Results 19,501-19,520 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Waterways Ireland Staff (7 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Five of the six North/South Implementation Bodies, including Waterways Ireland, along with Tourism Ireland, operate the North/South Pension Scheme (N/SPS).  The Scheme is unique in covering public service staff employed on both sides of the border; staff of the affiliated employers in this jurisdiction ('southern members') are automatically members of the Scheme.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Staff (7 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am informed by the Oireachtas Commission that it complies with the principles of the 2009 Moratorium on recruitment and no posts falling vacant may be filled or new posts created without the sanction of the Commission. An overall reduction of 11% in staff has been achieved.  The practice since 2009 is to report once annually to the Commission on the number of staff in place and the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Legal Costs (7 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Circular 05/13, the Procurement of Legal Services and Managing Legal Costs, reminds public bodies of their obligations to ensure that their procurement of legal services complies with the rules and guidelines on public procurement. The Circular also outlines appropriate competitive procedures that can be used in the engagement of legal services and sets out a number of approaches and tools...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Commissions of Investigation (8 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question I can confirm that no commissions of investigation, inquiries or similar investigations were established under my Department during the past 12 months nor, at this stage, are there any plans to establish any commission of investigations, inquiries or similar investigations under my Department in the next 12 months.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Government recently announced a revised model for ministerial appointments. In future, all appointments to State boards must be advertised openly on the State boards portal at , which is operated by the Public Appointments Service. The new arrangements will apply to all appointments other than those where vacancies must be filled through a particular process under law or where...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I refer to the review in 18 months' time to show it is working.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: This is a fundamental shift. There will be one access point for the general public and anyone interested in serving on a State board. It will take some time to fully populate the website but I intend every State board to set out the requirements for membership of such board as determined by the relevant Minister. To address the Deputy's questions, I note that the final determination will,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: P.J. Mara, Celia Larkin.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am a bit taken aback by the Deputy's attitude. He is therefore of the view that anybody involved in a political party is a crony and that if one offers oneself for election in the public space at either local or national level, one is somehow debarred. I regard it as an asset not a liability. It is a fundamental blow against democracy for the Deputy opposite to play the populist game and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for her questions. This is a new and groundbreaking departure which has not happened in the history of the State before. We now have a very open, accessible way for any citizen in the State to apply to be a member of a State board and for an independent evaluation of that person's suitability to be a member of a State board on the basis of the set published criteria....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Board members are appointed under law, in the way that we have determined, by the relevant Ministers. We have now put in a fundamentally new, transparent, open, innovative and ground-breaking system. I wonder whether the Deputy will now ensure that her party applies the same sort of criteria to Sinn Féin's nominees to the North-South bodies - I will not list the names because that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will go back to my other point concerning some of the eminent people named in this House by the Deputies opposite. Association with politics or standing for public office is not a debarment to service. It is demeaning public life and democracy for anybody who has the courage to put their name on a ballot paper or who works in the political sphere to be designated as a crony. It might get...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The North-South body simply validates nominations from the political system.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: All those on the Sinn Féin list of appointments - all of whom I am sure are excellently suitable people, many of whom served in office for Sinn Féin or worked for that party - are simply validated by the process, as the Deputy knows.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Appointments to State Boards (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The issue now is that we have changed that system. For the first time in our history, we have put in a new transparent system to get away from the Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil nominations that have scattered the landscape for years. We have a new system at the heart of which we have set out objective suitability criteria. Individuals apply and are individually vetted and assessed by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The scale of the fiscal crisis that began in 2008 led to the first permanent cut in public service pay rates in the history of the State. In total, the Exchequer pay bill has been reduced from a peak of €17.5 billion gross at the onset of the recession to €14.2 billion net of the pension-related deduction in 2013, with a further substantial reduction this year. Given the scale...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is quite wrong when he says that all the borrowings we have had are to pay back banks. The vast bulk of the borrowings are to maintain social provision in this State - to pay for doctors, nurses and so on. It is a small cohort that is actually paying back the debt. If one disaggregates the banking debt, it is our expectation to get the significant sum of money put into the pillar...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is a small portion, however.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am glad the Deputy has accepted the vast bulk of the interest rate repayments are to sustain public services. Whoever caused the crash is a matter for debate and, it is hoped, will be elucidated upon by the inquiries undertaken by this House. I do not believe the Deputy would want it any other way, that we did not borrow the money to maintain health, social welfare and education services...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Budget Consultation Process (9 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The primary purpose of this year's comprehensive review of expenditure, which involved every Department, was to provide an evidence base for Government decisions on ministerial expenditure ceilings for current expenditure for the next three years. These ceilings will be finalised in the coming days and announced as part of the budget next Tuesday. They...