Results 18,421-18,440 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Yes, and he came back again. Is the suggestion that the Member should lose or gain depending on how long the censure is or whether somebody applies to come back, and so on? My basic thesis is a simple one and it is the way this has been crafted from the beginning. There is a snapshot in time, and that is the general election. The people determine that and they own the vote and the...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Yes.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will deal with the points made because we have a long debate and everybody's position is very well enunciated. Perhaps I should start by surprising Deputy Naughten by saying that I strongly agree with him. The Executive is too strong and we need to rebalance. All my political life, I have wanted a stronger Parliament. I applaud some of the initiatives that are happening to make...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thought he was gone. The Ceann Comhairle is taken into account as part of the Fine Gael elected Members. It is the same argument and issue. It is not payable to an individual. Once the election is over, the number of people elected in each political party is the determining figure. Deputy Shortall reiterated her strong view that there is no basis for doing this. I think there is and...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is a different issue and has nothing to do with this Bill.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: No, it has nothing to do with the Bill. Let us deal with the legislation before us. Deputy Mathews talked about research. He said that we should work out the number of hours of research and divide it-----

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We are talking about this Bill and the amendment before us. Finally, I hear what the Deputies have said and have no doubt that these matters will be debated again. These issues will come back and we will change things over time but I believe this is the right formula for now.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Bord Gáis Privatisation (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The House will be aware of the Government's consistent position that the funds released from asset disposals, including the sale of Bord Gáis Energy, should be used, in one form or another, to support job creating initiatives in the economy. At Budget time, I factored a total of €110m into the Estimates for 2014 in respect of projects supported from the sale of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Levy (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR), which affects certain public service pensions and which was introduced on 1 January 2011 under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2010 is not a levy on pensions; instead it is an actual reduction of a public service pension, based on a progressively structured set of income bands...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Programme Expenditure (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: My Department is responsible for setting the overall allocations (both capital and current) across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. Within the overall allocations set by my Department, individual Ministers and their Departments allocate funds across various projects and programmes in line with their Department's priorities. Information in relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Bord Gáis Privatisation (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am happy to inform the House that BGE last week entered into a definitive agreement to sell the Bord Gáis Energy business to a consortium comprising Centrica plc, Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners LP and iCON Infrastructure on the basis of an enterprise value of €1.1bn. BGE and the buyer consortium must now move to deliver on the conditions for completion of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Career Breaks (1 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 238 and 239 together. There are two instances of incentivised career break schemes in the public service, in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and in An Garda Síochána. The HSE scheme was offered in 2013 and I understand that just over 350 staff availed of it. The Garda scheme is currently open to applications and has a closing date of...

Leaders' Questions (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Green Party.

Companies Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy Wallace should say that again.

Companies Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is true.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Well done.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I checked.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy. As he rightly stated, we had a long discussion on this matter on Committee Stage. Obviously, I consulted Revenue subsequently. I agree with the principle of the amendment, in that every Member should be tax compliant. As I explained on Committee Stage, however, my difficulty lies in accepting an amendment that is not practical or that will impose an unclear duty on a...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The practicality.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Important.