Results 25,221-25,240 of 34,778 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: What about the North-South bodies, as in the area of tourism? This has implications for Northern Ireland. I found the loophole. I suspect there might be an issue in our domestic legislation, including-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: So the North-South bodies would be excluded. They are not included.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: That is why I am asking the question. It would not be right or proper because they have a role outside our jurisdiction. I am just teasing this out. The ESB and Eirgrid are included.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: I understand that. What about bodies such as those in the health sector? I refer to the famous sections 38 and 39 organisations. There are 500 section 39 organisations.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: There is a big schedule of exempted bodies and partially exempted bodies to the Freedom of Information Acts? Will there be such a schedule here?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: I understand that. On the section 39-type organisations, many other organisations get grants from the Government such as organisations in the voluntary sector. I am sure an element of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's funding is State funding. I pick it as an example of a big charity but there are many other charities, such as Rape Crisis Network Ireland which provides a national...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: It goes without saying that we agree with the legislation in principle and the co-ordination of local and national approaches because it is very confusing for many people and there are different places to go. Another issue is that of conflicts of interest. It is not so much the conflict of interest of the public official that is in issue but often it is the one concerned with family and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: To whom do they make the disclosure?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: Spouses and children will fall within the remit but others will not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: I will make one further observation. We had this exact same debate during one of the last items of legislation the Minister, Deputy Howlin, brought through. I recommend that principal officers across the public sector should be in category A. Oireachtas Members are on principal officer level salaries. Public officials on the same salary scale as Oireachtas Members should be in the same...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: It may have been within 12 months. I made this point about principal officers and directors of services. They, in truth, have much more decision-making capacity. They may have to clear it up the line but they are the people driving many decisions. I therefore think they should be included on the same basis. I made the same point the last time and I am delighted someone remembers what I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: Once a year might be more than enough to depress us - I will put it that way - never mind having to do it three or four times a year. The next question I wish to ask concerns judges. Are they included?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: Given a judge made this request and the approach being taken seems to follow Judge Mahon's approach, if it is good enough for a judge to recommend it, it is good enough for judges to be included. Mr. Beausang will say there is the issue of the separation of powers but if judges want to feel they are above it, let them challenge the legislation. That is my view. We are talking about people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: I am sure if he asked many other people whether they should be excluded, they would find a good reason they should be. I do not buy that. Judges should not be excluded and a mechanism is needed to monitor them independently of the Oireachtas but they should not be excluded from the process. A few minutes ago, everybody was covered by the legislation but now we know cross-Border bodies are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: I would like to know which other little groups are not covered. In my chit chat with Mr. Beausang, I have found two groups are not covered. Are other groups not included? How have I hit on two groups?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: They are cross-Border bodies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: We are teasing this out. Another issue I am interested in is the new statutory board to address potential conflicts of interest of public officials who take up roles in the private sector by merging with the outside appointments board. What about people who leave the public service and move into areas where there is a potential conflict of interest? I am probably unique in the Oireachtas...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: The commissioner will have stronger powers of sanction. Will Mr. Beausang explain the sanctions? Are they financial penalties? Has that not to be done through a court? I thought courts were the only fora-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: Does it include people who are engaged by the State or State bodies to do a lot of work and who earn most of their income from State fees? They might be self-employed. I am thinking of senior counsel who probably work for the Director of Public Prosecutions for practically their entire career. They work in different circuits. Effectively, all of their income is paid out of the public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: General Scheme of Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Pre-legislative Scrutiny (8 Jul 2015)

Seán Fleming: What about one overall system? I would ask the Department to reconsider this issue. Technically, a senior counsel who is prosecuting on behalf of the State every day of the week and earning all his money from State fees is a sole trader but he is very much in the public eye and part of the State mechanism. It is the same with a GP. Most of the income of GP practices comes from the State,...