Results 17,081-17,100 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Senators for their contributions and their support for this legislation. Everybody who spoke expressed support for the Bill, by and large. It is not easy to be the Minister who is always coming in to seek expenditure reductions. I wanted to put on the record the extent of the reductions already made by the political system. I do not think it is well known that the Taoiseach takes...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: For everybody.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is what I am saying. I am extending it fully to Independents who have not been required before now to comply with external auditing or to submit documents to the Standards in Public Office Commission. We are expanding the role of the commission, for example by giving it an entitlement to give guidance and produce guidelines in relation to these matters. I think that will be helpful....

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It can be characterised as a "workspace" or as anything else the Senator might choose. I think it is a reasonable request to make. When I examined the proposal, that mere fact was enough to get front-page coverage in some newspapers.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The fact that I was considering it was regarded as an extraordinary deed in and of itself.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: To put it bluntly, I think there are things we can do in calmer times and things we can do when we are still in retrenchment mode. I do not think anything that adds to cost can be pursued by us now.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I would like to be allowed to speak, please. There are legal difficulties with regard to this specific matter. The advice I have received is that the Seanad is not constituency-based in the sense that the entire country is a constituency. The notion of defining where a constituency office or workspace should be located presents legal difficulty. I think it is something we need to reflect...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Please, allow me to speak.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not think it is possible to do it now. I do not want to get bogged down in that, as I have said, because I do not want it to take away from the really important legislation that is before us. Senator Quinn spoke about the pension levy. We get confused sometimes. Of course the pension levy only applies to the private sector, but there are other levies that apply to the public sector....

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Or expelled from. We can have a debate about that. I know the resources that a political party puts into the election of Members of both Houses. There is an expectation because there is a competition that-----

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I did not interrupt the Senator when he was speaking. Allow me to answer. A resource is put in. There is a certain tautology involved in the notion that Senators are not political. I know that the Labour Party normally puts up one candidate on each panel. We normally put up two in the case of the Labour panel. We divide the number of councillors' votes because we expect our councillors...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is not a point of order.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I was asked about an extraneous point in this legislation - whether allowances should be payable to people who walk away or are expelled from their parties - and I am giving my answer.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Free speech is a two-way stream. I know some people are very loud when they walk away on their preciousness. I am talking through the Chair. Everybody is allowed to speak freely and they should not be shouted down because their views are different.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Senator Bradford continues to shout me down. I believe that if people feel they cannot abide by their party pledge and certainly if they are in the other House, the appropriate moral thing to do is to resign their seat and test the people. If the people want to elect an Independent, that should accrue to them. That would be my personal view. It is slightly more complicated in this House...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Lottery Funding Disbursement (7 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: On Budget day this year, I announced additional investment of €200m from the proceeds of the National Lottery Licence transaction. This investment will be used to progress a number of additional projects and programmes in 2014 including the project to which the Deputy refers. The precise allocation of the proceeds to the Departments concerned is being determined at present and will...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Child Care Services Provision (7 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy will appreciate several of the specific issues raised in the details supplied for this question relate to confidential matters between an individual and a crèche and as such it would not be appropriate for me to comment or take any action potentially impinging on the contractual situation. As set out in the previous reply on this matter, arising from the decision taken to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Polasaí don Ghaeilge (7 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In developing a new policy approach to the Irish language proficiency aspect for recruitment to the civil service my Department - working collaboratively in particular with the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht - was strongly guided by the evidence that the pre-existing approach of providing for bonus marks in all competitions for Irish language ability was clearly not achieving...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of the Ombudsman Investigations (7 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Ombudsman is legally independent and there is no statutory provision for appeals against individual decisions of the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is, however, legally obliged to report to the Houses of the Oireachtas annually on the performance of his/her functions. In addition, the Ombudsman has a reporting relationship with the Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (12 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Under Section 12 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013, as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I am required to review the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009 to 2013 annually. The review determines their operation, effectiveness and impact, having regard to the overall economic conditions of the State and national...