Results 18,621-18,640 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Bodies (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The rationalisation of State bodies is a part of this Government's reform programme.  As the Deputy is aware, in November 2011, the Government set out 2 commitments in relation to agency rationalisation: - to implement 48 measures.  These measures (involving over 100 bodies) either have been fully delivered or will be delivered this year, apart from the small number where the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Irish Water Establishment (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Primary  responsibility for setting up  Irish Water as a public  commercial company and related issues rests with my colleague  the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government. The delivery of water services under a public utility model is expected to bring benefits in terms of access to new sources of revenue to fund greater investment in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Data (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Data on the average age of civil servants across the Civil Service is set out in the following table. The average age has increased from just under 45 in 2010 to over 46 in 2013.  The increase is, in part, due to the necessary restrictions on recruitment introduced in 2009 as part of the response to the economic and fiscal crisis.  Workforce...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: My Department recently estimated the accrued liability figure in respect of public service occupational pensions at €98bn as of December 2012. This figure represents the present value of all expected future superannuation payments to current staff and their spouses in respect of service to December 2012, plus the liability for all future payments to current...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Remuneration (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There are 117 staff employed in the Department's Vote Group who currently are paid in line with the 10% reduced scales for newly recruited public servants effective from 1 January 2011. Under the terms of the Haddington Road Agreement, revised salary scales are currently being prepared to redress the imbalance between same grade employees who entered the public service before and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Legal Cases Data (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There have been no legal cases arising from disputes relating to the pay and conditions of staff served against my Department since its establishment in July 2011.    

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Semi-State Bodies (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's questions I can confirm that there are no commercial semi State companies under the remit of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Medical Card Administration (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The issue of Medical Cards is a policy matter which is the responsibility of the Minister for Health in the first instance.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Redeployment (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Public Service Agreements (PSAs) covering the period 2010-16 (the Croke Park and Haddington Road Agreements) provide for agreed redeployment arrangements to apply in the Civil Service and in other parts of the Public Service.  The Agreements facilitate the transfer of staffing resources from organisations where activities have assumed lesser priority arising from changing...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Communications (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy s question I can confirm that my Department does not engage in recording telephone calls nor is it a matter I am currently considering.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Bodies Expenditure (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) is responsible for overseeing the conduct of appointment processes to a wide range of positions in the Civil and Public Service.  In carrying out its independent statutory functions, the CPSA must, on occasions, seek independent legal advice on issues that come to light in the course of its examination of appointment processes....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Proposed Legislation (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Valuation Act, 2001, which came into effect on 2 May, 2002, provides that all buildings used or developed for any purpose including constructions affixed thereto are rateable unless expressly exempt under Schedule 4 of the Act. Paragraph 10 of Schedule 4 of the Act provides only for the exemption from rates of a school, college, university, institute of technology or other educational...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Travel (13 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's questions the following table is a list of all official foreign trips that I intend to take between now and the end of 2014: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Details of Foreign Trips intended from 12 May, 2014 to 31 December, 2014 Date Purpose Details of people Minister will be meeting Duration Planning to promote Ireland as a good place for...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There is nothing in what Deputy Fleming has said that I would disagree with in principle. It is now standard practice, and it is in the rules of the House, that we review legislation annually. It is an appropriate job of work, particularly for the Oireachtas committee to look at the operation of the legislation. I have three difficulties with the amendment tabled by Deputy Fleming. I...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: For once, the gap between Second Stage and Committee Stage has fundamentally improved the Bill.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Deputy McDonald for tabling the amendment. I want to acknowledge from the start that my approach is exactly that - namely, to see how we can jointly, as a committee, work to improve the Bill. The effect of the amendment put down by Deputy McDonald would be to delete that part of subsection (b)(i) of the definition of "worker" relating to contractors which excludes from the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There is no guarantee of that.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We debated this at some length in the other House. As I said in response to the Deputy on the last amendment, the basis of this legislation is to afford workers protection against harm, if one likes, in terms of their employment status, so that nobody can demote them, ensure they would not get proper remuneration, fire them or exclude them from promotion. None of that applies to volunteers....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I understand entirely and the Deputy makes a very valid point. The problem lies in the practicality of organising a structure that would accommodate these types of scenario. It seems that a volunteer who sees wrongdoing in an organisation for which he or she is working is very likely to expose it. There would not be great pressure on such an individual not to do so in terms of damage to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Committee Stage (14 May 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will certainly do so. We are bringing forward this legislation in tandem with the freedom of information legislation as part of an overarching development of policy. The whistleblowing legislation has to be understood by people. One of the criticisms I have made during the years of the sectoral approach of previous Governments is that the more variance there is, the less likely it is...