Results 17,241-17,260 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Sure everything is free.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy should read them.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: On the use of Farmleigh, that concerns use by all Ministers, foreign guests, international visitors and all the rest.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The EU Presidency. We have also used it twice for conferences-seminars.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: That is linked with the exercise equipment.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Go to the next line.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Go to the next line.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is engaged in selective reading; he should read it fully.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy forgot takeaways.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: There absolutely is not.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: Thankfully, it will not be me who will make that determination. One judgment is that a reasonable person would not link the use of Farmleigh, including the steward's house, grounds, accommodation and overnight guest accommodation, all functions for which it is used, which would involve an extraordinary trawl of every Department, agency of State, the records of Farmleigh on who stayed there...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy does not know that. I suppose one could say any question with the word "Taoiseach" in it is the same; that seems to be the logic of the argument. I do not think so, but the bottom line is, thankfully, that it will not be the Deputy or me who will make the determinations. There will be a code of conduct set down which, as I promised yesterday, we will bring to the committee....
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I shall refer briefly to a number of points made by Deputy Fleming. He talked about managing demand. What I meant by that was ensuring that the system works. We could have a Rolls Royce system that just does not work because we do not have the resources, capacity or wherewithal to do it. We must ensure that we are practical as well in terms of all the things we do. There is no point in...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: There is a real cost. I do not mind Deputy Boyd Barrett interrupting. However, there is a real cost and somebody is picking up the tab. If it is not the requester it is someone within the organisation.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: There is a dialogue going on.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: The average cost is €600 and we are asking for a contribution towards that of €15, which is modest. Deputy Dara Murphy made a compelling and clear case that there should be fees. He is correct that in the context of my Ministry it is reasonable that I would ask for a contribution to maintain it. He made a much more profound and important point, namely, about the automatic...
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I am told that it is approximately 15%.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: No, it is 15% of the total, which is 70% plus 15% and the rest are from the general public.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I will get the data for Deputy Creed. I do not have the information with me. Deputy McDonald has restated her view on fees generally and I understand and accept it. I thank Deputy Donnelly for his contribution. We will debate the issues. I have dealt with Deputy Boyd Barrett.
- Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2013)
Brendan Howlin: I am not going into get into parsing and analysing that. I would have to look at it in some detail. The bottom line is that there are clearly a number of questions involved that are distinctly separate. That is my judgment, but it will ultimately be a matter for the information officer who will be trained-----