Results 9,381-9,400 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

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 think I have made the point. The €25 million is for paying people between now and the end of the year. That is what we are looking for. Without labouring the point, the majority of those people are people who will have very small pensions for the rest of their lives. There is a political point here too. This is about alternatives. If people put forward alternatives, the...

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 would be more than willing to provide those figures to the committee. Deputy Twomey is quite right. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, has introduced a new unified pension scheme where career-average earnings rather than 50% of final salary will be used to calculate pensions in future. Not only will new public servants be on lower pay, they will also be in...

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 figures are becoming more reliable. There were enormous changes this year because of the February deadline, when large numbers left the public service. Furthermore, if people were 60 years or over and had the requisite service, they could also leave after February. There was an enormous transformation in terms of the numbers exiting the service this year alone. We are confident that...

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 Deputy is asking a crucial question: are we going to have new schemes? I presume this is an issue that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, will be addressing in the context of the discussions that are ongoing with trade union colleagues on this issue. The net issue is that the Government has given a commitment to get down to numbers of 282,500 by 2015, coming...

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: "If you knew Susie like I know Susie".

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: That is a fair point. What if the retirements did not happen? We reckon when someone moves from being paid a salary to being paid a pension the saving is at least 50%. One could argue that the cost would be a further 50% if these people had not exited.

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 agree absolutely with the Deputy.

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 is a complex organisation in which almost 300,000 people work and there are some extraordinarily talented people with vast expertise. If some of that expertise was at work in the private sector, those involved would probably be on twice the salary they are on currently. Another point should be made to those who regularly harangue those in the public sector. Our public sector numbers...

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: People must be realistic. People have paid into these things. The legal position is that pensions are a form of deferred remuneration. As I noted earlier, it is classified as a property right. We have a body of law which is quite clear. I refer to the most recent judgment made by Mr. Justice McMahon. He referred to this point when he said that if the Exchequer tried to go after a group...

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: That is a very good suggestion, Chairman.

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 reason we now have a Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is to answer the very question the Chairman has asked. We have a dedicated Department that is doing two things. First, it constantly keeps a much more vigorous eye on expenditure and, second, it aligns that expenditure to necessary public sector reforms. You seem to be saying, Chairman, that a further light of publicity...

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: Would the sub-committee consider setting out the proposal to the Department so that we can give it due consideration? I will speak to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform about it. I see some advantages in the proposal. Our colleagues on the Committee of Public Accounts may say this is already happening.

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 will put your suggestion to the Minister. We might formalise it as a proposal. I do not see a difficulty in that. The real problem arises if a Minister with responsibility for one of the big expenditure areas decides to save money in a particular area. That is usually bad news because it means schemes being cut or people losing money. The worst circumstance is not achieving that...

Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee)(Amendment) Scheme 2012: Motion (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: Almost one year ago to the day, the Minister for Finance addressed colleagues in the House on the subject of the bank guarantee scheme, otherwise known as the ELG scheme. A lot has happened since in the banking sector. The covered banks have continued to make progress overall under the financial measures programme - the rigorous analysis of the capital and liquidity requirements of the...

Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee)(Amendment) Scheme 2012: Motion (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: It refers to the Channel Islands.

Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee)(Amendment) Scheme 2012: Motion (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: Deputy Boyd Barrett wants us to default.

Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee)(Amendment) Scheme 2012: Motion (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: The Deputy is talking about a situation like Argentina.

Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee)(Amendment) Scheme 2012: Motion (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I thank my colleagues for their contributions to the debate. In the five minutes allowed to me I will reply on some of the issues raised. I recognise the appalling circumstances in which the country has found itself because of the reckless lending policies and arrogance of the banking sector over a generation. Many in the House today were, in their own way, cheerleaders for that arrogance...

Topical Issue Debate: Airport Development Projects (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I am taking this topical issue on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar. Since his appointment, the Minister has set out to rationalise the system of State support for the privately owned regional airports. The Government now has a settled policy with regard to these airports. The Minister has also endeavoured to restructure the State-owned...

Topical Issue Debate: Airport Development Projects (29 Nov 2012)

Brian Hayes: I agree with Deputy Mulherin that we need a plan for Knock airport and the region, given the importance of the airport to the entire region in terms of tourism and business development. However, any such plan must be sustainable, viable and based on a thorough examination of what pertains in other parts of the country. As I said in my response, a task force has been established which will...