Results 20,001-20,020 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (10 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2015 2017 published on Budget Day set out multiannual expenditure ceilings for Ministerial Vote Groups and Estimates of Expenditure for 2015 in respect of all Government Departments and Offices. Compared to the Revised Estimates Volume (REV) 2014, gross current expenditure for 2015 shows an increase of €429 million with capital expenditure...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (10 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I announced on Budget Day in October that I am seeking to put in place new arrangements to replace the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotion in the Public Service from 2015 onwards.  This will be subject to the issuance of formal delegated sanction by my Department to all other Government Departments and Offices, in return for agreed commitments by them to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pensions Levy (10 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am aware of the concerns which have been raised  by the Alliance of Retired Public Servants regarding the ongoing imposition of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) on the pensions of many retired public servants and have met with representatives of the Alliance. As the Deputy will be aware, I am required to review the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public...

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for raising what really is a very important and multifaceted issue, namely, domestic violence and the related issue of gender-based violence. The Government has specific campaigns to alert people to the issue, because by its very nature, unlike violent crimes that occur on the street, a lot of it is invisible even to the Garda. In many instances people are so intimidated...

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Many actions have been taken not only by the State directly, but by a panoply of local organisations. The women’s refuge in my home town of Wexford operates with significant HSE and local authority support, and public support, which is really important.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That model is replicated across the country. An enormous amount of focus and voluntary effort is evident as well as State support for the very things the Deputy has underlined as important. I absolutely and fundamentally agree that such importance should be afforded to domestic violence. I wish to make two points on the matter; one of the biggest difficulties is giving the capacity to...

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I would not be flippant about something as important as the matter under discussion.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In terms of the helplines, I will discuss specifically with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the helpline to which the Deputy referred, but it is one of many helplines that are important in this area. By definition, Childline is aimed at children but what the Deputy has instanced is primarily violence against women-----

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----and a range of other helplines focus on that issue, including the helpline provided by the Rape Crisis Centre and others, which must all be resourced to ensure an adequate communication system is available for people who are in peril or who have been abused in order that they can reach out. The most important step for people to take is to call the Garda.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I agree that there was a very powerful manifestation, and peaceful manifestation by and large, on the streets of Dublin yesterday. That was a manifestation of very many years of difficult economic decisions - both the Government and I understand it was not just water charges - that were required to give us hope for the future, to put our economy back on solid ground-----

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----which we have now done. We can now begin to give people hope in planning for the future and creating jobs. To answer the specific issue of water charges, this Government has been listening. The very clear view over many months was that people wanted certainty and simplicity-----

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----and they wanted to know it was affordable in the longer term. They wanted to know that the money was going to be used to invest in the country's decrepit public water and public sewage supply because the old system to which Fianna Fáil wants to return - to give it back to the local authorities - has plainly failed us.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We need to invest in all the water treatment plants and all the sewage treatment plants that are required. We need to do away with the boil-water notices and give quality water to people.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Since the Government's revised package was presented, more than 90,000 people have registered with Irish Water.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That puts things into some context. As of now, some 935,000 people are registered.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Most people understand that water and water infrastructure, a quality water supply and a clean water supply for families, individuals, companies and for communities, has to be provided, the same as waste water treatment plants, rather than spewing solid sewage waste into our streams and rivers. That all has to be paid for. If it is not paid for through a usage charge-----

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----it will be paid for through a further tax on workers. I know that the Deputy's party has already outlined €5 billion on additional taxes on work but I do not think that is the way to go.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I know the Sinn Féin Party wants a general election because its members tabled a motion to that effect earlier. In terms of policy-making, it is not a general election so much as a by-election that determines Sinn Féin policy. Up to the most recent by-election, they were minded to pay water charges - as was the Deputy herself - and minded to support them.

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: However, since they were out-manoeuvred in the by-election, they think now that policy should be determined-----

Leaders' Questions (11 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Clearly, making fundamental policy by opinion poll in a time of economic crisis will not serve this country well. Decisions on policy are made by the sovereign Parliament elected by the people of this country. I ask the Deputy to have regard for that. This is an assembly of elected politicians, each of us who have put our names on a ballot paper and each of us have the same mandate.