Latest news with #Fitzsimons
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Man pleads guilty over involvement in alleged incident involving ‘branding stamp'
One of five men accused of falsely imprisoning and attacking a man during an incident allegedly involving a 'branding stamp' has pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm. Devon Hennessy (29) of Edgewood Lawns, Corduff, Dublin 15, also admitted at the Special Criminal Court on Monday to assaulting the man as part of a joint enterprise aimed at 'enhancing the ability of a criminal organisation to commit a serious offence'. He pleaded guilty before the three-judge, non-jury court to the false imprisonment of Barry Moore at a house on Sheephill Avenue, Dublin 15, on February 12th. Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, said the pleas were on a 'full facts basis' and said the State was asking the court to take two further charges on the indictment against Hennessy into account. READ MORE He has been remanded in custody until October 7th for a sentencing date to be fixed. Four of his co-accused are awaiting trial in connection with the alleged assault and are due before the court on Thursday. They are his brothers Jason Hennessy jnr (28) and Brandon Hennessy (22), of Sheephill Avenue, Blanchardstown, as well as Kenneth Fitzsimons (45) and his son Dean Fitzsimons, of Castlecurragh Vale, Mulhuddart, all Dublin 15. Ms Justice Karen O'Connor has said the court may hear the trial in the next term. The four are charged with false imprisonment, intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm and with participating in or contributing to the activity of a criminal organisation by assaulting the alleged victim causing him serious harm. Jason Hennessy jnr is further charged with threatening to damage property and producing a branding stamp to intimidate another person during a dispute or a fight on the same date and at the same location. Brandon Hennessy is charged with producing a 'steel breaker bar' in a manner likely to intimidate another person while committing or appearing to be about to commit an assault. Dean Fitzsimons is charged with making a threat to kill or cause serious harm to the alleged victim and producing a metal branding stamp and a steel breaker bar. Kenneth Fitzsimons is charged with producing a steel breaker bar and an axe during the course of a dispute or fight.
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Tiny number of new pay equity claims expected – but first is ‘very close'
Last week, the Herald asked Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden for an update on the number of claims brought or likely to be brought under her new regime. Van Velden's office said the matter was better handled by the agencies responsible for the claims, and forwarded the Herald's query to them. When asked whether she was happy with the way the new regime was working, van Velden said it was 'early days to see how it will roll out in practice'. 'I do believe we got the law correct,' she said. Health NZ Te Whatu Ora's funding and investment director, Jason Power, told the Herald it purchased 'services from a large number of third-party providers but we are not the employer of the workforces that deliver these contracted services'. 'We are not aware of any new pay equity claims across the third-party providers we purchase services from,' Power said. The Ministry of Education's hautū (leader), Anna Welanyk, told the Herald 'no new pay equity claims have been raised since the amendments were made to the Equal Pay Act'. She said the ministry 'has ongoing obligations under the amended Equal Pay Act to respond to and investigate new pay equity claim/s that are raised, once it's been determined the claim meets the required thresholds applying to new claims. Our responsibility to respond to new claims continues under the amended Equal Pay Act.' PSA not intending to use new law The Herald also spoke to the unions responsible for the workforces likely to take claims. Public Service Association (PSA) national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons, who ran as a Labour candidate at the last election, told the Herald the union 'had no intention to file any claims under the new amended Equal Pay Act'. Fitzsimons said the union had 'no confidence women will get equal pay through that legislation'. 'It guts the heart of pay equity. It undermines the ability for women to even be heard,' she said. She said that in some cases, the legislation barred claims from being lodged. This was the case with care and support workers' claim. That claim, which was fought in the courts and sparked the creation of the old pay equity scheme, expired at the end of 2023. In some cases, these workers are now earning the minimum wage. The new regime prevents settled claims being revisited for 10 years after they were initially settled. This means if a pay equity settlement is eroded as a result of male-dominated workforces' wages rising faster, it cannot be litigated until 10 years after the settlement. 'There isn't any ability for those women to even advance a claim under the current legislation – it's not a choice we've made, the legislation itself bans the claim,' Fitzsimons said. She said in the case of other workforces such as probation officers, library assistants, and administration and clerical workers, the union would not be taking pay equity claims but is 'seeking improvements to their pay through collective bargaining'. Nurses' union to take claims soon The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is taking a different approach. It had 12 claims that it took or was a party to – covering 13,200 members – extinguished by the law change. NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter told the Herald 'we decided pretty much immediately after the announcement the issue was too important for us not to pursue any chance at all of continuing pay equity claims'. 'Our members are very strongly in support of us doing that,' he said. Goulter said the Government's changes were 'intended in our view to rule out advancing pay equity claims under the guise of making it easier and more transparent'. He said employers in the funded sector, the private employers who deliver mainly government-funded services, were also keen to have pay equity established because it would help to grow the workforce. He said the union was 'very close' to lodging claims relating to Plunket and hospice workers. Goulter also raised concerns with the 10-year rule. He noted a large claim relating to nurses employed by Health NZ could not be reopened until 2033. It covered 35,000-40,000 nurses. Education union analysing law's effects Education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa is still delving into how the new regime will function. Because it was passed in mere hours under urgency, without consultation or a select committee, unions had very little time to come to grips with the way the new regime works. NZEI's national secretary Stephanie Mills said her union was still 'analysing' the new regime. 'We've asked the ministry a number of questions about how they would interpret the new act in relation to a claim or claims,' she said. Mills said many of the things her union is looking at include 'technical' problems, such as the new regime's changing of the threshold for raising a claim to one of 'merit'. The old system allowed claims to be raised if they were 'arguable'. What that means in practice is still not clear to NZEI. Asked whether the union would take a claim in future, Mills said NZEI wanted to 'keep looking'. 'We do want to do the best by members. In the end we'll have to make a call about whether we do or don't [lodge a claim]. 'In the meantime we'll be making the argument that the legislation does need to change and does need to be fixed,' she said.
