Results 34,001-34,020 of 34,833 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Central Bank and Credit Institutions (Resolution) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (28 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I welcome the opportunity of speaking on the Central Bank and Credit Institutions (Resolution) (No. 2) Bill 2011. The publication of this Bill is a commitment under the EU-IMF deal. The Bill provides the Central Bank with additional powers to achieve an effective resolution regime for credit institutions that are failing or are likely to fail, with the objective of protecting the Exchequer...

Written Answers — Compensation Payments: Compensation Payments (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Question 39: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if compensation will be paid to former residents of the Magdalene laundries as called for by the UN, the Irish Human Rights Commission and groups representing the former residents. [16788/11]

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I ask the Minister for further information. This amendment establishes a special account to be funded from moneys by the Oireachtas to be used to pay benefits under the relevant insurance scheme to pay the costs of the scheme. I think this is a new account. Why is a new account needed? We have spent this afternoon transferring existing powers but this seems to be something new. I ask the...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The Minister might explain why the amendment looks unusual. We spent the day hearing that the Minister could take action after consultation with the Minister for Finance and that he could take action after consultation with the Minister for public expenditure and reform and that powers were being transferred. The amendment states: (a) the insertion, in subsection (2), of "given with the...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: There is a difference. Why is the normal process not taking place?

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The Minister may have the information to answer my question. Is there any way he could enlighten us as to what the pre-hospital emergency care council is?

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The Minister has uncovered many organisations in his trawl for this Bill, some of which I had not heard of before. Does anyone know who or what they are? Why do we need that body? Why does the HSE not do the job?

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I will take the Minister's word for it.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Minister for bringing the Bill before us after three months in office. There was a lot of work involved in establishing a new Department. It is not the normal transfer of functions that happens between Departments. I acknowledge and appreciate all the work done by departmental staff in trawling through all of the statutory instruments involved. Over 200 statutes have been...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: We look forward to being able to speak directly to him in the Chamber on the issues within his ministerial remit. I wish him every success in his new Department.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Amendment No. 42 seems to deal with the local loans fund, which states that "the Minister for Finance shall, with the approval of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform". The Minister for Finance retains control of the local loans fund and if he wants to make payments into it, he must consult the Minister with responsibility for public expenditure and reform. I refer to amendment...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: No, I was not on that committee.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The amendments we are discussing highlight another difficulty I have with this Department. I will not contest it too extensively with the Minister, but I have to make an observation about the consultation between the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Reform and Finance. Every Member of this House will understand that the public service can be very good at passing the buck. Public...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Will the new Department add another layer?

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Can I speak to this new section?

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The amendment provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform shall prepare a scale of maximum charges for returning officers in university constituencies, and it will be paid by the Minister for Finance with which I have no difficulty. Has the Minister information on the scale of fees that apply to returning officers? How many returning officers are there? There is one for...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I think the Minister missed my point. I refer specifically only to expenditure paid for with taxpayers' money, not to expenditure by candidates. I refer specifically to expenditure under the Minister's remit.

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I refer specifically to expenditure of the Minister's Department and the Department of Finance. The Secretary General of the Department of Finance came before the Committee of Public Accounts on a special section in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report about returning officers' fees in previous elections, some of whom five years after the election had never filled their complete...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I refer not to leaflets but to litir um thoghcháin where the postage is paid for by the taxpayer. I suggest that one litir um thoghcháin issue and that the booklet, paid for by the taxpayer, should include the name of all candidates, as is the case on the ballot paper. All I am saying is the biggest cost in an election to the taxpayer is everybody's postage. I accept the returning...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I am curious as to why this provision is apparently being dealt with in a different way to the others. For example, there is reference to borrowing powers for working capital, which is not mentioned in other sections. There is also reference to payments for pension gratuities and other allowances in respect of members of staff of the former Department of Posts and Telegraphs. Will the...