Results 3,381-3,400 of 4,717 for speaker:Martin Mansergh

Infrastructure Stimulus Package: Motion (28 Apr 2009)

Martin Mansergh: They also envisage a new quango type structure with no clear mandate. It is very odd that a party which has spent the last year determined to eliminate quangos at all costs now proposes a new quango, the quango of all quangos, as the panacea to our problems. Deputy Coveney mentioned State bodies in the plural. Creating a superbody with the name "New Economy and Recovery Authority" does...

Infrastructure Stimulus Package: Motion (28 Apr 2009)

Martin Mansergh: There is talk of a stimulus but what is unclear is the level of additionality.

Infrastructure Stimulus Package: Motion (28 Apr 2009)

Martin Mansergh: Deputy Coveney referred to a return to rapid growth, but given the experience of recent years it is more important to achieve a recovery to sustainable growth. Much of the policy document seems to be based on the distinction between the Exchequer borrowing requirement and the public sector borrowing requirement and I am unsure if there is any validity in that. With regard to Deputy Coveney's...

Written Answers — Drainage Schemes: Drainage Schemes (30 Apr 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The closing date for receipt of tenders for the main contract for the construction phase of the Munster Blackwater (Fermoy) Drainage Scheme was yesterday, Wednesday 29th April 2009. A Contractor chosen from these tenders will be formally appointed, subject to sanction from the Minister for Finance. It is anticipated that this process will take approximately four weeks. Construction of the...

Written Answers — Coastal Erosion: Coastal Erosion (6 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The Office of Public Works assumed responsibility for coastal flood risk management and coastal erosion in January this year. The Commissioners of Public Works will shortly be writing to Local Authorities, to request them to identify significant coastal erosion issues in their areas, their proposals for dealing with them and the order of priority in which they consider they should be...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (6 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The Commissioners of Public Works plan to recruit up to 310 seasonal guide/information officers this year to service visitor requirements at various heritage sites throughout the country. The following table details, on a site by site basis, both the numbers of guides employed on a permanent basis at present and the number who were employed on a seasonal basis in 2008. It is anticipated...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (6 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The Commissioners of Public Works have received sanction to recruit seasonal guide/information officers to facilitate visitor requirements at various heritage sites throughout the country that they manage. The majority have now been recruited and most of the remaining seasonal intake will be in place within the next month.

Written Answers — State Property: State Property (7 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The promoter of the Garden Festival at Emo Court became insolvent, leaving the infrastructure to which the Deputy refers on site. The assets of the promoter, including those currently on the ground at Emo, were purchased by a third party. The purchaser of this property has commenced the clean-up of the site. OPW is encouraging this party to complete the removal of their property from the...

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (7 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The Office of Public Works has no responsibility in relation to maintenance of the River Nore at Ballyragget. If details of the precise location and nature of the problem are provided, the matter can be investigated further. However, given existing demands on the OPW's resources for flood mitigation measures, where dwellings are at risk, works to address the problem will be considered only...

Banking System: Motion (12 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: One can only contrast the eagerness of Opposition parties to debate at every opportunity the huge economic challenges facing the country with their reluctance to dwell on the economy, if it could be avoided, a couple of years ago in the run-up to the last general election. It strongly suggests that the wisdom now available in hindsight was not as obvious to parties opposite then. Their...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (12 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: In 2009 to date, Farmleigh House has hosted a State visit by the RT Hon. Mizengo P. Pinda, Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania. There were 19 people in the delegation. They stayed for three nights. The annual cost of running Farmleigh House is approximately €3 million. This covers the cost to the Office of Public Works of operating and maintaining the property. Additional...

Written Answers — Election Management System: Election Management System (12 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: In accordance with the requirements of national and EU legislation, tenders for the supply of ballot papers and associated posters for the EU elections were advertised in the Office Journal of the European Union and on the Irish public procurement website, www.etenders.gov.ie. An open tendering procedure was used, allowing all interested suppliers to submit tenders. Suppliers were permitted...

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (12 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The Office of Public Works (OPW) procurement policy in respect of all services provided by it to An Garda Síochána is determined by EU and national procurement legislation and procedures and consideration of value for money. I am satisfied that the current arrangements are appropriate and provide the most cost efficient outcomes in the context of open and transparent procurement rules.

Finance Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The primary aim of the Government is to stabilise the economy, unemployment, the public finances and the banking sector. The problems Ireland faces are also faced by practically every other country in the European Union and the developed world and have systemic causes that cross all borders. Irish exceptionalism is not the cause of the crisis that hit us, although the vulnerabilities in...

Finance Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: If there is a change of Government over the next three years, the public should watch out for an abrupt change of tone as parties enter Government Buildings, although with an ever more strident blaming of Fianna Fáil when they realise that in most matters they can do little but follow the same course.

Finance Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The former Fine Gael leader and Finance Minister Alan Dukes wrote a great deal of common sense in an article in Business and Finance of 7 May. He states, "Every fiscal crisis produces demands for "innovative" or "imaginative" policies to "get the economy moving again"."

Finance Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: He continues, "This usually means that the Government is accused of being obsessed with "balancing the books" to the detriment of other, more important, considerations." He points out that nearly all such measures would require additional borrowing from international markets when we are already borrowing to the hilt, and concludes: "At the end of the day, we must bear in mind the lesson of...

Finance Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: -----as a better arrangement, and asking whether this is the type of feather-bedding that has us all in trouble.

Finance Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: We need to recognise that the ability to analyse and criticise trenchantly is not necessarily the same as the ability to devise solutions and win sufficient support to implement them. The ten-point plan published in the Evening Herald last Friday by this candidate, which would be fine as an aspirational wish list, does not even begin to add up. The full-year cost of one measure, a 3.5% cut...

Written Answers — Garda Stations: Garda Stations (13 May 2009)

Martin Mansergh: The acquisition was closed on 27 February 2008. Regarding the licensing requirements, the Office of Public Works are obtaining the various clarifications and will revert to the Deputy once obtained.