Results 28,161-28,180 of 34,778 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Does that figure include local authorities?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Send us the list for each Department.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I welcome Mr. Watt and his colleagues. He sent us a briefing note outlining some information on Monday, 31 March 2014. I want to refer to two items. Mr. Watt said that the purpose of the IMF fiscal assessment report was to conduct a review of fiscal reporting, forecasting, budgeting and risk disclosures practices during March and April 2013. That report was then carried out, including the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Watt said that the recommendations are under consideration. Are they all accepted and when will we see the Department's published response to them?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I have one question on the Rehab issue. I seek procedural clarification from the Chairman for the committee. At the last meeting, the committee referred a letter to the Garda Síochána because of allegations. Is that the end of it as far as the committee is concerned? Should the committee leave it to the Garda Síochána, should members follow it up or is it simply out of...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I simply wished to confirm that issue is now out of the committee's hands.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Does that correspondence include a schedule on the section 39 agencies?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: At my request they have given us a list of 25 agencies with section 39 agreements with the HSE, each of which receives over €5 million. We wanted to have an indication of the other organisations such as Rehab Care, etc. I was surprised to see that there are 25 organisations receiving €344,699 between them. In case anyone would think we are picking on Rehab or any other...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 11:In page 10, to delete lines 33 to 39.This amendment is a simple one which concerns the parliamentary activities allowance. The Standards in Public Office Commission, known as the commission or SIPO, will prepare and publish guidelines for the purpose of providing practical guidance to the parliamentary leaders of qualifying parties, Independent Members and so on. My...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Deputy for raising the amendment. The Minister might clarify subsection (5), which is being amended by Deputy Murphy. I believe people can understand where she is coming from. The amendment states that the provision of "secretarial facilities may be provided to a qualifying party for the purposes of facilitating...". Does that include research and press offices? Is it a broad...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Yes, so it was Deputy Quinn. At that time there was a valid recognition that the Government has the support of the public service, special advisers, press office, research office and so forth and that it was not fair that its parties should get the full amount of the party leader's allowance, which will in future be called the parliamentary activities allowance. The legislation provides...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 6:In page 4, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:“(3) The parliamentary activities allowance shall be paid from voted expenditure not paid from the Central Fund.”.Approximately €50 billion of Government expenditure is voted to the various Departments every year. There is a proper debate on the Estimates in the committees and that is how...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I agree. I am probably a lone voice in saying this in the House. There is no one here to listen to me aside from the Minister, but I think the practice is wrong. I do not know why it grew. It has existed for decades, including when my party was in Government. However, in these days of openness and transparency, I ask the Minister to think about this point. It would be valid for these...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I am pleased that the Minister will raise it. The Central Fund is under the remit of the Minister of Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform cannot unilaterally make an announcement on that today. None the less, I will press the amendment.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 7:In page 4, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:“(3) The combined parliamentary activities allowances paid to a party under this section, shall be reduced by the amount of any payment paid to any person working for a Minister who is a member of that party, that is in excess of public sector pay guidelines.”.There should be a reduction of the...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 3:In page 4, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:"(2) The fund into which the parliamentary activities allowance is paid shall be obliged to produce an annual tax clearance certificate.".We are discussing Report and Final Stages of the Oireachtas (Parliamentary and Ministerial Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I just wanted to put it on the record because people might not know what we are discussing. Amendment No. 3 is short. I also tabled it on Committee Stage. Everyone accepts its principle. I do not have the figures before me and I am a little bit rusty, but I am sure that the taxpayer is paying €1.5 million into these parliamentary activities allowance funds, formerly known as the...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: The money is being paid into accounts that are not in the party leaders' names. What I was seeking to achieve was actually the case anyway. The Minister did not even need to object to the amendment, but the clarification was helpful. The same approach could be taken in this instance. My understanding is that the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, will introduce regulations on...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I am disappointed that SIPO might not be able to do this. I do not understand how a local authority can require a local builder to produce his or her tax clearance certificate to avail of a small grant to do up a house when SIPO cannot ask political parties to do the same. However, I take the Minister's comments. There is agreement in principle that it would be a good measure and should be...

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (2 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: On that basis, I will withdraw the amendment.