Results 15,721-15,740 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I agree with Deputy Lowry. Entrants' pay is an issue across the public service and is not confined to the Garda. All new entrants took a reduction in pay. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has committed to establishing a public pay commission. One of the priority issues that it will examine is entrants' pay. This will provide a vehicle through which the matter can be...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I share the Deputy's deep disappointment that there is a further delay in the trial of Mr. Halawa. The courts had indicated in advance of the latest hearing that there would be significant developments. Therefore, this latest adjournment is a real source of concern and frustration for Mr. Halawa and his family. I understand the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charlie...

Leaders' Questions (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I understand the Government did examine closely those other cases to determine whether there were lessons to be drawn from them that could be applied in this case. They were found to be different in their approach. The Government supported Mr. Ibrahim Halawa's own legal team in 2015 when it sought an application under presidential decree 140, which was for the release. A number of legal...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: While I have read the reports to which the Deputy refers on a Private Members' Bill, I have not seen the Bill and it will be a matter for the Deputy in question to present it to the House. The Government will consider the legislation and decide its position on it at that stage. It seeks to encourage more Deputies to introduce Bills and it is good to note, therefore, that this opportunity is...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: It must be borne in mind that the FEMPI legislation was designed to protect our capacity as a country to strike the necessary balance between the demand for new public services and the restoration of public pay over time and in an orderly manner. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has made it clear that the cost of reversing the FEMPI legislation in full would be in the order of...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I agree with the Deputy on the case of Ibrahim Halawa. If there are initiatives that can be developed, there is no doubt that we will be keen to support them.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: Yes, indeed, but there has to be something that has been thought out and that has a likelihood of success. The Government and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, will be happy to discuss initiatives that can be taken. I agree with the Deputy that it will be important that all political parties in the House are actively involved in the process that is about to start when the British activate...

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I am not in a position to say. That will have to be tabled to the relevant Ministers and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. I have seen newspaper reports on the subject, but I am not position to say.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I understand Deputy Barry is a member of the business committee and so he ought to know what is being transacted there. Negotiations under the Lansdowne Road agreement have been pursued by the Government. The majority of public service trade unions and public service workers have signed up to that agreement, which allows-----

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: -----for the orderly restoration of pay under the FEMPI arrangements.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: As I indicated, that agreement will provide for €884 million of-----

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: In addition, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has indicated that the Government supports the orderly and negotiated unwinding of the FEMPI agreement to end that. However, it will be done in an orderly way-----

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: -----and the first item will be a public service commission which will look specifically at the issue Deputy Barry raised, namely, the difference in entrants' pay affecting those who were restricted in recent years.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: There is an orderly process here that allows the Government to manage our affairs in a way that allows us to invest in badly needed public services, which was a major issue in the recent general election campaign.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: We have to strike that balance.

Questions on Proposed Legislation (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: My understanding is that under the FEMPI Acts the Minister is obliged to review the FEMPI legislation and provide a report, which he is required to lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas, as to whether it is his opinion that the measures in the Act are still required. He has conducted this review and has laid the report before the House in accordance with the legislation.

Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It would have been helpful had she flagged that it concerned south Kildare, as I do not have specific information on that area.

Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I will try to give the Deputy what information I have. It presents a picture that is better than the one she has painted. Therefore, I would like to see the south Kildare data. Overall, there are 14,000 students with ASD in the school system, of whom some 63% are educated in mainstream classes, 23% in special classes in mainstream primary and post-primary schools and 14% in special schools....

Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs Service Provision (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I would welcome receiving the details. There is an entitlement to appeal any decision. Where parents have applied to a school for a place for their child and deem the NCSE's specification of so many hours of additional resource teaching or a special class in due course to be unsatisfactory, the decision can be appealed. There is such a process in place. It is, undoubtedly, the case...

Topical Issue Debate: Schools Building Projects (30 Jun 2016)

Richard Bruton: I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. As she is aware, Lusk community college is a co-educational post-primary facility under the patronage of Dublin-Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board. The second phase of the major building project for Lusk community college will provide for a new-build extension to cater for an additional 650 pupils, a special needs unit, a physical...