Results 31,701-31,720 of 34,832 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: When did the Minister know? He should have known this last March when the numbers became clear. What about all the non-civil servants in the public service? Are local authorities expected to make these payments out of their allocations? They cannot go to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for a Supplementary Estimate but the Minister is in charge of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: It is okay if the Minister is not briefed; I will accept that as the answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: The Minister said it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: The Chairman has restricted my time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: With regard to progress in public service reform, the Minister is considering the business case for payroll shared services across the public service. He stated five different groups are dealing with shared services for payroll across the public sector - health, education, justice, local government and the Civil Service. Is anybody overseeing over all five? He said his departmental...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: I am finished.

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Foreign Direct Investment (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is concerned that Ireland is overly reliant on the pharmaceutical sector for its exports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51846/12]

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Employment Rights (22 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is assured that all Exchequer funded construction projects are completed in accordance with registered employment agreements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43392/12]

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Minister for mentioning that issue. The original Croke Park agreement allows for average payroll savings of only 1% for each of the next couple of years, which is quite modest. I note that the Minister has come to that conclusion himself. The Minister did not mention allowances. Has he moved away from that or has he found the issue to be more complicated than he originally...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: The Minister praised it.

Other Questions: Expenditure Reviews (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: We spent a lot of time talking about the Estimates procedure. One can argue that there was not necessarily overspending in the Department of Health this year but under budgeting. The budget was wrong and flawed, which is what we said on 5 December last year. We knew the budget was not genuine and the allocated amount was lower than what people in the industry, outside the Department, knew...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: Can the Minister list the questions again?

Other Questions: National Procurement Service (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: I tabled this question so there could be a general discussion on the issue. The reply is quite vague and I would like more information on the outcomes. The Minister referred to savings of €78 million to the end of this year, but are targets set by the central procurement facility for each line Department and are they available, or is it done centrally through the Office of Public...

Other Questions: National Procurement Service (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: I will take up the offer of a meeting about the Garda cars. I have heard conflicting reports at the various meetings I have attended from the Garda and the Office of Public Works. One passes the buck to the other. The biggest issue in the past was when there was no volume discount as part of the arrangement. That is fine if one is buying 50 cars but if one is buying 70 or 80, there should...

Other Questions: Expenditure Reviews (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: The Minister said the ceilings are in place on an administrative basis and will be put on a statutory footing, and that it will be a three year framework. Does that mean, in practice, that if the Department of Health gets €45 billion, for example, over three years, it can spend what it wishes in the first two and it is €10 billion short in the third year but there will be a new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Reform (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: I am satisfied with the principle of shared services. Given the fact that 40 local authorities each have different systems to do the same work, there is scope. After people have received their third level grants in January, the new shared service transformation unit needs to find out what happened in Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, to prevent a recurrence. The Minister seems to be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Reform (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will outline new initiatives undertaken since 31 March 2012 in respect of shared services across the public service and the associated cost savings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51814/12]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Reform (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: Was the Department's new shared services transformation unit involved in the establishment of Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI? The new service, which was established at considerable cost to provide shared services among the various agencies processing third level grants, is a disaster. While I agree that services can be provided more efficiently, does the Department have sufficient...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Lottery (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the planned timescale for the sale of the National Lottery licence in view of the major infrastructure projects to be part funded from the proceeds; the costs he expects to be incurred in the sale process; the measures he will take to ensure that good causes will maintain their current level of benefit from the lottery; and if he will make...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: National Lottery (21 Nov 2012)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Minister for his reply. The principal reason I put down this question was in light of comments from the Department of Health on its expectations regarding the new site for the national children's hospital. Most Members on all sides of the House are glad that a decision has been made. Moreover, they are satisfied with the new site at St. James's Hospital and look forward to it...