Results 16,361-16,380 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The public service reform plan sets out a commitment to evaluate alternative models for the delivery of non-core services in a more cost effective and flexible approach, with a focus on customer service improvement. In July 2012, the Government agreed a range of actions aimed at achieving a focused and integrated approach to external service delivery of non-core processes with the objective...

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I have an open mind on how we provide services. As I stated, the criteria are what provides the best service to the public on a cost-effective basis, complies with all legal requirements and is efficient. Sometimes that will be an in-house service where there are significant skills built over time. Sometimes it will be a bought-in service because there are large private companies which...

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I agree that the issue of quality is important. It is a matter not simply of the cost, but of the quality and product one gets. I have other explanations as to why the hygiene standards might not be as robust as they used to be. From my experience in Wexford General Hospital when it was run by a matron of the St. John of God Order, I shall simply say that a tight ship was run and you...

Other Questions: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: My Department was established in 2011. A large part of the work of my Department is associated with the reform agenda plan and, as such, we have a rolling programme of work which will vary from year to year and require varying degrees of external consulting support. In the current year, this includes a number of shared services projects, in payroll, in banking, in financial management...

Other Questions: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not have that figure with me and the Deputy should table a question on the matter. To get a figure would mean trawling across all Departments and well beyond my own Department of responsibility. If the Deputy table a question, I will see what we can do to get that figure. There was a tendency, which may sometimes have been a default position, to have consultants do work rather than...

Other Questions: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As I indicated, it is not a uniform annual sum and much depends on what issues are being dealt with each year. Last year we hired consultants and, for example, Accenture examined procurement generally across the public service. The report was published and it indicated a sum of between €200 million and €600 million that could be saved through better procurement. Part of that...

Other Questions: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will do my very best.

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In July last year I announced the Government's €2.25 billion infrastructure stimulus package, which included €1.4 billion for the first phase of a new public private partnership, PPP, programme of projects in key areas of infrastructure. Given the very limited PPP activity in the preceding few years coupled with the difficult recent period for the financial and construction...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: This is for total transparency.

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Nothing, yet.

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am afraid retrospection will not be possible as this is to stimulate future interest in PPPs. I do not want to open a can of worms and have people come after us for projects that have been cancelled, particularly when the construction industry collapsed. It looks forward rather than back. I am anxious to get PPPs moving and it was a cause of great frustration that for nearly two years,...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships Cost (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy knows, I am always looking for sources of capital to invest in infrastructure in Ireland. The vice president of the European Investment Bank was in Dublin yesterday and I had a very long and fruitful meeting with him. The European Investment Bank has certainly been very helpful in this regard. It has a number of new schemes in progress. It wants to move away from direct...

Other Questions: State Properties (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Chairman of the Office of Public Works, OPW, is the senior responsible owner for driving reforms in public property asset management. The Chairman chairs the steering group established in October 2012, drawn from public service property stakeholders, to review existing property management arrangements across the public sector and develop a framework to drive efficiency and value for...

Other Questions: Sale of State Assets (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the House will be aware, the Government has initiated a programme of State asset disposals as part of commitments made in the programme for Government and under the EU-ECB-IMF financial assistance programme, with a view to generating resources for additional investment in job creation initiatives in the economy. Various aspects of this disposal programme have been discussed at Cabinet on...

Other Questions: Sale of State Assets (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: During the negotiations on the programme for Government, one of the issues that arose from the Fine Gael side was that party's plan to promulgate a share-holding entity, NewERA, which mirrored what happened in a number of progressive countries, including all of the Scandinavian countries and Britain, to get better value from State assets. I must say it has been a very worthwhile exercise....

Other Questions: Sale of State Assets (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I should have mentioned it. Deputy Higgins is aware the original requirement for the troika was to use all of the proceeds from the sale of State assets to retire debt. I have spent considerable weeks and months trying to change this view with some success. After much negotiation the agreement was that 50% of the take could be used directly for job creation and would be rolled into the...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am afraid I am due elsewhere at 7 p.m. so forgive me.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thought we had three hours yesterday.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Appointments (25 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: During March 2013 the Public Appointments Service (PAS) commenced a recruitment competition to provide cover for temporary clerical positions in the civil and public service, including vacancies arising from the Shorter Working Year Scheme. Given the short-term nature of the appointments, the Public Appointments Service does not collate detailed information on the background of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Advisers Remuneration (25 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The remuneration reduction provisions of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013, apply to all public servants in receipt of annual remuneration over €65,000 including special advisers. Standard remuneration rates for Special Advisers are linked to the Civil Service Principal Officer (standard) scale of €80,051 – €83,337 - €86,604...