Results 9,141-9,160 of 9,832 for speaker:Thomas Byrne

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Can I take it as done?

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is not an important point and I do not expect the Minister will do this. Is there a provision on where the Department will be located or should it be done under statute? Is it appropriate to set down in the statute that the Department shall share offices with the Department of Finance? I assume this will be the case. Will the Minister of State provide some clarity on this? It is...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: We may include an amendment to allow the Minister to discuss it on Report Stage. Is it open to me to draft an amendment on this?

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: We may do that. We accept the good faith of the Minister of State but it is worth probing further in terms of the practicality and the costs.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 8: In page 12, subsection (1)(a), line 45, after "the" where it firstly occurs, to insert the following: "setting of certain revenues as may be established by order to be collected and the". This is an important amendment, the purpose of which is to try to include wording which reflects the powers which, we understand, the Minister will have under the Bill. The Bill...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Will the Minister of State clarify the section to which she referred?

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Will the Minister of State point to the page it is on?

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: The Minister of State made the point. It does not seem to be altogether clear in the legislation that the Minister has this power. I do not accept that our amendment does not give sufficient scope. It allows the establishment by order of what certain revenues refer to. This relates to the social insurance fund which amount to €7 billion, the vast majority of appropriations-in-aid. It...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 8a: In page 15, subsection (1), between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "(g) to develop policies in relation to combatting the high levels of salary and pensions of senior employees of public service bodies and of excluded bodies, and (h) to maintain a published record of all purchase orders in respect of the procurement of goods and services by and on behalf of...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I acknowledged that.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I presume no Member of this House would question the right of any other Member to put down amendments on Committee Stage. If these proposals are out of order, we should let the Chair, through the officials, rule on that. I take grave exception to Members' comments. I have complimented the Minister, Deputy Howlin, on what he has done. However, to say we cannot propose additional functions...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment 4a: In page 12, before section 5, to insert the following new section: "5.-----The appointed day for the purpose of this Act shall be 1 July 2011.". This is a minor amendment. Perhaps the Minister of State could give her views on the day to be appointed. We thought it was slightly vague and that it might be better to insert a date for the appointed day, rather than giving...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Is the Minister of State expecting that date to be 20 July?

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: That is reasonable, if it were to happen, and I certainly hope it does. It might be worth putting it into legislation, so we might try to insert it on Report Stage.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: I move amendment No. 7: In page 12, between lines 42 and 43, to insert the following subsection: "(5) The Minister shall— (a) within 40 days of the appointed day lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, a report providing consolidated details of his powers as conferred directly by this Act and any delegation orders, and (b) within 20 days of...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: What he is doing is important for the future of this country. Nonetheless, people need to understand the Minister's role, what he is going to do and what powers he will have, so that they can contribute to the Minister's proposals. They may, for example, want to take part in the public consultations the Minister has launched, seeking ideas from the public. The Minister has, rightly, taken...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: That was disappointing. We are seeking a change in the way the Government does things. There have been many promises and leaks to the media, as well as much talk. What we want is action. The public needs to know exactly what the Minister can do. From reading the legislation, it is impossible to know his full list of powers.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Not all of the statutory functions being transferred to him are listed. There is no comprehensive list of what he can do. We do not know what is contained in the delegation orders, as they will be signed after the enanctment of the legislation. The amendment seeks to let the public know, by way of this document, how the new Minister will do things differently. The process would be...

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: It is called Committee Stage.

Seanad: Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2011)

Thomas Byrne: Is there not an Estimates process?