Results 13,441-13,460 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Public Sector Pay (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: These are not questions. The Deputy is making a speech.

Public Sector Pay (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: This goes well beyond the scope of the original question. However, I know the Deputy likes to be current and is always keen to follow up on whatever stories are being focused on in the media.

Public Sector Pay (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The adviser to whom Deputy McDonald refers was previously in receipt of an income which was a multiple of what I authorised when he came to work for us. Perhaps that man's departure had something to do with the constant focus on his salary and conditions and the fact that, in the private sphere, he could earn multiples of what we were paying him without having his conditions of employment,...

Public Sector Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 273 of 19 June last, the general policy with regard to the re-engagement of retired public servants is that staff should not be retained beyond retirement age and that any re-engagement should be kept as limited as possible and should be for a restricted period. Returns from across the public service indicate that approximately 7,900 public...

Public Sector Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is making two different points. I strongly agree with him in respect of one of these. The general principle of rehiring those who have retired on pensions should not be - and is not - supported. Exceptional cases will arise, however. Deputy Mattie McGrath will recall the great concerns that arose in the House prior to the end of the grace period and the fact that Minister for...

Public Sector Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: If a person retires on a pension - normally this amounts to half-pay - and if he or she is rehired to perform a particular function, his or her pay in respect of that function plus his or her pension cannot exceed the level of his or her pre-retirement pay. People's pensions are reduced in order to ensure that pre-retirement pay levels are not breached.

Public Sector Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As far as I am aware, it applies in all circumstances. Where a person is contracted on a fee-paying basis, it is the fee rather than the pension that is reduced.

Public Sector Reform (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As stated by the Ombudsman in her annual report, the ongoing consequences of the economic and financial crisis are reflected in the record number of people who have sought the assistance of her office. The Ombudsman also indicated in her annual report that in the immediate aftermath of the economic downturn, which commenced in 2008, many people were forced to seek State benefits and services...

Public Sector Reform (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I have no doubt the Deputy will raise this point directly with the Minister for Health who is the proper channel. I agree with much of what the Deputy said. We examined this issue in advance of the drafting of the programme for Government in which we stated it was our intention to establish a new committee - the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions - to...

Public Sector Reform (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: It has been set up. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald's colleague, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, is its Chairman.

Public Sector Reform (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: It is my intention to introduce legislation to amend the Ombudsman Act. The Deputy is familiar with the Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008 which passed Second Stage in the Seanad. I intend to revise it to include the recommendations made by the Ombudsman. I will refer it to the Joint Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions in order that it can examine it. If the committee needs...

Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Reform of the TLAC terms was a major priority for me on taking office. As a result, I introduced a significant reform of the Top Level Appointments Committee, TLAC, terms with effect from November 2011. Under the new arrangements, it is part of the contract terms of all future appointees that, when that contract expires, no added years are available on their pension; no pension will be paid...

Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I explained this to the Deputy already. I do not know if she was not listening or chooses not to hear. We are not retrospectively changing pension entitlements in the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme) and Remuneration Bill 2011; we are giving the power to the Minister to change the basis for future pension increases only, not to reduce current entitlements. The Deputy understands...

Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In factual law.

Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy would never give me a pain in the neck.

Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That is not the part of the anatomy that is affected at all. The Deputy does her usual thing about my unwillingness to deal with the issues. I have dealt with the issue.

Departmental Staff (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I did it within a number of months of being appointed. Whatever it was, it was not quick enough for the Deputy. A number of Secretaries General have been appointed subsequent to the change, for whom the new conditions apply: the new Secretary General at the Department of Education and Skills, Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, the new Secretary General at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and...

Semi-State Sector Remuneration (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 14 and 17 together. Since taking office, the Government has significantly reduced the salary rates paid to the chief executive officers of commercial State companies. These measures on salaries have included the introduction of a general pay ceiling of €250,000 per annum in the case of all newly appointed CEOs in commercial State companies, along with...

Semi-State Sector Remuneration (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The salary cap is €250,000.

Semi-State Sector Remuneration (4 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has misunderstood. The cap for the commercial semi-state sector is €250,000. I have appointed no one above that except the ESB chief executive, and I explained that to the House. We had to offer a multiple of that to get someone to run ESB. I am anxious to significantly reduce top-level pay and I must do it in a structured way. We looked at the Hay rates and reduced them...