Results 34,041-34,060 of 34,833 for speaker:Seán Fleming

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

Seán Fleming: I will come to that. I am intrigued to know the precedent for this as I had never heard of it. I can understand why there would be panic at Government level during a world war, with bombs dropping on the North Strand and a need to get such a measure through in a hurry. However, we are not in a war situation at present.

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

Seán Fleming: This is why I suggest the overall legislation has been a bit rushed in the past week. If we had taken an extra week or two, we would have been able to be more thorough and remove all doubt, and not have to insert these measures stating, "If in doubt, even if the Minister was wrong, if he thought he was doing the right thing, it is his right". This would not wash anywhere. In a way, it is...

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

Seán Fleming: Politically, the new Department has been set up because of the difference between the two parties in Government and both have to be satisfied. It is unfortunate that we must formally insert an amendment for a dispute resolution mechanism between the two Ministers which is to be decided on by the Taoiseach - I presume he would consult the Tánaiste. It does not look the best that this...

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

Seán Fleming: There were bombs on the North Strand.

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

Seán Fleming: Joan Burton did.

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

Seán Fleming: I hope the possible confusion never arises. That will be the best test of the legislation. Will there be a board of seven people? Apart from being paid to sit on the board, do they have superannuation rights? Is that why it is being included in this section? When people are appointed to a board for a term, they are paid, but do they also accumulate pension entitlements when they are no...

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

Seán Fleming: When my wife asked me why the chief executive of the ESB should get paid more than his counterpart in An Post, I said it is more complicated to generate electricity than to deliver envelopes. She was very angry with my explanation of the Minister's approach. Perhaps the Minister can provide a better justification for it. My wife, as a member of the public, did not buy it. She argued that...

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

Seán Fleming: I am delighted the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Brian Hayes, is present. That is why I agree. When there are so many State agencies such as the HSE, State bodies, VECs and local authorities in operation, I guarantee the Minister there are different suppliers getting different prices for the same product because some of them merely drive a harder bargain. We all...

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

Seán Fleming: I wish to raise several points. The Minister stated that Allied Irish Banks did not come under the definition of a commercial State organisation. My first reaction was whether he was implying that it is a non-commercial organisation given the amount of money we continue to put into it. Perhaps we should set up a new category of body.

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

Seán Fleming: Something like that. Perhaps I missed the reference in the press release yesterday to the case of consultants but I do not believe it was referred to. It was only when we picked up on it that it was suggested the Minister, Deputy Reilly, would deal with it separately. We look forward to it coming to fruition. Will the Minister, Deputy Howlin, have a role in this matter or will it be one...

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

Seán Fleming: I often am a little curious about this standard provision. The amendment states: "Every regulation ... shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within ... 21 days on which that House sits after the regulation is laid ... the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but...

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

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 12: In page 8, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following subsection: "(5) The Minister shall— (a) within 20 days of the passing of this Act lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas, with the approval of the Minister for Finance, details of key procedures, ministerial responsibilities and target dates for each principal element involved in the preparation,...

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

Seán Fleming: I refer to the question of the Estimates. I accept the Government is new to office following a general election but the Estimates of expenditure for 2011 were published six months ago and this House has yet to debate a single Estimate for any Department, the exception being the Estimate for the Central Statistics Office to enable the payments to the census enumerators. I will not rehearse...

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

Seán Fleming: I move amendment No. 13: In page 8, subsection (1)(a), line 18, after "the" where it first occurs to insert the following: "setting of certain revenues to be collected and the".

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

Seán Fleming: I am not happy with the way the Bill is being handled.

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

Seán Fleming: I oppose further debate on it. Consequently, I am opposing the amendment.

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

Seán Fleming: I thank the Minister for tabling the amendments under discussion and responding to amendment No. 30 in my name. The salaries and pensions of senior employees in the public service and excluded bodies is a topical issue at present. The first line of the statement I issued yesterday welcomed the Minister's announcement. I am pleased that action is being taken. This matter was referred to...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Instruction to Committee (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: Before I deal with the specific issues, I wish to discuss the circumstances that led to this issue being dealt with today. The two parties which form the Government could not agree on who would be the Minister for Finance so it had to be divided between both parties. This resulted in the decision to split the Department of Finance into two Departments and consequent legislation. I note...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Instruction to Committee (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: The same case can possibly be made for the pensions Bill which was dealt with the previous week. I note there will be a guillotine tonight. However, the manner in which this legislation has been brought forward is not fair to the Members of the House. Deputy Howlin is a Minister and a former Leas-Cheann Comhairle and as such he will understand my point better than most and he will...

Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011: Instruction to Committee (23 Jun 2011)

Seán Fleming: I do not know, but the Deputy's officials will be able to tell him about it. He was a man who probably had a better global view because he was dealing with the national debt and issuing bonds and knew the vibes about Anglo Irish bank globally. He was not part of the loop. He was isolated and insulated in his agency. It needed highly paid executives at the time to do a particular job and...