Results 7,001-7,020 of 34,780 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: 83. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will correct his press release regarding the FGS Report 2009, which states that the review notes and acknowledges that Bus Éireann has clearly applied the accounting arrangements for the scheme since 1975' in view of the fact that Bus Éireann was unable to give verifiable documentation to validate charges purported to be made...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: 84. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 181 of 11 February 2014, regarding the maintenance charge of €23,000 per bus per year which are over five times higher than the equivalent charges for school transport in Northern Ireland, if he will immediately claw back all money paid to Bus Éireann under unlawful state aid rules in view of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:“3. The Ombudsman shall, not later than 12 months after the enactment of this Act and each year thereafter, carry out a review of the protected disclosure process following which he or she shall, issue a report to the Minister on the said process as to whether or not the process is found to be operating...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I will come back with a revised amendment on Report Stage which will perhaps suggest a three-year review. I accept that one year is a bit short, but five years is a bit long.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: To clarify, if the Minister's amendment No. 18 is passed, does it mean I cannot move my amendment No. 19, which the Acting Chairman has described as a logical alternative?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: If amendment No. 18 is agreed to, may I move amendments Nos. 20 and 22, which the Vice Chairman referred to as physical alternatives?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: In other words, if amendment No. 18 is agreed to, my amendments Nos. 18, 20 and 22 are gone?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: Physically and logically. The Minister will understand that I wanted to understand the sequence in respect of what will happen to my amendments depending on how the others are dealt with. We are ready to roll.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I suspect the Minister should actually have referred to amendments Nos. 10 and 11.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: In my view, this is the key issue for this legislation, as evidenced by the three amendments I have submitted on section 19. I do not have a copy of the speech I made on Second Stage, but I strongly opposed section 19 at the time because it removed whistleblower protection from members of An Garda Síochána and attempted to create a separate procedure which involved regulations...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I refer the Minister to the rest of his amendment. It is very simple - we have to get rid of the word "if". The Minister can agree to prescribe the commission. If he has not yet decided on all the bodies that could be recipients and he has to prescribe them in some way by regulation under section 7, this issue will not be dealt with for the likes of Sergeant McCabe or any other such...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: A Minister said that.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I am pleased the Minister has agreed to look at the wording of the provision. Even if he made an exception and it came with one definitive prescribed body, it would be in the country's interests.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: So be it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I think it would make a mark. I am not going back over the history, but I know the Minister said there was a concern about drafting amendments based on the latest media story. My amendments have been there for about two months. They were tabled immediately after Second Stage, long before the recent episodes. They have been there for so long that I had to double-check whether I had even...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I might give the Minister a pass on this one because he is not the Minister for Justice and Equality. We are amending the Garda Síochána Act and it is only right that Parliament have in front of it officials who can answer everything relevant. I do not know whether officials from the Department of Justice and Equality are here. I accept the principle of the Minister's response...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: I am happy with that. The Minister can see that I was very keen that there be some amendment on this issue. My questions are technical in nature and relate to the amendment rather than the broad sweep of the legislation. The Minister is amending section 91 of the Garda Síochána Act. What does this section talk about? I know the Minister might not have the answer here, but if we...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: We are not amending section 91 but we are referring to it. Is that what the Minister is saying?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: It is important that we on this side of the House understand what that means if we are being asked to pass the legislation. We are referring to section 91 in this amendment but we are not amending the section. It is important that we know what the amendment refers to. I will proceed with section 91. It states that if a complaint concerns the death of or serious harm to a person as a...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Seán Fleming: So it applies in very serious cases. It is not set out that there shall be an absolute-----