Results 9,761-9,780 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: -----from the national lottery licensing process would go to the new national paediatric tertiary hospital. That was never the intention, which is that a contribution will be made from the sale for the purpose of making a contribution to the new hospital. That is still the proposition of the Government. I do not wish to cut across the terrain of the Minister for Health but I suspect the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: I suppose we are playing with words. The Minister, Deputy Howlin, has stated that a contribution will be made, whether it is termed ring-fencing or a policy. It depends on whether one man has a dinner and another does not. The bottom line is that this important national facility will be built in the lifetime of this Government. This shows that even in really difficult times, we can get...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: Given the financial and human resource constraints under which the public service has operated for some years and will continue to operate in future, all opportunities for the identification of improved service quality and increased efficiency measures in the provision of public services are welcome. My officials are happy to engage with staff with or without the benefit of union...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: The Deputy should appear on "The Frontline" programme more often. I ask him to send me the proposals he has received. Alternatively, we could meet him and go through the proposals one by one and line by line to ascertain how useful they are. That would be a worthwhile engagement. We are already doing as the Deputy asks, for example, in the area of shared services for human resource...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: I do not disagree. One of the questions that is central to the current talks is how we will change the workforce and do things in a radically different way. This requires redeployment and a whole-of-government approach. We need to examine the performance management and development system, PMDS, to determine who is marking it and whether there is real engagement with the process and to...

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 18, 25, 30, 32 and 103 together. The Government has indicated that an additional saving of €1 billion in the pay and pensions bill will be necessary in the period until the end of 2015 and €300 million of this saving will be needed this year to meet our spending targets. This is to support our determination to restore order to the public...

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: If a question is not asked, we will move on to the next one.

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: On a programme on the national broadcaster on Saturday, I set out clearly that it was not helpful of me or any other Minister or Minister of State to make sidebar comments in this way when the person mandated to do the job was the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin. I feel strongly about this. The Government has mandated the Minister and his Department to run the...

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: I apologise, as I did not answer this question when the Deputy asked it previously. The €1 billion is €1 billion.

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: That is what we are seeking to resolve. Some figures have been bandied about elsewhere, for example, €800 million, but let me be clear - the figure is €1 billion. Everyone is represented at the talks.

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: The taxpayer is represented by the Government, but also by the public sector unions. Some €2.5 billion has been removed from public sector pay and pensions in circumstances of industrial peace. I am not implying that the Deputy opposite is involved, but those Deputies who suggest something other than this approach should state what their approach is. Days and weeks have been lost in...

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: The Deputy did not miss much.

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: It is no one's right, be it the Government or public sector unions, to lay down such preconditions in the context of discussions around a table. I am taking the Deputy's word, as I did not attend the discussion today that she mentioned. I am not sure whether it was a public or private engagement or whether just the Deputy was briefed. We will wait to see what others have to say. In the...

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: The great prize from these talks is ultimately the creation of a sustainable public sector in the future which can fund itself as a result of the taxation we bring in.

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: The Deputy knows as well as I do-----

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: The Deputy knows as well as I do that the people at the top of the public sector, the crowd she would like to put against the wall, are those who have suffered the biggest cuts as a result of the decisions taken. That will continue. I am not sure whether Deputy McDonald deliberately ignored what I said earlier-----

Other Questions: Public Service Reform (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: -----or if she chose to put it to one side, but that will continue. It is a fundamental part of these talks that there will be an equality of contribution in terms of potential reductions to pay and pensions. That has been the case with this Government and it will continue in the talks and into the future.

Other Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 41 together. The National Procurement Service, NPS, is responsible for the collection of the annual procurement statistics for all supplies, services and works contract notices that are advertised on e-tenders, which are above the EU threshold levels within any given year. It should be noted that below threshold statistics are not collected. While the...

Other Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: I apologise for the verbose reply.

Other Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (23 Jan 2013)

Brian Hayes: Deputy McDonald made a number of valuable points. On the latter issue of social contracts, I can confirm to the House that I will bring proposals to Government shortly effectively to demand that a percentage of people who will work on public construction contracts will be ones who have suffered unemployment as a result of the downturn in the construction industry. We have done much work in...