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Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Legal Costs (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: There is a great deal of merit in what the Deputy has said. Some of the legal fees that have come into the public domain in recent years, such as tribunal fees and fees for legal cases taken by the HSE and others, are disturbingly high. That is why we have embarked on a new procurement regime. The Office of the Chief State Solicitor has taken a number of initiatives in this regard. It...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Legal Costs (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...be achieved. Specific reductions which have already been made include: - The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009 which imposed reductions on levels of professional fees, including legal fees. The fees payable to State Solicitors, who act on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions in cases of indictable prosecution outside Dublin, were reduced by 8%...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff (7 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...arbitrators. At any given time, PAS would have approximately sixty active on their database that would be used from time to time for short periods. For this work, retired members are paid on a fee-per-day basis and are subject to tax and other relevant deductions. The fees are linked to pre-retirement grades and take account of the principal of pension abatement. These positions are not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff (6 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...arbitrators. At any given time, PAS would have approximately sixty active on their database that would be used from time to time for short periods. For this work, retired members are paid on a fee-per-day basis and are subject to tax and other relevant deductions. The fees are linked to pre-retirement grades and take account of the principle of pension abatement. These positions are not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Legislation (23 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...in the Houses and to Oireachtas committees and through replies to parliamentary questions. Despite the very substantial restrictions and limitations to FOI introduced in 2003, the introduction of "up-front" FOI fees for non-personal requests is often presented in public debate as the most significant curtailment to FOI made at that time, notwithstanding that such fees apply to about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...because it will take on board many of the recommendations of the Information Commissioner. I brought the Bill early to the committee so that I could hear practical views of what we can do. Fees were brought in because the search and retrieval regime put a notional cost on the burden of providing the information. Deputy Fleming is right. That has got out of kilter now. To abolish...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...burden on the system. That is just a practical consideration. I would be interested to hear the committee's views, on a cross-party and collective basis, on whether the principle of a no-fee regime would be a superior requirement. We have looked at this carefully. At the beginning, our general disposition was to have a no-fee regime. As I have said, my own discernment as of now is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...I do not regard the Executive as having proprietorial rights or all wisdom on these matters. I will be genuinely open to constructive thoughts on this point. We have had an open discussion about fees and I set out what I believe. I hear what Deputies are saying. Section 10, which deals with vexatious requests, is not regarded as very effective and it is a matter we are reviewing. In...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I have an open mind on the fees issue. I do not want the systems to be overwhelmed by people submitting reams of freedom of information requests. However, many people have overcome the fee structure by simply submitting multiple requests in a number of subsets under a single freedom of information request. It is a moot point. We are now in a situation where we want administration in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is a fair point but I do not wish to spend a lot of money asking every agency to track the proportion of the time spent to send out a fee notice or to collect a fee. I will have regard to it, now that the Deputy has made that point. I believe, as a general principle, that what I have set out is logical and reasonable. We are charging for base, non-personal information a fee that covers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: ...Bill and in pushing the hands of Government, which is a useful thing to do on issues of importance. I was glad to be able to accept it. My officials will take note of everything said today. On fees, the bulk of applications are for personal information in respect of which no fees accrue. Some 70% of all applications fall into that category. As such, only 30% of freedom of information...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (10 Jan 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Chairman wish me to mention the fees issue separately?

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Health Service Reform (20 Dec 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I refer the Deputy to the Minister for Heath who has responsibility for achieving the €70m savings target set by Government in the estimates by way of a reduction in professional fees. It is matter for the Minister for Health to determine by regulation the appropriate level of reduction in professional fees for the different health professionals having regard to the state of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Contracts (12 Dec 2012)

Brendan Howlin: ...operated to a high standard and complies with all the necessary Childcare, HSE, and Environmental Health Regulations. In 2011 and 2012 these audits were carried out by a company called Canavan & Byrne and the fees paid in 2011 and 2012 were 8,046.50 and 8,179.50 respectively.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Budget Statement 2013 (5 Dec 2012)

Brendan Howlin: ...co-payment for drugs will help make funding more sustainable. The drug payment scheme threshold is being increased from €132 to €144 per month and will save an additional €10 million. Professional fees for health service providers, such as GPs and community pharmacists, will be reduced to save €70 million.

Financial Resolutions 2013 - Budget Statement 2013 (5 Dec 2012)

Brendan Howlin: ...in education. We focused the savings measures on those areas where expenditure can be reduced without a significant impact on core education services. We will increase the staffing schedule for fee paying schools next year by two points. We are reducing the allocation to VECs by €13 million in 2013. The VECs will be able to deliver the same level of service by managing from...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Consultancy Contracts (27 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: ...; and, v. strengthening vendor and category management. I would also remind the Deputy that, in addition to the downward pressure on overall expenditure exerted by the Departmental ceilings, fees on professional services engaged by Departments have been subject to a minimum 8% reduction since 2009.

Other Questions: National Lottery (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: .... It is not a bad deal for Ireland. I would not do it if it was not a good deal for Ireland. There were a few misconceptions in the Deputy's long set of questions. He talked about the up-front fee which I expect to use to build the national children's hospital and he set that against the good causes. The good causes money is separate and the total volume of money for good causes...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Lottery (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: ...advisers, as planned, to assist it in the process. Following a tendering process carried out by my Department, Davy Corporate Finance was awarded the contract. Davy Corporate Finance will be paid a fee based on the achievement of a number of key objectives during the process. I will set out the full fee cost once the process is completed. In establishing the parameters for a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Radio Spectrum (6 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: ...management of the radio spectrum is a statutory function of the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) under the Communications Regulation Act, 2002 as amended. The level of spectrum fees that will be generated by the Multi-Band Spectrum Award process will be determined by the eventual level of demand expressed in the auction. I am advised that section 2.2.5 of the...