Results 20,681-20,700 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Bodies (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am sorry.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Bodies (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Under the rules of the House and the law I am responsible for the agencies under my direct remit. Each line Minister is responsible by law and statute for agencies under his remit. To be helpful to the Deputy I have asked each line Minister to reply directly to him in order that he can have a comprehensive view. I hope that will meet the point. The more substantial point Deputy Ross...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: State Bodies (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Board members are not appointed every year. They are appointed for a term, as set out in the statutes that determine each state body. It is not normal to remove people except for stated misconduct during the course of duties. There would be consequences and liabilities accruing to the State for simply firing people, as the Deputy is aware. Besides, the vast majority of people who take up...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Easter Rising Commemorations (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As I indicated previously to the Deputy in a question answered on 16 December last, the Commissioners of Public Works have a particular role in respect of the commemorations. This arises from the responsibility they have for the care and maintenance of national monuments and other heritage properties in State care. In many cases, these are iconic locations and important in the context of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Easter Rising Commemorations (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am fully in agreement with the Deputy. We need to go the extra yard to ensure that we do not allow disputes over planning or anything else to in any way obstruct from the singular dignifying remembrance of a seminal event in our history. The GPO development will be particularly important. As the Deputy is aware, there is ongoing construction work there which will be completed in time for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Easter Rising Commemorations (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for the offer. It is something I will bring to the Cabinet sub-committee on the 1916 Rising commemoration. We certainly intend as a Government to ensure there will be a fitting site on Moore Street and that it will not be in its current state by next year.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The total number of chairpersons and non-executive directors of State or partially-owned State companies within the remit of my Department is two, both of whom are female. As neither the Public Appointments Service nor the Institute of Public Administration asks board members for their ages, I cannot, therefore, answer that part of the question. Neither of the two people concerned is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy will be aware that we enacted legislation last year to put the NewERA entity on a statutory basis. We gave it a statutory role in the evaluation of the capacity of directors of commercial semi-State companies. We also gave it a statutory role in terms of their appointment. I set this out in the new process for appointment. The Deputy will find that anybody appointed to a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: It does not fall to me to make appointments. They are made by the line Minister in the case of each semi-State company, as determined by the grounding legislation used to set up the company. It is a matter for the line Minister to make the final appointment from those on the list. If he or she judges that there is nobody on it who is appropriate or suitable, he or she can go outside it, in...

Other Questions: Flood Prevention Measures (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The July 2012 report of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht on River Shannon flooding included eight proposals to tackle the issue. These proposals covered a number of issues across a range of Departments and State agencies. The Office of Public Works, OPW, responded to the committee by way of a letter in September 2012, welcoming its report and outlining its...

Other Questions: Flood Prevention Measures (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: God forgive the Deputy.

Other Questions: Flood Prevention Measures (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: On the face of it, that sounds like a logical proposal, but I understand a previous Oireachtas committee came to a different conclusion. Each of the agencies involved, whether it be the OPW, the local authorities, the fisheries board or the ESB, has a different statutory function. What is needed is proper co-ordination, rather than have somebody call all the shots. As we saw in Cork, for...

Other Questions: Flood Prevention Measures (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I will raise the points made by the Deputy with the OPW directly and the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris, who is not able to be here today. There is certainly an understanding that human habitation and human beings take priority.

Other Questions: Flood Prevention Measures (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am quite certain it is the view of the OPW and would be astounded if it was not. As I said, I will pass on the views of the Deputy to the Minister of State and the OPW directly.

Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As part of the ongoing public service pension analysis, an actuarial valuation was carried out last year by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to estimate the accrued liability in respect of public service occupational pensions. The key result of the exercise is that the total accrued liability in respect of public service occupational pensions is now estimated at €98...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has asked numerous supplementary questions. If the CPI provision was activated, it would have the effect to which the Deputy referred. However, it has not yet been activated. I have not commenced it and it is not my intention to do so in the near future. I left the provision in the legislation to be considered at a future date. Obviously, at a time when there are no increases...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am glad to hear the Deputy make that point because there is something lost in translation in the commentariat that does not understand the contribution public servants are making to their own pensions. That is not confined to people outside the House. There are individuals inside this House who also make assertions which are not based on reality. Current Exchequer annual pension...

Other Questions: Government Bonds (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware, the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, issues Irish Government bonds which attract investment from institutions and individuals.  Other financial investment options are also available to those who wish to direct their savings to help to support the Government's work in promoting economic growth, including the national solidarity bond, savings bonds,...

Other Questions: Government Bonds (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for his suggestions which I take on board. Borrowing by the Government does not present a difficulty at this time. The Deputy will be aware that for the first time in the history of the State the Government this year issued 30 year bonds at the unprecedented low interest rate of 1.8%. Our treasury bill - three month roll-over money - issued last week had accrued a...

Other Questions: Government Bonds (25 Mar 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I can give that assurance to the Deputy. A meeting of the board of the NTMA held yesterday was attended by the Secretary General of my Department. I have met the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, on a number of occasions to ensure there will be in place a robust mechanism to fund critical infrastructure. This side of the summer I will be publishing the new multi-annual capital...