Results 14,921-14,940 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is not done, as the Deputy knows.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I did not say that at all.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We should really call this "speech time" rather than "Question Time". I have acknowledged that there is an issue here. I have sought to deal with it. Objectively, people will agree that my efforts have been fairly substantial in the context of the constraints within which I have had to operate. As the Deputy has acknowledged, it is not the convention to publish the views of the Attorney...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Sinn Féin way is to engage in the pretence of it-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy should not shout people down.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I listened to her back-of-the-lorry speech. I ask her to listen to my answer. The Government is grappling with an array of economic difficulties that were presented to us by the disastrous Government that preceded this one. We are making steady progress on the way. Employment figures to be published today will indicate that the number of people in employment has increased for the first...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Legal Costs (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In principle, I am in favour of the annual publication of details of the cost of payments by public bodies to legal firms and practitioners. However, there needs to be an examination of how this is to be achieved. For example, should the information be included in annual reports of public bodies or made available in other sources of information? To what degree should the details of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Legal Costs (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: There is a great deal of merit in what the Deputy has said. Some of the legal fees that have come into the public domain in recent years, such as tribunal fees and fees for legal cases taken by the HSE and others, are disturbingly high. That is why we have embarked on a new procurement regime. The Office of the Chief State Solicitor has taken a number of initiatives in this regard. It...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Legal Costs (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Again, I agree entirely with the Deputy. The way to go is not so much to have a cap because, in a way, it is a stab in the dark, but to have true competitive tendering. I know competitive frameworks are being devised in order to do this. I have looked, for example, at how some of the big American companies do it. They have an open on-line tendering competition to avail of reduced legal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware, in 2011 the Government introduced new arrangements for the appointment of State board members. Under the new arrangements, Departments now invite on their websites expressions of interest from the public in vacancies on the boards of bodies under their aegis. It is open to all members of the public, regardless of gender, political affiliations or geography, to apply...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I was delighted to see this question because we need a debate on these matters. This is a small country. I read the published list of the 60 people mentioned. While I was not going to mention names, I will mention one. Ms Adi Roche who was appointed to the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland is regarded as a crony. How could someone who has spent most of her life championing the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not disagree with that and there is probably a meeting of minds on this issue. We need to get away from the notion that to be political is somehow unworthy because that is hugely damaging. However, we need to make sure people who have something to contribute and are not involved in the political system in any shape or form also have a path to serve fully. We have to strive to have...

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 150 together. Negotiations have taken place between public service employers and the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on the Government’s stated intention to reach agreement on securing an overall saving of €1 billion gross in the public service pay and pensions bill by 2015. Following intensive engagement...

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: To clarify, we are ratcheting up to €1 billion.

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I hope I am clear.

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As I indicated, this agreement has just concluded. As the Deputy can imagine, the latter phases of the discussions were fairly intensive so some analysis will be done. In advance of it, we did a considerable amount of work on drilling down into the workplace on a sectoral level to ensure that unlike Croke Park I, the savings will manifest themselves in real terms in the workplace. For...

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We need to get €300 million this year in gross pay and pension savings. All the ancillary things like procurement are separate and additional to that. Incrementally, we will get a significant part of €1 billion next year and the full €1 billion in 2015 annualised as it ratchets in if workers vote for the agreement which is a draft agreement - I do not want to be...

Other Questions: Croke Park Agreement (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will deal with Deputy Boyd Barrett's question first because it is important. There are two levels to it. I was trying to answer in detail a set of questions from Deputy Sean Fleming which differed from Deputy Boyd Barrett's. They will require further analysis. We have obviously carried out an analysis of the impact of taking €1 billion out of the economy in general terms but the...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question, the Public Appointments Service, PAS, in the course of running recruitment competitions for the public service, avails of trained and experienced individuals from the private and public sectors. Those assisting in this that are in receipt of a public or private sector salary receive no payment whatsoever. A fee per day is paid to retired individuals and...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not disagree with the Deputy. He makes a very fair point. I am accountable for my own Department. The Public Appointments Service and the Office of Public Works are the only bodies that have engaged such people. The Public Appointments Service needs experienced people with high status to make evaluation decisions. In general terms, there has been a laziness in some quarters -...