Results 21,381-21,400 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Data (7 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Detailed, spreadsheet information on the number of Civil Servants on a county-by-county basis is being provided to the Deputy under separate cover.  These numbers are recorded on a full-time equivalent basis, and the figures reflect the position at end June 2015.  Information on the number of Civil and Public Servants in each State office or body under the aegis...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Redeployment (7 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question the following table shows the number of staff under the remit of my Department that have applied to be transferred to Department or State Agency offices located outside the Dublin region. Department/State Agency No. of Staff Department of Public Expenditure and Reform 3 Valuation Office 1 Institute of Public Administration 0 State Laboratory 0...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Political Funding (7 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I presume that the Deputy is referring to the Parliamentary Activities Allowance (formerly known as the Party Leaders Allowance). Provision for the allowance is made under the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938 as amended, most recently by the Oireachtas (Ministerial and  Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014. The allowance is paid to the parliamentary leader of a...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (7 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I apologise that I was unable to be here for previous Stages of the Bill just before the summer recess, but I was committed to being elsewhere. I did, however, read with great care the transcript of the debate in this House and thank Senators for participating in it. I will offer some background information on the Bill. This is a very modest proposal in terms of the real reform agenda that...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Appointments to Certain Offices) Bill 2014: Report and Final Stages (7 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Or weeks. Who knows these things? I am more confident, to borrow a phrase from our esteemed President, that the testing of the love of the people will take place in 2016 rather than 2015, but who is to know these matters. In any event, should I have any influence on the matter, I certainly will have something to say about it, and if I am in an executive position in the next Oireachtas I...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Data (8 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Information on public service numbers is freely available on my Department's databank website- for as far back as 1980.   The full-time equivalent number of public servants at the end of each year from 2007 to 2014 is set out in the following table. # 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total 312,131 320,387 310,747 305,967 297,327 290,862 288,217 289,643The ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (8 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Details concerning the pension entitlements of individual public servants are a matter for the relevant employer, pension administrator or Government Department in the first instance. However, I understand that public servants in general who began employment in a public service body prior to 1 April 2004 have a maximum retirement age of 65 under their terms and conditions of employment. For...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Programmes (8 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am pleased that the new INTERREG VA Cooperation Programme was officially adopted by the European Commission on 13 February 2015.  The European Regional Development Fund contribution to the Programme is €240m (85%).  In addition, €43m will come from match-funding, raising the total value of the programme to €283m.   The Programme has four key...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Today we are announcing this Government’s fifth budget. I am pleased to report that, due to our strong recovery and stable public finances, it is the second budget in succession in which we are able to increase support for our public services. The days of spending cuts are behind us. In April, in the spring economic statement, I said that there may be up to €750 million...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Next year, notwithstanding the increases I am announcing today, the forecast deficit will be 1.2% of GDP, one of the lowest in Europe. Only a few years ago, some commentators questioned the sustainability of our debt. As the Minister for Finance, has stated, from a peak of over 120%, next year our debt to GDP ratio is forecast to be 93%, that is below the European average. We have made...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: We have created over 130,000 jobs since 2012. We have the highest level of economic growth in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD. Our economy is now larger than it was at the pre-crisis peak. By any standards, we have witnessed in the past four and a half years a remarkable turnaround, a tribute to the resilience of the Irish people. Fairness I want to deal...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Let us hear the facts. There are some economic illiterates-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Members should listen to the facts. Our adjustment has been a difficult one, but it has been a fair one. Those with the most have given the most. Income inequality after taxes and social transfers has reduced during the crisis in Ireland. The progressivity of our income tax system means we have been one of the most effective countries in the OECD at reducing inequality. To ignore this...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----the unnecessary and cruel €1 per hour cut to the minimum wage introduced by our predecessors-----

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----a cut of over 11%. In July of this year, the Low Pay Commission recommended that the minimum wage be increased further, by 50 cent to over €9 per hour. The commission recognised that a recovery based on low wages was no recovery at all. Today, I am pleased to confirm that the Government will implement the commission’s proposal. From 1 January 2016, the statutory minimum...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am particularly pleased to be able to announce over €15 million in new funding to facilitate the full participation of children with disabilities in this scheme. We are also introducing a range of quality measures for early education, including audits, inspections and training, and restoring capitation levels in the sector. To support parents in low-paid employment, we are going...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I remind Deputy Mattie McGrath that the only actual cut in pensions was voted for by him under Fianna Fáil. To help the thousands of men and women who take care of their loved ones with dignity and compassion, I am restoring the value of the respite care grant to €1,700.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am also pleased to announce that we are increasing the fuel allowance by €2.50 per week to €22.50. This increase will benefit people dependant on long-term social welfare payments and those unable to provide for their own heating needs. A shared prosperity is one where every person, regardless of income, feels the benefit of our new recovery. To complement the changes in the...

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is obviously not focused on what is happening in the real world. Health I am providing €13.2 billion for the delivery of health services next year. I am happy to say that this quantum of money restores the resourcing of our health services to its pre-crisis level.

Financial Resolutions 2016 - Budget Statement 2016 (13 Oct 2015)

Brendan Howlin: This year, free GP care for the under-sixes and over-70s was put in place, one of the most innovative things to happen in the health service in recent years. This represented the first step in the phased introduction of a universal GP service and is already benefitting 300,000 senior citizens and children. Linked to this was the introduction of cycles of care for those with type-2 diabetes...