Results 14,301-14,320 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Expenditure Reviews (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Comprehensive Review of Expenditure was the culmination of an intensive exercise carried out by all Departments in 2011 to identify means of reducing expenditure, in line with commitments under the Joint EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland, while minimising the impact on service delivery. All proposals, including those from members of the public and third party submissions,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Top Level Appointments Committee (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In line with the Programme for Government commitment, the restructuring of the Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC) was announced in April 2011. In July 2011 I announced the five external appointments to TLAC, one of whom would be the chairperson. Together with the four Senior Civil Service Members the restructured Committee commenced work in July 2011. I am happy that this new...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Redeployment (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Public Appointments Service (PAS), which has day-to-day operational responsibility for the implementation of redeployment, has put in place a system of Resource Panels of Civil Service and State Agency staff to support the redeployment processes in those sectors under the Croke Park Agreement. Posts to be filled by redeployment are offered in the first instance to the relevant panel or...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ethics Legislation (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Substantial preparatory work has been carried out by my Department on this significant legislative project to date. I propose to advise Government of the proposed legislative approach early next year and expect to initiate a wider consultative process at that time.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Parliamentary Inquiries (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The legislative proposals contained in Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2012 are primarily underpinned by a comprehensive legal analysis of the constitutional requirements set down in the Abbeylara case. The process was also informed by an examination of provisions for parliamentary inquiries in a number of other jurisdictions from existing published...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: External delivery of public services is a key element of the overall Public Service Reform Plan agreed by Government in November 2011. As such, last July, the Government agreed a range of actions aimed at achieving a focussed and integrated approach to external service delivery of non-core processes with the objective of reducing costs and focussing staff on priority areas. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy will be aware the commitment in the Public Service Reform Plan is that every Purchase Order by a Government Department or Agency for €20,000 or over should be published online by the end of 2012. My Secretary General wrote to all Secretaries General on March 27th, stating that they should put appropriate processes in place to ensure that this ambitious target is met....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The changed economic environment has meant that it is necessary to do “better for less”, providing real value-for-money for the Irish taxpayer by maximising efficiency and eliminating waste. Since its establishment in 2009, the National Procurement Service (NPS) has reported estimated procurement savings to the end of 2012 under its frameworks of €117m, comprising of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Proposed Legislation (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42 and 43 together. The specific definitions to be included in the Protected Disclosures in the Public Interest Bill 2012 are currently being considered by my Department in consultation with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel taking into account submissions made on the legislation and observations received on the General Scheme from the Oireachtas...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Semi-State Sector Remuneration (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In answer to the Deputy’s question the following is the position in respect of the agencies under the aegis of my Department. Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The table hereunder outlines salary details for the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. With regard to additional allowances, bonuses and annual cost to the Exchequer of pension packages no...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Oireachtas Members' Salaries (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Government decided on taking office in March 2011 to reduce the salaries of An Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Ministers with immediate effect. The reductions were implemented by all relevant Officeholders on a voluntary basis pending the passage of the necessary legislation giving statutory effect to the reductions. Section 6 (c) of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy will be aware, the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 is progressing the requirement for a more flexible public service through various changes such as the new standardised leave arrangements that are being implemented across the public service. In regard to the specific issue of carry over leave , I presume that the Deputy is referring to the carry over of annual leave within...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Abatement in the public service is intended to ensure that a pensioner's combined income from salary and occupational pension does not exceed the salary he or she would have had if he or she had not retired from the civil or public service. The practice goes as far back as the Superannuation Act 1834. The Deputy should note that the application of abatement has widened recently, insofar as...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Government’s Public Service Reform Plan, which was published last November, places a strong emphasis on the need for effective governance structures to ensure delivery of the Reform Plan and maintain oversight of the reform programmes of Departments and Sectors. To this end, in November of last year, I established a dedicated Reform and Delivery Office in my Department, led by an...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Proposed Legislation (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce new legislation to protect small building subcontractors that have been denied payments from bigger companies. In this regard, my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, is working with Senator Feargal Quinn to develop the Senator's Private Members' Construction Contracts Bill into a robust piece of legislation....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Allowances (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The approach of the Benchmarking Body in relation to allowances is referred to in Sections 6.5 and 6.6 of its Report in 2002 and also in sections 8.3 to 8.5 and sections 9.28 and 9.29 in its Report of 2007. In its first Report, the Body took account of certain allowances which were universally applicable to members of particular grades for purposes of comparison with the private sector....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Ireland is committed under the EU-IMF programme to reducing the overall size of the public service. This is also a key element of the Programme for Government. Delivering this reduction will require continued implementation of the moratorium on recruitment with exceptions being limited to only essential posts and the utilisation of redeployment as the primary mechanism to fill posts which...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Insurance Costs (21 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: State indemnity for personal injury and third party property damage is set out in the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Act, 2000 where the management of personal injury and third party property damage claims against certain State authorities, and underlying risks, was delegated to the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). When performing these functions, the NTMA is...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (22 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Under a public works contract the contractual relationship is between the public body and the main contractor. A public body has no contractual ties with a subcontractor engaged by a main contractor. Any contractual relationship is exclusively a matter between the main contractor and its sub-contractor. I am conscious of the difficulties being experienced by sub-contractors in this...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Oireachtas Members' Salaries (22 Nov 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The provision for payment of an annual allowance to the chairpersons of Oireachtas Committees is made in the Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act, 1998. The system of allowances paid to TDs was substantially overhauled by this Government in 2011 upon taking office. The number of committees, and therefore chairpersons,...