Scoop
07-07-2025
- Health
- Scoop
First-Ever Strike At Pharmac
Health economists, Māori health experts, and medical practitioners who are members of the New Zealand Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi at Pharmac will strike this week, the first-ever at the agency, after their employer proposed an unacceptable pay offer and an extensive clawback of conditions. The strike will involve walking off the job on Wednesday 9 July at 10:30am for one hour. "The team at Pharmac, like many other Government agencies, are constantly being asked to deliver more with less," PSA National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons says. "Pharmac does essential work getting life-saving medicines to New Zealanders. Workers and their families deserve a fair pay increase and decent conditions of work, not this terrible pay offer and a reduction in their conditions of work." The PSA initiated bargaining over a year ago in June 2024, but Pharmac did not bargain until October. At the bargaining, Pharmac management proposed a number of reductions in terms and conditions of employment, including a service eligibility for step pay progression and only making redundancy available to permanent staff, as well as a pay offer of just 0.2 per cent. In June this year, the PSA proposed mediation after Pharmac proposed to remove members' step pay system. In mediation, Pharmac proposed a number of new reductions in terms and conditions. Most notably, it proposed a reduction in the size of step pay increases in exchange for a one-off 'buyout' of the step increase employees would have otherwise received this year. "The public servants at Pharmac care deeply about serving New Zealanders. All they ask in return is the right pay and conditions so that they can do their jobs effectively," Fitzsimons says. Pharmac staff will be picketing outside their office at 40 Mercer Street from 10:30am-11:30am during the industrial action. The parties are attending mediation with the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment on 16 and 17 July 2025. Other PSA statements on Pharmac:
BreakingNews.ie
24-06-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Five men accused of holding man down and branding him with the word ‘rat' on his face
Five men accused of attacking a man who was allegedly branded "RAT", beaten and held in a west Dublin house will stand trial in the Special Criminal Court. Brothers Jason Hennessy Jr (28), Devon Hennessy (29) and 22-year-old Brandon Hennessy of Sheephill Avenue, Kenneth Fitzsimons (45) and his 24-year-old son, Dean Fitzsimons, of Castlecurragh Vale, Dublin 15, were remanded in custody earlier in connection with an incident on February 12th at the Hennessys' home. Advertisement They were initially charged with various offences, including causing serious harm to the alleged victim and falsely imprisoning him, as well as producing an article during a dispute. Later, gardaí charged them with additional serious offences under Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006, "for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a criminal organisation to commit a serious offence." The five appeared before Judge Alan Mitchell at Cloverhill District Court on Tuesday. Judge Mitchell noted that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed trial on indictment. Advertisement Furthermore, a State solicitor informed Judge Mitchell that the DPP authorised the five men to be sent forward for trial to the non-jury Special Criminal Court, mainly used for terrorism and organised crime cases. Gardaí served them with books of evidence. The DPP drafted a certificate under section 46.2 of the Offences Against the State Act that, in this case, "the ordinary courts are inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice". It was furnished to the judge, who granted the return for trial order, to the venue sought by the DPP; however, a date for their appearance at the three-judge court, in the Criminal Courts of Justice, has yet to be set. Advertisement The defendants have not indicated pleas and were remanded in continuing custody. Copies of video evidence are to be handed over to their solicitor, Simon Fleming, who applied for legal aid. The judge warned the men to notify the prosecution if they intended to adduce alibi evidence in their defence. Legal aid was granted to include continued representation of Mr Fleming, along with a barrister and senior counsel for each defendant. Ireland 90 arrests made during Donegal International Rally... Read More Brandon Hennessy is charged with knowingly "holding down" the man while "RAT" was branded onto his face and torso. Jason Hennessy and Dean Fitzsimons have charges alleging that their role was "branding the word RAT to the face and torso" of the man. Kenneth Fitzsimons and Devon Hennessy are accused of assaulting the man "in preparation for branding the word RAT onto his face and torso". It is alleged that when the five men committed the offences outlined, they were "participating in an activity of the organisation".
Scoop
24-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Another 46 Jobs To Go At DIA With A Further 14 Under Threat
The Department of Internal Affairs has told staff today that it is axing another 46 jobs, which the PSA says which will ramp up workload on remaining staff and put New Zealanders at risk. The changes confirmed to staff at briefings today will see many roles merged, such as the Manager Digital Violent Extremism being merged with a Manager Digital Messaging and Systems, says Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. "Expecting one manager to do the work of two, especially at a time when the risk of violent extremism is escalating, is dangerous and makes no sense," Fitzsimons says. The changes will also see Personal Assistants become responsible for two General Managers instead of one. "Reducing Personal Assistants is a false economy that will see senior managers spending more time doing administrative work, rather than the work they were employed to do. At the same time, it increases the likelihood of the Personal Assistants facing burn out from unreasonably increased workloads. "Personal Assistants do the type of vital support role performed predominantly by women that are dismissed by the Government but are the glue that hold organisations together," Fitzsimons says. The changes follow proposals put forward for consultation in March, which aimed to save approximately $8 million a year to meet Government savings targets. They followed a wave of restructuring last year which saw, among many changes, the loss of key staff keeping children safe from online harm, and those stopping scams and international crime syndicates engaging in money laundering. As well as the 46 roles confirmed to today, another 69 fixed term roles were not renewed and the DIA is reconsulting on changes that may see another net reduction of 14 roles.
