Results 2,461-2,480 of 3,444 for speaker:Shane Cassells

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Public Relations Contracts Expenditure (14 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: 781. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the use of external public relations firms employed by his Department in each year since March 2011; the list of uses of the external public relations firm; the internal Department policy with regard to employing external groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54241/17]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Contracts Data (14 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: 782. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the external consultant reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011; the costs per report; the company involved; the title of the report; and the publication date, in tabular form. [54257/17]

Online Advertising and Social Media (Transparency) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: That is hard to follow. Back in 1996 when I commenced my degree in journalism, as part of the photojournalism module we had to learn how to develop our own pictures in a darkroom. Within a short time of passing the exam, digital cameras had become the norm, darkrooms were no more, photo film companies were going out of business and I was left with a redundant skill. Within another short...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: It is my pleasure to be here this morning at this meeting of the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government to discuss my proposals for the Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017. Earlier this year, the Dáil debated my proposals on Second Stage of the Bill and I set out the rationale for the re-establishment of town councils in Ireland....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: Senator Murnane O'Connor should not worry. We do have Carlow on the list.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: May I respond to those points?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: A provision of six months is included in that regard.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: I thank all members for their comments, all of which I will try to address very quickly. I agree with Senator Boyhan, particularly in respect of the finance issue because it is the key difference between what was there previously and what is there now in terms of the effectiveness of the municipal district system. When this was debated in the Dáil, many plaudits were given to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: I agree completely with the Senator. There was a wider debate on councillor remuneration in the Seanad last month in terms of acknowledging the work councillors do and paying them appropriately. We should be unashamedly proud of the work they do. Sometimes that is not said enough. When I started off as a town councillor at 21, the remuneration was £125 per month. I did not care...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: I thank the members for allowing me to speak first. I extend a warm welcome to all the officials and thank them for the presentation. Its tone, as set out by Mr. Paul Lemass, although perhaps I am being unfair about this, makes a negative assessment of the reintroduction of a town councils system, if I am judging it right with respect to posing questions as to why its reintroduction should...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: Just on a point of order, the Minister of State, who is from Navan, cited that in the debate but those plans for Navan were put in place during the term of the town council, not the municipal district council and are being funded through the NTA rather the Department, in the context of a strategic transport plan. That plan was put in place when the town council was still in situ and is not a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: Again that comes down to the extent of the boundaries that were in place. They did not actually reflect the size of the towns that emanated during the 2000s. Navan was one of the few towns that was given a boundary extension under the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, former Deputy John Gormley. That is part of the wider debate around giving a firm footprint...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017: Discussion (13 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: However, we are not starting with a blank sheet of paper. We had a body that existed efficiently for more than 100 years. I have cited how the town councils in my area operated with a surplus when the county council was mired in debt. These things used to operate efficiently. We are not starting with a blank sheet of paper to analyse that.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Services for People with Disabilities (12 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: 309. To ask the Minister for Health if the 60% grant cut by the HSE to the early intervention therapy programmes for children with Down's syndrome in counties Meath and Louth will be reversed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52841/17]

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General 2016 Report
Chapter 16: Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 17: Management of Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 18: Department Reviews of welfare Schemes, Social Welfare Appeals Process, Social Insurance Fund (7 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: I offer a warm welcome to Mr. McKeon and all his team for this engagement. I note his opening remarks and the language he used in respect of a shift of attitude. I wonder whether the Taoiseach, when he was Minister for Social Protection, read the part of the mission statement that refers to a shift in terms of people seeing social protection as moving from destitution to an essential...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General 2016 Report
Chapter 16: Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 17: Management of Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 18: Department Reviews of welfare Schemes, Social Welfare Appeals Process, Social Insurance Fund (7 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: Does Mr. Harkness believe there is a significant amount of fraudulent behaviour in the system or is it more a case of lack of control by the Department in terms of medical control reviews leading to payments that should not happen?

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General 2016 Report
Chapter 16: Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 17: Management of Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 18: Department Reviews of welfare Schemes, Social Welfare Appeals Process, Social Insurance Fund (7 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: Mr. McKeon is very welcome. As regards the fraud and error survey, both gross and net figures have been set out and the gross terms shows excess payment of potentially €460 million or nearly half a billion euro. In his concluding remarks he mentioned that a small number of people defraud the system. However, in the context of the spend, that is a significant amount of money...

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General 2016 Report
Chapter 16: Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 17: Management of Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 18: Department Reviews of welfare Schemes, Social Welfare Appeals Process, Social Insurance Fund (7 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: I appreciate that but it is an underlying figure and can be taken as a starting point.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General 2016 Report
Chapter 16: Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 17: Management of Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 18: Department Reviews of welfare Schemes, Social Welfare Appeals Process, Social Insurance Fund (7 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: On that, does Mr. McKeon accept what the Comptroller and Auditor General says? It was very pointed. He stated:The examination noted that medical control reviews of medically based claims are not being carried out as planned. When a claim is approved for payment, a medical review status should be assigned to it, indicating whether and when the claim should be reviewed in the future.

Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General 2016 Report
Chapter 16: Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 17: Management of Social Welfare Overpayments
Chapter 18: Department Reviews of welfare Schemes, Social Welfare Appeals Process, Social Insurance Fund (7 Dec 2017)

Shane Cassells: I am just pursuing this because Mr. McKeon has said that most of the overpayments are attributable to claimant errors rather than fraud.