Results 12,461-12,480 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- Written Answers — Public Service Recruitment Embargo: Public Service Recruitment Embargo (19 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: The Government is committed to reducing Public Service numbers to 282,500 by 2015. Given the importance of meeting this challenging numbers target, any recruitment will be limited and targeted towards areas of most need. Public Service Organisations must fully use all options for discharging work through reorganisation and redeployment of staff. Only after this will the issue of recruitment...
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 47 together. Latest figures from across the public service, excluding the health sector, indicate that approximately 4,000 are expected to retire in the first two months of 2012. In the health sector the data are based on the period September to February, with approximately 3,500 expected to retire in that timeframe. These figures are based on data...
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: That is true.
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I wish to be as helpful to the Deputy and the House as I possibly can. I will take the last question first. The Deputy is correct. People may not have given notice yet because, by virtue of their contractual arrangements, they are only required to give four weeks notice. I asked, as I repeatedly said in the House last year, for three months notice in order that we could make advance...
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Some â¬3.5 billion if one counts the levy.
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I do not expect any acknowledgment or praise from the Deputy opposite and I am never disappointed. The head count reduction is a strategic part of the Government's plan to reduce numbers, given that it constitutes a permanent reduction in pay. If one merely reduces pay, a choice that some Deputies on both sides of the House have indicated their preference for, it could develop back....
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: In regard to education, the Minister for Education and Skills has announced that where teachers retiring between the end of last year and the end of February 2012 are teaching examination classes, either at junior or leaving certificate level, they may continue on the payroll up to the conclusion of the examinations. It is important that we put people's minds at ease in that regard. In the...
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Our ambition is to effect a reduction of an additional 27,500 in the coming years. By 2015 that quantum will, together with the levy, accrue a saving of â¬3.5 billion on the pensions bill in gross terms. The pensions element is accounted for separately and would have to be paid in any event.
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: The troika views asset disposal as a structural reform measure, intended to improve efficiency and competition in the economy while offering the prospect of reducing overall debt levels. The Government, views asset disposal as offering the potential to release value from State assets for use in employment generating initiatives in the economy, as set out clearly in the programme for...
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: There were a number of questions and assertions in Deputy Wallace's contribution. A programme for Government was negotiated by the two parties in Government, namely, Fine Gael and the Labour Party. People will be aware that both parties have different perspectives in regard to the sale of State assets. However, we entered government in unprecedented economic times. We are in an incredible...
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: To answer the last question first, the Deputy will forgive me if I allow the Government to consider those reports first. As soon as the deliberative process has been completed, the appropriate documentation will be published. The Deputy is wrong in indicating that we have a fiscal view that is only interested in balancing the budget. The first thing we did was get permission to use â¬1...
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Some 9,000 jobs were created last year through that initiative.
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: It is easy to be the naysayers and to engage in the Darby O'Gill economics that we do not have to balance the books and can continue to borrow â¬1.5 billion.
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I do not know who is going to provide us with that money. The only people on earth willing to give us money, at the rates affordable to this State, is the troika, which has laid down hard and tough measures with which we must live. We can tell them, as I heard some of the individuals opposite suggest, to take a hike. If one wished to play Russian roulette with this country and its economy...
- Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Moreover, the Pathways to Work programme will be published shortly and will be implemented by the Minister for Social Protection. In addition, I constantly am seeking innovative ways to access capital for sustainable projects to create sustainable jobs, and this is what the Government will continue to do.
- Croke Park Agreement (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: The implementation body for the Croke Park agreement published its first annual progress report in June 2011. The report examined the savings and reforms delivered in the first year of the agreement and found that sustainable pay bill savings in the order of â¬289 million had been achieved during the review period. It also reported that solid and measurable progress had been made on...
- Croke Park Agreement (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: First, I welcome the Deputy's support for the Croke Park agreement. It is important because I have heard many people assert the agreement is an impediment to progress. I would like to be informed as to what the Croke Park agreement is preventing from happening. If people are seeking a straightforward pay cut across the entire public service, let them spell this out. I am not sure what the...
- Croke Park Agreement (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I provided all the figures when I appeared before the relevant committee and made sure to disaggregate everything. The reality is that these are costs which will have to be met. The people in question have, by and large, worked for up to 40 years in the public service. They have made their pension contributions in the expectation of obtaining both a lump sum and a pension at the end of...
- Croke Park Agreement (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I have been extremely transparent in the figures I have provided. However, I do not believe in double accounting. I will discuss the matter of the overall cost of pensions in detail following the February deadline in order that everyone will be aware of the exact position. The lump sum payments will be a once-off cost but the payroll saving will be permanent. I am not thinking in terms of...
- Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I am extremely conscious of the fiscal crisis facing Ireland and the loss of economic sovereignty which has resulted from the economic mismanagement of the country in previous years. We continue to work in consultation and partnership with the troika in implementing the EU-IMF programme which provides an agreed but difficult fiscal path for the...