Results 1,381-1,400 of 4,869 for speaker:Seán Haughey

Seanad: Hospitals Building Programme (24 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I will ensure that the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, and the HSE are made aware of the Senator's contribution.

Seanad: Local Authority Housing (24 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I thank the Senator for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. As the House is aware, the Government has a long-standing policy of facilitating the valid home ownership aspirations of as many households as possible. For many years now, mortgage lending by local authorities, backed by loan finance obtained by the...

Seanad: Local Authority Housing (24 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: The Senator's contribution is very helpful. I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, in particular, is very innovative in the way he looks at all these issues. He has taken up his post with an open mind on how to improve matters, particularly the first point made by the Senator about an information campaign. I am sure something could be done in that regard, but obviously...

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: Senator Twomey's amendment seeks to restrict the scope of financial support that may be provided under the Credit Institutions (Financial Support) Act 2008, as amended by this Bill. The amendment aims to prohibit the extension of financial support that may be provided under the 2008 Act to any form of tier one or tier two risk capital. As the Senator is aware, regulatory capital comprises...

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: Yes, it is eligible for coverage.

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: Section 3 defines terms in Part 3 of the Bill. The section also clarifies that the assets to be transferred do not include assets covering additional voluntary contributions on a defined contribution basis. Following the transfer, the funds of these additional voluntary contributions schemes will be held in a separate trust for the contributing members. As for the Senator's specific...

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: The existing schemes that cover the people mentioned by the Senator will continue to operate, regardless of whether they are better or worse. A series of orders will be made in 2009 and 2010 on foot of this legislation. One order will be made in the case of each scheme. It will be an open and transparent process. The precise rules and regulations will be outlined in those orders for all...

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I will look into that.

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I reiterate that an additional liability will not accrue to the State as a result of this measure. The State is officially liable for these funds regardless of whether they are transferred. In this legislation, we are dealing with the principle that is at stake. The orders that will be made in due course will deal with the specifics.

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: The purpose of the transfer order provided for in the Bill is to give effect, on the date of effect set out in the order, to the transfer of the assets of a pension fund to the National Pensions Reserve Fund. As the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, said on Second Stage, each of the funds carried out an actuarial valuation of its assets and liabilities at the end of 2008. This has given...

Seanad: Financial Measures (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2009: Committee Stage (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: The assets were valued by the trustees at the time. The only thing I can say is that the values are slightly higher at this stage.

Seanad: Family Support Services (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: The options paper on domestic partnership prepared by a working group chaired by Ms Anne Colley was published in November 2006. The paper focused on three distinct types of cohabiting relationships: opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples and non-conjugal relationships. The paper examined a range of options to accord legal recognition and effect to each of these types of cohabiting...

Seanad: Family Support Services (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I thank the Senator for her very considered and reflective contribution to this debate and I will take on board what she has said about being kept informed. I will also check her other query and come back to her on that.

Seanad: Flood Relief (25 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Mansergh. I thank the Senator for giving me an opportunity to come into the House to discuss the severe flooding which occurred in the Gweedore Gaeltacht area in County Donegal on 23 June. It is ironic that the flooding took place at a time when most of the rest of the country was basking in...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (30 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: I assure the Deputy that the safety of children travelling on the school transport service is of paramount importance to my Department and to Bus Éireann. In recent years, a range of measures to enhance safety and to improve the quality of the school transport service has been put in place, both in the vicinity of and on board school buses. These measures include the phasing out of the 3...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (30 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: Home school community liaison co-ordinator posts are provided on a full-time or shared basis between schools. Due to the nature of the work of home school community liaison co-ordinators, which focuses directly on the salient adults in children's educational lives, co-ordinators must be deployed to full-time liaison duties only. This is to avoid any potential conflict of interest which...

Written Answers — School Staffing: School Staffing (30 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: The school to which the Deputy refers is among a number of schools that were judged by an independent identification process in 2005 not to have a sufficient level of disadvantage among their pupils to warrant their inclusion in DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the Action Plan for Educational Inclusion. A review mechanism was put in place in 2006 to address the concerns...

Written Answers — Disadvantaged Status: Disadvantaged Status (30 Jun 2009)

Seán Haughey: DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools), the action plan for educational inclusion, provides for a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage and an integrated School Support Programme (SSP). DEIS brings together and builds upon a number of existing interventions in schools with concentrated levels of disadvantage. Schools which qualify for the Urban Strand (Band...

Written Answers — School Transport: School Transport (1 Jul 2009)

Seán Haughey: Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme on behalf of my Department, have advised that last mentioned family referred to by the Deputy, in the details supplied, submitted the relevant form to Bus Éireann and availed of concessionary fare paying transport in Term 3 of the 2008/2009 school year. My Department has no record of receiving forms from the other families. In any...

Written Answers — Education Courses: Education Courses (1 Jul 2009)

Seán Haughey: From September 2009, an additional 1,500 PLC places are being made available nationwide, bringing the total number of PLC places nationwide to 31,688. On 22 May these additional places were allocated to VECs and other providers. Kerry Education Service (KES) received 70 additional places, bringing their total allocation to 530.