Results 16,301-16,320 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: How does one deal with that type of attitude?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Bord Gáis was set up as a gas distribution company, is operating profitably in that capacity and will remain as such. In recent years it has built up an energy-generating capacity, in competition with another State company, ESB, which heretofore had a very significant share of the energy-generating market in the State. As I indicated in my response to Deputy Sean Fleming, the entry of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not agree with the Deputy, who is trapped in an ideological view. The notion that he would describe two power stations, one in Amorebieta in Spain and the other the Marchwood plant in England, as being strategic for Ireland-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The focus of our State companies must be on investing in our economy and creating jobs on this island. That is certainly the Government's view. Not everything State companies have done in recent years have been in the interest of the stakeholder. That is why we are introducing a much more disciplined approach, under NewERA, to ensure the Irish people get full value for their investment....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy O'Donnell is right. We have to ensure that the investments we make will be strategic in terms of creating jobs in the medium term but that they will not be short-term jobs. The outcome has to be an important contribution to our recovery. There would be different manifestations of this. In the stimulus plan I introduced last year I announced what people would describe as traditional...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy can be sure it does. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has repeatedly said that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: An bord snip.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That was the troika’s understanding.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is not included in the tender.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is not for sale at the moment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: On the question of the shareholding abroad, we have approximately a 50% shareholding in each of the two power stations rather than full ownership of them. In terms of the further deleveraging possible by ESB, it has been expressed in kilowattage terms. When ESB has delivered on the first phase, it will make an announcement on the next phase.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As regards Aer Lingus, the same level of due diligence that applied to Coillte has happened and will happen. Decisions will be made in the round, not simply on the basis of maximising a sum of money. The implications for tourism, exports and accessibility to the country will be taken into account. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has made that crystal clear. If and when we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is the question that is being parsed and analysed constantly. In terms of the amount of money that would accrue from the sale of the remaining shareholding, we will see whether it is worth it in terms of the impact it might have on other areas. That is the valuation that has largely been done by the Minister, Deputy Varadkar. He will make a recommendation to Cabinet in that regard in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not want to put that on the record but as I said in response to Deputies opposite, it is a minority, and not a significant minority, shareholding in a company. Obviously, the majority can make strategic decisions for the company over which we have no control but relinquishing that has implications that we have to fully parse and analyse before we come to a conclusion that it is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will make a number of points. First, there is a big focus on construction because of the 250,000 private sector jobs this economy lost in the three years up to 2011, a big chunk were in the construction sector. We have many long-term unemployed people who came from the construction sector. If we can get some of those back to work it would be welcome but we are not going to build things...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: There are a number of projects under way. The establishment of the interconnector with Britain is an important asset because if we can generate wind energy or alternative energy on this island, and there are many people both in the commercial area and in the public sector area who believe we can do that, there may well be programmes that we can ratchet up through investment to have new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will ask Ms Fitzpatrick to comment on that because she has looked at that already.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am advised that there is commercial sensitivity around the data provided to Government but I will reflect on that and come back to the Deputy on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Sorry, did the Deputy refer to communists?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: First, from the very outset of this process, I indicated in all my parliamentary questions that all the various broad ranges of issues would be considered in respect of the sale of the harvesting rights of trees in Coillte, including, for example, ensuring public access, amenity, the impact on existing contracts with sawmills and so on. It was necessary to assign an economic value, if one...