Results 27,741-27,760 of 35,894 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Uisce Éireann.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: In the legislation it is listed as Irish Water.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: My point is that the Government has decided to use the English version of the name. Both names have equal status. Now we are changing the name of an Irish State-owned organisation, Bord Gáis Éireann, to what seems to be a Latin name, Ervia. Is that correct?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: In respect of the Minister's final point, although the Minister is correct in saying that it deals with staff, I stated that my intention is that this only deals with members of the agency and the committees. One can be on the investment committee but not a member of the agency. It is about capturing those individuals and not the ordinary member of staff, although one could have a debate on...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I will refer to the glass bottle site, where there was a suggested conflict of interest. This suggested conflict of interest was discussed at Oireachtas committee meetings, but it was discussed years after what happened. People were involved in both areas at the same time. I am not suggesting that something similar will happen here but the Minister is allowing for a situation where...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 8: In page 19, line 15, after “Executive” to insert “or the Chairperson of the Investment Committee or any other Agency Committee”.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 10: In page 22, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:“(9) The Agency shall maintain a register of declared interests of all staff which will be publicly available including on the Agency’s website.”.This amendment probably requires a little work but it is tabled as a matter for discussion. In my view the provision regarding disclosures of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 7: In page 19, line 15, to delete “Subject to subsection (3), the” and substitute “The”.I give notice that I will withdraw amendment No. 9 and, therefore, will focus my remarks on amendments Nos. 7 and 8 which are linked. Amendment No. 8 has substance. The section deals with the appearance of members of the agency before Oireachtas committees....

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The Minister of State mentioned custom and practice and I acknowledge that he is correct. When a committee requests the chairperson or the chief executive of an agency to appear before it, it is custom and practice for him or her to attend. However, it has been written into the legislation that they must attend before it. We have acknowledged, in drafting the legislation, that we should...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I disagree. We have looked at the position of the Committee of Public Accounts. In the previous section we dealt with the issues of the CEO and accountability for records. We know that other committees have requested individuals to attend and also that the Committee of Public Accounts has powers of compellability. It is important to include what is provided for in the amendment, although...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: Under section 12(6A)(b), one of the areas on which the Committee of Public Accounts will examine the chief executive officer is in regard to the economy and efficiency of the agency and the use of its resources. The resources are obviously the assets available to the agency. The CEO is accountable for ,and can answer questions on, these matters, but not regarding any directed investment on...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 6: In page 19, to delete lines 5 to 8.This amendment seeks the deletion of lines 5 to 8, section 12 6A (2) which states: In the performance of his or her duties under subsection (1), the Chief Executive shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such a...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: In my view, this is completely different from a civil servant or other official of any Department appearing before a committee and offering views on Government policy. In terms of the review carried out by the Department of Finance over a ten-year period one of the major issues identified was that alternative opinions should be published. We should not be afraid of people criticising our...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I do not necessarily agree. What we are speaking about is directed investment. Heretofore it may have been the practise that individuals could not criticise or express an opinion on the merits of a policy, order or directive given by a Government Minister. What is so wrong with a person appointed by Government to do this job being able to express an opinion, good, bad or indifferent, on an...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The amendment seeks to delete the prohibition or gagging order which this Government is putting on the chief executive officer of the agency preventing him or her from expressing an opinion on any order or direction given by Government. In removing that gagging order the accountability of Government would not be prohibited. The Government will of course be held accountable for any order or...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: As I asked earlier, is it still possible for some staff within the NTMA to receive bonuses of up to 80% of their contracted remuneration?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: The information will be helpful. Perhaps, one does not pay close attention to these matters. When in opposition in 2010, the Minister of State informed the public of the bonus culture within the NTMA and argued that the contracts should be ripped up and that this culture should end. However, here he is presiding over legislation that will set up new structures within the NTMA where there...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I move amendment No. 5: In page 17, to delete lines 25 to 29.The issue is not that subsection (6) in its entirety should be deleted, nor is it just about the expenses that should be provided for in terms of any other committee within the agency that it deems it appropriate to set up. The question goes back to remuneration and the fact that there is no restriction whatsoever in regard to any...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (1 Jul 2014)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister of State for his reply, but the question was not on bonuses. With respect, I already knew everything he told me, as I submitted many of those parliamentary questions on the NTMA recommencing bonus payments in the past year after a few years of not making them. Since we are debating the National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill, we are not dealing with what is...