Results 8,141-8,160 of 36,188 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I do not necessarily agree. What we are speaking about is directed investment. Heretofore it may have been the practise that individuals could not criticise or express an opinion on the merits of a policy, order or directive given by a Government Minister. What is so wrong with a person appointed by Government to do this job being able to express an opinion, good, bad or indifferent, on an...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The amendment seeks to delete the prohibition or gagging order which this Government is putting on the chief executive officer of the agency preventing him or her from expressing an opinion on any order or direction given by Government. In removing that gagging order the accountability of Government would not be prohibited. The Government will of course be held accountable for any order or...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Under section 12(6A)(b), one of the areas on which the Committee of Public Accounts will examine the chief executive officer is in regard to the economy and efficiency of the agency and the use of its resources. The resources are obviously the assets available to the agency. The CEO is accountable for ,and can answer questions on, these matters, but not regarding any directed investment on...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 7: In page 19, line 15, to delete “Subject to subsection (3), the” and substitute “The”.I give notice that I will withdraw amendment No. 9 and, therefore, will focus my remarks on amendments Nos. 7 and 8 which are linked. Amendment No. 8 has substance. The section deals with the appearance of members of the agency before Oireachtas committees....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State mentioned custom and practice and I acknowledge that he is correct. When a committee requests the chairperson or the chief executive of an agency to appear before it, it is custom and practice for him or her to attend. However, it has been written into the legislation that they must attend before it. We have acknowledged, in drafting the legislation, that we should...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I disagree. We have looked at the position of the Committee of Public Accounts. In the previous section we dealt with the issues of the CEO and accountability for records. We know that other committees have requested individuals to attend and also that the Committee of Public Accounts has powers of compellability. It is important to include what is provided for in the amendment, although...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 8: In page 19, line 15, after “Executive” to insert “or the Chairperson of the Investment Committee or any other Agency Committee”.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 10: In page 22, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:“(9) The Agency shall maintain a register of declared interests of all staff which will be publicly available including on the Agency’s website.”.This amendment probably requires a little work but it is tabled as a matter for discussion. In my view the provision regarding disclosures of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: In respect of the Minister's final point, although the Minister is correct in saying that it deals with staff, I stated that my intention is that this only deals with members of the agency and the committees. One can be on the investment committee but not a member of the agency. It is about capturing those individuals and not the ordinary member of staff, although one could have a debate on...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I will refer to the glass bottle site, where there was a suggested conflict of interest. This suggested conflict of interest was discussed at Oireachtas committee meetings, but it was discussed years after what happened. People were involved in both areas at the same time. I am not suggesting that something similar will happen here but the Minister is allowing for a situation where...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I am interested to hear the reason the Minister of State believes that somebody who contravenes the legislation is not automatically dismissed as a member of the agency.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I will just tease that out, as the Minister of State has said that previously. I do not know how many people have gone to prison as a result of breach of the Ethics in Public Office Act or how many have been fined hundreds of thousands of euro. I know people who have been reported by political parties and found to be in breach of the ethics register but there has been sanction whatsoever....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Because the section is flawed, I am pushing the amendment.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I wish to speak to the amendment. Is it the case that every time one of the State agencies changes its name the legislation will have to be amended?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The answer is "No".

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: If a State agency changes its name again, is there a need to amend the legislation again?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I was interested to see who changed the name and if the legislation has to be amended each time there is a change of name.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Is it Irish or English?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Is that-----