Results 14,281-14,300 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: The role is assigned to my Department in regard to health matters; that is correct. It is paid for from my Department and the work in question continues and is necessary. The total budget for the Department of Health and Children is €14 billion. If the Minister wishes-----

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: The work is necessary and the adviser is assigned to my Department. In addition to the Minister for Health and Children, I am involved in health matters and I chair the Cabinet sub-committee on health, which meets very regularly.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: Sorry?

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I did not. The Deputy does not know what I was referring to. I was not referring to what the Deputy is suggesting I was referring to.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I am sorry there are not a few more to take Deputy Kenny's quotes but I am sure they will pick it up at some stage and see a few of them.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: If the Deputy does not know what the quotation is about, why make it? If one wants to quote something, one should know what one is talking about.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I did not refer to the Department as Angola. I referred to the fact that, although one can leave on a Friday evening with a clear desk-----

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: -----one can trip over a mine and have something arise from left-field that no one ever mentioned. One must deal with it. I will defend my time in the Department any time the Deputy wishes. If he has any issue he wants to raise with me in respect of my tenure in the Department, he should fee free to do so. He should feel free to table a question any time.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I have no problem dealing with my tenure in the Department of Health and Children.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I enjoyed it quite a lot. It was a very challenging Department. I have some understanding of the workload involved and of how issues can arise in the Department. I have some understanding of how, despite the best efforts of everybody, unexpected issues can arise in respect of which people would not be on notice, yet one is expected to have immediate and detailed replies in every respect....

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: It is not.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I do not agree with a few of the points made by the Deputy. I did not say it was small money; I said in the overall context of a total public service pay bill of €20 billion it is important when emphasis is put on the cost of special advisers that we see that it is a very small part of the total public service operation, both in the Civil Service and the wider public service. That is a...

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I do not have that information. I have no problem in finding it out for the Deputy. The Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 obviously post-dates the introduction. When the introduction of these posts came into place I am sure they were aligned with some range of responsibilities and subsequently-----

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: No, I believe it was higher than that, with respect.

Ministerial Staff. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: There is no point in me giving an opinion or reflecting back that far without checking out the facts. I can get them for the Deputy.

Regulatory Reform. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 8 together. The Government published the White Paper, Regulating Better, in 2004. It provides a framework for advancing the better regulation agenda in Ireland. Some of the recommendations and actions outlined in the OECD report and the White Paper relate specifically to individual sectors and relevant Ministers are responsible for reporting directly...

Regulatory Reform. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: There is a process in place regarding the reduction of administrative burdens and a group on business regulation is chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It has set out a programme of work that would seek to reduce the regulatory and administrative burden significantly. The question of regulation constantly arises. On the one hand, one needs...

Regulatory Reform. (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Minister for Finance has been outlining the Government position on the second matter Deputy Gilmore has raised in an earlier programme. With regard to the questions raised by Deputy Kenny on the question of outsourcing and using private companies for the purposes of training programmes, to work in partnership is a good thing, although there have been some recent controversies in this...

Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: The Minister for Finance outlined the position regarding this matter which came into the public domain during the past 24 hours before he was in a position to consider the appointment and report to the Government today. The Government reiterated its position of 11 March when it noted the content of the first report of the covered institutions' remuneration oversight committee which looked at...

Leaders' Questions (17 Nov 2009)

Brian Cowen: It is important for Deputy Kenny to realise that the whole purpose of the Government is to ensure that we have effective management structures. The board of the bank has brought forward the name. It is unfortunate that Deputy Kenny is engaging in a very strong personal attack. This is not a matter that I wish to deal with in that way.