Results 18,181-18,200 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I hope the Deputy enjoyed Wexford, too.

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy asked a number of questions. She will recall that I answered her first question in some detail at the committee meeting. I was asked whether I would be able to find money for voluntary redundancies among HSE administrators. I replied that we would have to find that money. However, I have allocated no money to that purpose, nor do I have immediate plans to do so. The moneys...

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I cannot remember the Deputy's other question.

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In terms of flood damage, we have made an initial allocation of €70 million. We must see how much of that will be drawn down and spent this year. We have instructed each line Department to signal that the composition of that €70 million, for example, piers, roads, harbours and so on, is spent. We will see what additional money over and above that amount is required to be...

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I beg the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's pardon.

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is well aware that we have a tight budgetary situation. Any human being seeing the disaster that befell the country in January would desperately look for some resource to give relief. It is a job-creating effort. It is a stimulus to build roads, rebuild harbours and promenades and undo the damage done by the unprecedented storms in January. I do not think the Deputy would resist...

Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: No. I said I have not allocated it yet. We have allocated €70 million. We have to see how that is spent and how local authorities draw it down, but we are only in the second month of the year. Everybody has a roads budget right now, and the piers and harbours budget is there first. We will see how much extra will be needed. I will have further job creation announcements to be...

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: As I announced when launching the new public service reform plan for 2014 to 2016 last month, I expect the State agency rationalisation programme to be completed this year. A great deal has already been delivered. The Government made two commitments in 2011 on the rationalisation and reform of State bodies. First, we undertook to begin immediately with the implementation of 48 identified...

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Perhaps the Deputy can ask a brief question.

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy also asked about the number of new bodies created. There is a small number of new bodies arising from the merger of two or more existing bodies, as envisaged under the rationalisation programme. There is still important work to be done and public service to be provided for the purpose of the rationalisation programme. For example, there are 16 new education and training boards...

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Can the Deputy name one quango we should abolish?

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Like what?

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There is an open invite on www.publicjobs.ie. We invite everyone who is interested in applying for any State position to do so, and many have and many have been accepted. The quango issue is a lovely thing to throw away, but when we specifically ask about the quangos we are talking about, we find the big expensive quangos are the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, the National Roads Authority, and...

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: FÁS was abolished.

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: SOLAS is a new training authority. Should we not have a training body?

Priority Questions: Departmental Agencies (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is doing important work. We have a huge set of reform measures, with more than 200 implemented. I know that abolishing or burning a quango makes for a nice tabloid headline, but the real hard work is to save €500 million on procurement over three years, which are we going to do. We will save €127 million this year. To save an additional €1 billion on public pay...

Priority Questions: Information and Communications Technology Issues (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The deadline referred to in the Deputy's question relates to the cessation of general support for certain Microsoft products in use across a number of Government agencies. My Department has been aware of the forthcoming deadline for some time and has been actively investigating its likely impact on IT systems across the public service. Responsibility for the delivery of their computing...

Priority Questions: Information and Communications Technology Issues (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am afraid I am not what is known as a techie and the Deputy's question forces me to stray into unfamiliar territory. The advice available to me is that public and private organisations throughout the world are facing exactly the same issue. The reason for the delay is that people liked the Windows XP operating system and many chose not to migrate to the updated system because they...

Priority Questions: Information and Communications Technology Issues (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: As I indicated, my Department does not run the information technology systems operating in all the Departments and State agencies. This is done by in-house administrative services. My Department provides a support system. I established the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer. All public bodies have been made aware of the deadline and have been working to limit any exposure...

Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (26 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Last month, I launched a new public service reform plan for the next three years. Building on the achievements of the previous plan, the new plan sets out ambitious new reform targets for the public service. It sets out a very clear vision for each of the main sectors within the public service, namely, health, education, local government, justice and the...