Results 16,801-16,820 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Exchange of Information Relating to Taxes and Tax Matters (Dominica) Order 2013: Motion (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move:That Dáil Éireann approves the following Order in draft:Exchange of Information Relating to Taxes and Tax Matters (Dominica) Order 2013,a copy of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 12th September, 2013.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This relatively short Bill amends the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. If passed, it will remove the legislative barriers to redeployment and overall mobility within the public service, thereby facilitating a greater movement of staff across the broader public service. This is vital as we seek to maximise...

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: And vice versa.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It needs legal underpinning from the Attorney General.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is because we are so resistant to change.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That has happened lately.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: You are constantly bristling. Not a day goes by without you bristling.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is not possible.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: They are non-specialists.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will send the Deputy the report I got yesterday.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is a lot of quangos gone.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I did.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank all Deputies for a wide ranging debate on a narrow Bill which none the less goes to the heart of the reform agenda in the public service. I thank, in particular, Deputy Calleary for returning to the House. Many Deputies leave the Chamber once they have made their contribution, which is understandable because we are all busy. In many ways, Deputy Calleary started the process which...

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We must be realistic about it. Let us forensically examine them to ensure there is no organisation that is not fit for purpose. That forensic examination is being brought to ourselves and that is why we have a referendum on the future of the Seanad. The question should not be whether we can think of a purpose for a body. The question should be whether there is a compelling reason for a...

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Referral to Select Committee (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform pursuant to Standing Orders 82A(3)(a) and (6)(a) and 126(1) of the Standing Orders relative to Public Business.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Tax Reliefs Application (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Travel Pass Scheme, in Section 118 of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, allows an employer to incur the expense of providing an employee with a bus/rail pass, without the employee being liable for benefit-in-kind taxation. The Revenue Commissioners have agreed that the benefit-in-kind tax exemption will apply in the context of salary sacrifice, that is, where an employee agrees to...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I seem to be in this House very frequently, about which I am very glad. As Senators will be aware, the introduction of protected disclosures legislation in this jurisdiction has a long history. It is worth recalling that it was as long ago as 1999 that my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, introduced a Private Members' Bill...

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: He clearly loves it.

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is why we are drawing up a code of practice.

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank all Senators for their contributions and for the warm welcome the Bill has received across all sections of the House. That is what I expected. We have talked about consequences of our economic collapse in great detail but it was multidimensional and was more than an economic collapse. It was a failure of politics and of administration and we need to change the culture, which is a...