Results 3,161-3,180 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (15 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: The Office of Public Works completed a study in 2009 into the feasibility of a number of possible flood alleviation measures in the area concerned. These measures included the construction of new channels to provide drainage into Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. As indicated in my response to the House of 3 May, 2011, the study identified no practical drainage solutions, and road raising was...

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (15 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: In relation to a breakdown of the funding for this project, this information is not available to the Office of Public Works and, as pointed out in my reply to the Deputy of 8 December 2011, Roscommon County Council, as the local authority responsible for this project, is best placed to provide this information. Under the Minor Flood Mitigation Works Scheme, funding is provided to the local...

Written Answers — Garda Stations: Garda Stations (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 124 together. Prior to the decision being taken by Government in December 2011 that Loughglynn Garda Station is to be closed, the Commissioners of Public Works had awarded contracts for maintenance works, consisting primarily of asbestos removal and the replacement of windows, in September 2011. The expenditure to date is as follows: Classification...

Written Answers — Departmental Contracts: Departmental Contracts (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: In engaging contractors, the Office of Public Works (OPW) complies with the procedures and requirements of the Department of Finance Capital Works Management Framework, the system within which all public sector bodies operate. Following the award of a contract, OPW is required to ensure that the Conditions of Contract are fully observed. The provisions of Par 5.3.3 of the standard Capital...

Written Answers — Flood Relief: Flood Relief (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: I propose to take Questions Nos. 125 and 126 together. During my recent visit to County Mayo I met a deputation to discuss the flooding problem at Roundfort / Hollymount. As outlined in my response to Question number 102 on 6th December, 2011, the position in relation to that scheme is that the Office of Public Works are continuing to refine the proposals in order to address the concerns of...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: I will tell the House when that will be.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: I am sure the Senator does.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: Not yet, anyway.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: I thank the Chair for the opportunity to address Senator Barrett's Bill on behalf of the Government and to address the House. I congratulate the Senator on the publication of this Bill and on this debate, which is important for all of us. I was struck by what Senator Quinn said about "reputation". The essence of a small, open economy is its reputation. Once a reputation is lost...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: All three of the worst decades in the country's economic history since independence were brought about by horrendous political decisions. The economic war in the 1930s was an horrendous decision by de Valera because it immediately brought to an end our classic economic relationship with Britain. It took us 15 years and the great skills of Lemass and others to extricate ourselves from that...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: We will stick with the debate.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: It took the great skill of Seán Lemass, Whitaker and others to bring us back from that appalling decision. A dreadful decision was taken in Jack Lynch's 1977 budget——

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: ——and Fine Gael and Labour failed in the 1980s to arrest that situation, which continued until Ray MacSharry and Charlie Haughey took the right decisions in the late 1980s with the support of Alan Dukes. Horrendous public expenditure decisions taken in the first decade of this century have left us all in this situation. Inherent in each of these three decades, which saw a collapse in...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: It is our absolute commitment to ensure the council has an independent statutory basis. Determining its work plan will be a matter for itself.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: The council will also review the plans set forth by the Government and the Opposition. Fianna Fáil agreed with our assessment that the proposed adjustments to the budget deficit should be €8.6 billion, but its view differs from that of the fiscal council.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: The council's figure is more than €4 billion. The second part of the Bill will introduce fiscal rules, which Senator Barrett has set out in his Bill, and give legal backing to binding, multi-annual expenditure ceilings. These are important provisions. As Senator Barrett knows, the Department of Finance and other Government agencies have done a considerable amount of work on this matter....

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: In allowing the Bill to remain on the Order Paper for continued discussion with Senators who may not have had an opportunity to speak today, we would provide the space and time to consider these matters, given the EU context and the degree of change that could occur between now and March. The Government will have its Bill and we look forward to support for that Bill in this House and in the...

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: Yes.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: It will be included in the Government's Bill.

Seanad: Fiscal Responsibility (Statement) Bill 2011: Second Stage (14 Dec 2011)

Brian Hayes: It is the stormy weather.