Results 781-800 of 34,777 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I am delighted the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Brian Hayes, is present. That is why I agree. When there are so many State agencies such as the HSE, State bodies, VECs and local authorities in operation, I guarantee the Minister there are different suppliers getting different prices for the same product because some of them merely drive a harder bargain. We all...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I wish to raise several points. The Minister stated that Allied Irish Banks did not come under the definition of a commercial State organisation. My first reaction was whether he was implying that it is a non-commercial organisation given the amount of money we continue to put into it. Perhaps we should set up a new category of body.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Something like that. Perhaps I missed the reference in the press release yesterday to the case of consultants but I do not believe it was referred to. It was only when we picked up on it that it was suggested the Minister, Deputy Reilly, would deal with it separately. We look forward to it coming to fruition. Will the Minister, Deputy Howlin, have a role in this matter or will it be one...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I often am a little curious about this standard provision. The amendment states: "Every regulation ... shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within ... 21 days on which that House sits after the regulation is laid ... the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 12: In page 8, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following subsection: "(5) The Minister shall— (a) within 20 days of the passing of this Act lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, details of key procedures, ministerial responsibilities and target dates for each principal element involved in the preparation,...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I refer to the question of the Estimates. I accept the Government is new to office following a general election but the Estimates of expenditure for 2011 were published six months ago and this House has yet to debate a single Estimate for any Department, the exception being the Estimate for the Central Statistics Office to enable the payments to the census enumerators. I will not rehearse...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 13: In page 8, subsection (1)(a), line 18, after "the" where it first occurs to insert the following: "setting of certain revenues to be collected and the".

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: No.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 30: In page 13, lines 11 to 13, to delete subsection (2). The purpose of the amendment is to remove the subsection that reads: "The Minister shall not perform a function transferred by subsection (3) of section 7 without first consulting the Minister for Finance in relation thereto". This provision relates to emergency financial measures. If the Minister has...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: He or she should not just issue a press release after the event like any other line Minister. The Minister opposite will probably agree with this suggestion which I made to the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, during his absence.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The Minister understands my amendment is intended to give him greater autonomy and I hope he will agree with me that he should have it. He would be well capable of making these decisions on his own without having to consult the Minister for Finance. I have full confidence in him.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The amendment seeks to insert in subsection (2) paragraph (k) Financial Services Ombudsman Council. Are there staff attached to the council or is it just a body that meets? If there are staff attached to it, were they formerly staff of the Financial Regulator's Office and what type of people are being included under this paragraph? I know this section deals with superannuation and...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: What of amendment No. 34, which is in the same group?

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: That is the point. I find it unusual that we have these three amendments. In layman's English, the Minister is essentially saying that if the wrong Minister makes a decision and he genuinely believed at the time he was the right Minister to make it, it is valid. I do not believe this would apply to anybody else in the country. If a person tells a judge "I made a mistake; I genuinely...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I will come to that. I am intrigued to know the precedent for this as I had never heard of it. I can understand why there would be panic at Government level during a world war, with bombs dropping on the North Strand and a need to get such a measure through in a hurry. However, we are not in a war situation at present.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: This is why I suggest the overall legislation has been a bit rushed in the past week. If we had taken an extra week or two, we would have been able to be more thorough and remove all doubt, and not have to insert these measures stating, "If in doubt, even if the Minister was wrong, if he thought he was doing the right thing, it is his right". This would not wash anywhere. In a way, it is...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Politically, the new Department has been set up because of the difference between the two parties in Government and both have to be satisfied. It is unfortunate that we must formally insert an amendment for a dispute resolution mechanism between the two Ministers which is to be decided on by the Taoiseach - I presume he would consult the Tánaiste. It does not look the best that this...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: There were bombs on the North Strand.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Joan Burton did.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I hope the possible confusion never arises. That will be the best test of the legislation. Will there be a board of seven people? Apart from being paid to sit on the board, do they have superannuation rights? Is that why it is being included in this section? When people are appointed to a board for a term, they are paid, but do they also accumulate pension entitlements when they are no...