Results 18,361-18,380 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (10 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: Seven staff from my Department availed of the incentivised career break scheme and the total savings to the end of 2010 are estimated as €322,606.

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. The Quigley report, which was published in 2005, highlighted the need for special care in cases where a proposed consultancy comprises an element of direct service to a Minister or Minister of State, particularly in the public relations or communications area, and-or where a Minister or a Minister of State suggests the name of a...

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: If the Deputy tables a question I will have the direct answer for him. The question put asked me to report on the recent work of a committee in the Department that oversees the awarding of public relations contracts. I am not aware of the issue that he refers to but we can check it out.

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: As I indicated to the Deputy, that is not its role and there is no committee in existence which deals with that issue. This relates to the Quigley report which arose from the need to provide some extra guidelines for Ministers and their Ministers of State in respect of the public relations or communications area where a Minister or Minister of State might suggest the name of a person or...

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: I am not aware of the relevance of the last comment about the family. Everything we do must be in compliance with the law, whether it is planning law or any other type. There has been a reduction of more than €25 million in expenditure on advertising, public relations and consultancies, as announced by the Minister for Finance in February 2009. There are public information campaigns about...

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: The Government Information Service has no role whatsoever in the procurement of PR consultants by Departments. It has its own role to fulfil. There are public information services available throughout Departments. Guidelines have been set out on consultancies and where there is a direct service to a Minister or a name is suggested by a Minister as being suitable, the proposal must be...

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: I am not aware of any issues that arise that are not within the guidelines. Regarding departmental press offices and so forth, as the Deputy knows the technologies available today can be released by e-mail, through text messaging, paper press release, etc. It is necessary that Government be able to provide immediate up-to-date information with 24-hour media coverage involved. I understand...

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: Regarding the number of cases referred to the Government secretariat, eight cases that came within the guidelines have been processed. Since September 2008 I agreed to the appointment by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources of a consultant to conduct a facilitation exercise in connection with the consultation paper on next generation broadband. In 2007 one case was...

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: I am not sure, but I think so, yes.

Consultancy Contracts (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: It was not in the PR area; it was consultancy in respect of technical work. There was not just PR work involved. It is referred up to us when there is an element of direct service to a Minister or where the Minister has suggested the name of a person or enterprise as being suitable. They are not all PR issues.

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 to 6, inclusive, together. The OECD review of the Irish public service, Towards an Integrated Public Service, published in April 2008, benchmarked the public service in Ireland against other comparable countries and made recommendations as to the further direction of public service reform. The programme is designed to create flexibility in the deployment of...

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: It will require a great deal of leadership on an ongoing basis at all levels of the service to implement the vision set out in the transforming public services strategy. A great many people are ready for that challenge. The Croke Park agreement is important in that it provides the necessary industrial relations framework in which all this change can be implemented in an ordered and sensible...

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: The premise of the Deputy's argument suggests no change can be beneficial to the delivery of services and that fewer people working in an area cannot, by definition, provide a better service. I do not subscribe to that. We have seen changes in a whole range of areas. For example, everyone will agree the Revenue Commissioners' provision of online services and re-organisation has led to...

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: A number of questions arise from Deputy Kenny's points. He referred to the loss of the talent from the public services to the private sector. People took up opportunities to go into the private sector, having served in the public service. Others have returned and some have gone from the private sector to the public sector. That interchange in the world of work is a more common experience...

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: The moratorium on recruitment and promotion had to be introduced as a matter of necessity. It was introduced at the end of March 2009. It allows for certain general exemptions in the education and health sectors to fill certain key posts, as well in the local authorities in respect of fire, health and safety, INTERREG and other posts. The information in respect of posts covered by these...

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: Things have changed. I do not suggest that all problems are solved, but the Croke Park agreement gives us the industrial relations framework in which to resolve many problems which have been structural and perennial in the service.

Public Service Reform (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: Regarding the first point, the Department of Finance and the public service deal with public service issues on an operational basis. The Department of the Taoiseach has always co-ordinated the effort in the social partnership context of trying to promote this agenda right across the service. I work as the chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee in that respect. Regarding the savings to be...

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: I regret very much the tone and content of what Deputy Kenny has had to say. The Government has, since the crisis began, taken all necessary steps to secure our economy and the finances of the country and to provide a functioning prospect for recovery, but it has been opposed practically every step of the way by the parties opposite.

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: The meeting that is taking place today, at which the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, is representing Ireland, is a meeting of the euro group finance Ministers, ECOFIN. There has been rumour and conjecture for some time regarding Ireland's position, which I clarified a number of times over the weekend, as did the Minister. Despite suggestions to the contrary from whatever quarter...

Leaders' Questions (16 Nov 2010)

Brian Cowen: The idea of default as a way of dealing with this matter is far wide of the mark.