Results 9,341-9,360 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Credit Union Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I understand no legislation is needed for that. It can happen, so prescribing it in law is not required. The Minister's point on Committee Stage was exactly as Deputy McGrath has suggested - namely, that by specifying such areas, one might well be precluding areas around which there could be the potential for greater co-operation in the future. On the question of additional services, which...

Credit Union Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: Deputy Boyd Barrett is a conspiracy theorist.

Credit Union Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: On the subject of the larger banks I am sure everyone was pleased to hear the good news from today; for the first time in four years AIB managed to obtain a bond of €500 million on the open market. That is good news in the circumstances for a bank which is currently wholly ours. Good news came from the Bank of Ireland only two weeks ago that moneys were raised independent of the...

Credit Union Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: We are dealing with amendments Nos. 16 to 22, inclusive. I will deal with Deputy Doherty's question about the progress on some of the commitments given by the Minister for Finance on Committee Stage. I am aware of the discussion that occurred. Amendments Nos. 16 to 22, inclusive, relate to board membership. Amendments Nos. 16 and 17 relate to section 15(10)(a). As highlighted on...

Credit Union Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stages (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: The Deputy makes a fair point. Sometimes when we talk about credit unions, we assume they are all part of an homogenous entity. Of course, they are not. There are big and small ones and they are located in different parts of the country. When this issue was brought to my attention by a network of credit unions in my area, I could see some of the difficulties that arose. I suspect that in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Properties (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113 and 114 together. The Office of Public Works is currently assessing the resources and time required to deal with the Questions and will revert to the Deputy in due course regarding how the matter is to be approached.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Prevention Measures (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: There have been a number of discussions between the OPW and the IIF on a sustainable system of information sharing particularly in relation to the identification of flood alleviation schemes and works completed and where the standard of protection afforded by these works could be verified. A proposed template for providing the required information, on a GIS platform, was presented to the IIF...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I apologise to the Chairman and members for not being exactly on time. The superannuation and retired allowances Vote provides primarily for pensions and lump sum payments for civil servants and pension payments for dependants. It is a Vote that is particularly difficult to estimate as the majority of persons covered by the Vote may, once they reach the age of 60 years, exercise an option...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: Yes, that is exactly right. As the Chairman is aware, the Government plans to reduce the total size of the public sector from 320,000 to 282,500. I think the current figure is approximately 290,000. To answer the Chairman's question directly, the additional retirements will be factored into these figures. A greater than expected number of people have retired this year. My understanding...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: Can I deal with those two issues first?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: It might help the Deputy to hear my explanation for them. I will begin with the second issue. We got it wrong. The Deputy's question is the first one I ask as Minister of State when people come to me looking for Supplementary Estimates. The dilemma in this case is that we depend on other Departments to tell us how many retirements we are getting. Any public servant who is over the age of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I want to be fair about this. Over €500 million is provided for in Vote 12. We are looking for €25 million today. That represents a deviation of 5% by 31 December on what was in the Estimate on 1 January. Fair is fair. At a time when we are dealing with more extended exits from the public sector than ever before, and given that we are relying on information coming back from...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I understand that a Supplementary Estimate had to be introduced with regard to this Vote in that year.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: The adjustment in that case was a net €65 million. I am looking for €25 million, whereas the previous Government looked for €65 million in 2009. I will let others comment on that. The Deputy's first question related to other Departments.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: This Vote looks after the Civil Service. I do not think it looks after the politicians, thankfully. Pension and lump sum arrangements in all of the other principal areas, including education, health and the local authorities, are determined in the Votes of the relevant Departments. If a raft of additional pension costs arose in a specific sector in the manner suggested by the Deputy, it...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: The subhead refers to lump sum payments.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: The new figure of €522 million we are seeking consists of three elements, namely, the sum of €485 million the Department has spent to date, a sum of €32 million for the two remaining months of the year and an additional €5 million for lump sum payments. The Estimate of slightly more than €500 million is being superseded by the Supplementary Estimate of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I can provide the figures thanks to Deputy Mary Lou McDonald who submitted a number of useful parliamentary questions on this issue recently. Before reading the figures for the total numbers of Civil Service pensioners and the amounts they receive, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform made a crucial point in this regard recently when he noted that 1% of public service pensioners...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: The following figures which were provided in July thanks to Deputy Mary Lou McDonald show that the numbers of retired public servants in receipt of a pension of between €50,000 and €60,000, €60,000 and €70,000, €70,000 and €80,000, €80,000 and €90,000 and more than €90,000 were 769, 57, 171, 23 and 85, respectively. This means...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2012
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: Yes.