 Estonia 🇪🇪 France 🇫🇷 Georgia 🇬🇪 Germany 🇩🇪 Greece 🇬🇷 Hungary 🇭🇺 Latvia 🇱🇻 Lithuania 🇱🇹 Luxembourg 🇱🇺 Netherlands 🇳🇱 Spain 🇪🇸 The following Countries do not have an test as part of its naturalisation process: Bulgaria 🇧🇬 Finland 🇫🇮 Ireland 🇮🇪 Italy 🇮🇹 Poland 🇵🇱 Serbia 🇷🇸 Slovakia 🇸🇰 Slovenia 🇸🇮 Sweden 🇸🇪

https://lnkd.in/ekMcT9SJ New ad-hoq query published on citizenship tests as a part of the naturalisation process. What EMN countries have citizenship tests as part of the naturalisation process? Naturalisation is the process through which an individual can receive a nationality not previously held at the time of their birth. A recent EMN ad-hoc query offers comparative information on citizenship tests as part of the naturalisation process across EMN Member and Observer Countries. The ad-hoc query examines whether the 25 responding EMN Member and Observer Countries require a citizenship test for individuals to acquire nationality. For those that do, the ad-hoc Query asked about the authority or institution responsible for administering and drafting these tests, the topics covered, the connection between language and citizenship components in these tests, measures or sanctions in place to prevent potential misuse, and fees for the tests. Some countries such as Austria, Cyprus, Germany and Spain do organise examinations as part of the naturalisation process. The authority or institutions responsible for administering these vary but generally are government institutions responsible for education, migration, or citizenship issues. Topics covered in citizenship tests can include knowledge of culture, history, geography, political and current affairs and knowledge of the language of the country. In some countries, there is a standalone examination of language proficiency as part of naturalisation procedures. In the majority of countries that organise tests, there is a fee for participating in the examination. Ireland does not require non-citizens to pass a citizenship test in order to acquire nationality. Citizenship, acquired through naturalisation, is widely acknowledged as a key measure of integration and therefore an important element of integration policy. In 2020, our colleagues in the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), investigated language and civic requirements for naturalisation elsewhere in Europe. The report provides an overview of requirements adopted for naturalisation in EU Member States and the UK and a ‘deep dive’ into practices in selected case study countries particularly relevant for Ireland. The report found that the introduction of requirements in Ireland would represent a significant new policy direction, bearing potentially considerable costs. In addition, information on what extent language and citizenship requirements lead to better integration outcomes is sparse, therefore it was difficult to reach any conclusions about the long-term effects of language and civic integration requirements linked to citizenship. Read the full results of the ad-hoc query here.