Results 27,821-27,840 of 35,959 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: 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...

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: We will come to that later.

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 NTMA has new and wide-ranging powers in respect of semi-State organisations. The Minister of State mentioned that there were no pay caps in the NTMA and provided a rationale for that, even though we may not agree with it. There is no prohibition on bonuses in that remuneration structure. Even during my time as a Member of the House, some former NTMA employees were receiving more than...

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 am nearly finished. The Minister of State mentioned that there was no-----

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 cannot agree without the permission of my party Whip. I would need to consult. The Minister of State mentioned that remuneration in the NTMA was lower than the cap on bankers' pay. Since there is no cap on the NTMA, its remuneration could exceed that of the banks. As we know, no one in the NTMA earns more than €500,000, so it is in line with the banks. Did the NTMA allow...

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 ask the question again.

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: Is €300,000 reasonable?

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 remuneration that is proposed will not be guided by the Government's pay caps.

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 would say that some of the bankers would suggest that they not working for the State either but pay caps are laid down for them, rightly or wrongly. I believe it is right. The Minister of State has answered the question clearly. They will not be guided by the Government's pay caps and it is up to the Minister to determine.

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: For the banks?

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 figure for the banks is €500,000. I do not think we should be jumping up and down.

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: Just to clarify, there are a number of new committees and structures envisaged in this legislation that will have a number of appointees and staff but the Government does not intend to have any pay caps in respect of those appointees and it will be at the discretion of the Minister to award the remuneration as he or she sees fit?

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: That is fine. I understand the role the NTMA has played and how the NPRF has performed forgetting the fact that the Government directed large amounts of that into bust banks. I am just going into the detail of it. There are no pay caps in terms of any of the new committees that are being formed such as the investment committee. Does the remuneration structure allow for bonuses? Given...

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 question relates to the agency and its staff in general. Is the agency governed by public sector pay caps set by the Government?

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: Therefore, they will receive remuneration and may, as we said earlier, receive an additional allowance if they end up as chair of the agency. The Government is not minded to have any cap - €400,000, €500,000, €600,000, €700,000 or €800,000. There is no cap whatsoever.

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: That is fair enough. In regard to section 8, Schedule A deals with members of the agency and also with disqualification from appointment. Just to be crystal clear, I seek clarification on what this includes. Section 5(2) stipulates that an appointee will cease to be an appointed member if certain events unfold. The legislation states a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas, the European...