Results 20,401-20,420 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am glad to be back in the Seanad again so soon. Active lobbying is an essential element of a well functioning and mature democracy. The purpose of lobbying by individuals or groups is to inform government as to different societal and sectoral perspectives on policy matters and to seek to influence decisions taken at political and administrative level. The institutions of government need...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: True.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am afraid I do.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: All submissions are published on the Department's website.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I thank all Senators for their contributions. I will not be able to cover everything in the few minutes I have remaining but my officials and I have made notes and we will reflect on all the points made. I appreciate the welcome for the Bill across all benches. The principles enshrined in this Bill are supported across the House. Many Members of this House indicated that this was anchored...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: No, except, if lobbied. If the Senator sees that the person who lobbied him or that person's organisation would fall within the remit of the legislation and is not registered, he would be minded, I imagine, to notify the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPOC, of the matter.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: No. This boils down to what is practical. I do not want to put a legal obligation on every local authority member and Senator in the country to keep checking the register or for them to be wondering if the person he is dealing with is registered.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Yes. However, there is no responsibility on the Senator.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: No. This is the point I am making. We need to explain to organisations, if they are going to make contact with policy formers captured by the Act, that they have a legal responsibility. It would be a very big responsibility if I reversed that-----

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----in the way the Senator is suggesting.

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The onus falls on the lobbyist to register and not on the person lobbied. This is the international model. We had this debate with the Senator's colleague in the other House on Ministers attending, for instance, a Council meeting abroad. If Members of this House were on a foreign visit and someone made contact with the Member there, it would be very burdensome and a reversal of what I...

Seanad: Regulation of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (29 Jan 2015)

Brendan Howlin: We would have a number of variations of the law, even within this House, dare I say it, given one or two of the contributions made. Grassroots organisations and astroturfing are captured. Section 5(4) refers to communications made personally, "directly or indirectly". If a person is indirectly getting people to make the communications, that person will be captured by the legislation....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform Implementation (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Establishing an Accountability Board for the Civil Service for the first time is one of the priority actions in the Civil Service Renewal Plan and work is at an advanced stage to progress this priority, set out the criteria for membership and establish the Board.  The Board will be chaired by the Taoiseach and balanced with ministerial, civil service and external...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 288 to 290, inclusive, together. As the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform only came into being in March 2011 there were no expenditure costs incurred before this time.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Remit (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Section 1(3)(b) of the FOI Act 2014 provides that in respect of a body that was not subject to FOI under the 1997 Act but is subject to FOI under the new Act, the Act will come into operation 6 months following enactment or on such later date, not later than 12 months from enactment, as the Minister may by order appoint .  The FOI Bill was enacted on 14 October 2014.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts Social Clauses (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware, a pilot social clause has been included in the three devolved schools bundles which are being administered by the NDFA on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. In summary the pilot clause requires that: At least 10% of those working on the sites being drawn from the live register and having been unemployed for more than 12 months; and At least 2.5% of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Funding (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 294 to 296, inclusive, together. There are in excess of 12,000 non-profit entities, which receive more than €4.4 billion annually in government funding. In line with the Public Sector Reform Plan 2014 2016 my Department is progressing solutions to design and deliver complete data on the funding received by the not-for-profit sector. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the centralised recruiter for the Civil and Public Service. Recruitment competitions conducted by the PAS cover a broad range of areas including, professional/ technical; clerical/ administrative; senior management/ executive, etc.  Recruitment competitions conducted by the PAS are advertised on . By logging on to this website, individuals can...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (3 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: In 2013 the Government reviewed the position on the payment of performance related reward schemes or bonuses for Chief Executive Officers in Commercial State Companies and agreed to continue with the policy which it introduced in 2011 of requesting the State Companies concerned not to award such bonus payments in light of the serious state of the public finances. Furthermore the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (4 Feb 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013, the current 'grace period' is due to expire at the end of June 2015. This remains the position. As the deputy will be aware, the effect of the 'grace period' is that persons who retire during it have their gross superannuation benefits calculated on the basis of the pre-pay cut pay rates, which were reduced on July...