Results 12,481-12,500 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Is that a fact?

Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: It is always difficult when the Deputy has prepared his answer before he hears my answer, as he has prepared his rebuttal.

Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I have given the Deputy the data as I have it in front of me. When we went into Government, I believed that the highest levels of the public service were paid too much. That is why in our first act, we set a new pay ceiling for the Taoiseach, for Ministers and for Ministers of State, which was significantly lower than the remuneration of our predecessors. We then set that ceiling across...

Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I will answer the last question first because it is very important and the answer to which is no. I have dealt with the troika on the issue of public pay policy and its members have no difficulty with the policy of the Government as long as we achieve the extra payroll savings set out, with which they are in agreement. I have dealt with the issue of top level pay. Let us consider what has...

Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: With regard to the top level-----

Public Sector Pay (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: -----I have indicated that in some instances there has been a cut of more than 30%. On a voluntary basis, one senior public servant who has asked not to be named has taken a cut of more than 50% to meet the pay norms set because some of the pay norms set in advance of our entering government were unacceptable. We have moved remarkably, but we cannot look on public servants as an amorphous...

Legislative Programme (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: My Department is making good progress in developing the necessary draft legislation to implement the commitment made in the programme of Government in regard to whistleblower protection. Following the recent completion of the process of consultation with other Departments, I expect to present these proposals to my Government colleagues shortly to secure approval for the drafting process for...

Legislative Programme (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Yes.

Legislative Programme (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy knows, the hardest thing to do is to change ingrained attitudes. He is aware that I have more than a passing interest in the issue of whistleblowing, having had to traipse to the High Court and the Supreme Court to protect the rights of individuals to give information to Members of the House on allegations of wrongdoing. I know how stressful this can be. At one stage I was on...

Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The context of the Deputy's question is the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, governing the EU-IMF Funding Programme for Ireland, which commits the Government to considering options for the ambitious programme of asset disposal, based on the programme for Government and the report of the review group on state assets and liabilities. In our discussions, the troika emphasised that it views...

Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has asked a number of questions and made a number of assertions again. She fundamentally misunderstands, maybe deliberately or maybe not, the Government intention in this regard. We negotiated the programme for Government against the backdrop, as I indicated to Deputy Wallace, of the incredible shortage of capital for investment in new jobs in this economy. We debated how we...

Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In truth, we have not fixed on an actual percentage because it is a matter of ongoing discussions. We have not fixed on the full quantum nor on the percentage that can be used for job creation as that is a matter of ongoing discussions.

Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: We have agreed on the word "sizeable". That is what I have just indicated.

Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: No, they did not, but in my discussions with the troika I proffered several words and that was a word we agreed we would use in relation to that.

Sale of State Assets (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In the programme for Government, in regard to which I was part of the negotiating team, we said we would protect strategic interests. I regard water as an absolute strategic interest. From the discussions that have taken place, neither party in government would regard water as anything but strategic.

Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Neither I nor my officials have received a request to make an exception to the current annual pay rate of €200,000, established for Secretaries General in Departments generally in regard to the appointment of a Secretary General to the Department Finance. The Deputy will be aware that the rates for new appointments as Secretary General in respect of all Departments were reduced following my...

Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy obviously believes there is political capital in touting out the notion of I somehow defend top level pay when the truth by any objective criterion, it that nobody has reduced top level pay more than I have in one year. No Minister with responsibility for the public service has ever reduced top level pay across the public service more than I have. The Deputy knows she is talking...

Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That is another sound bite.

Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: There is an implication in the very nature of the question, namely, if the Minister had been requested to increase the salary, that I had been so requested. There was not a request, and it will fall within the pay norms. I did not get a chance to talk about my special adviser, which the Deputy has raised now in three extraneous questions, but I hope we will reach the question so that I can...

Departmental Expenditure (24 Jan 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Given the overarching requirement to put the public finances on a sustainable footing, it is inevitable that savings must be identified across every area of public spending. This involves difficult decisions on how to allocate and prioritise the more limited resources that are now available. However, in making these decisions, the Government has endeavoured in so far as possible to...