Results 3,681-3,700 of 14,706 for speaker:Phil Hogan

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I did cut it out.

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I gave the Deputy the figures.

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: Due to decisions Deputy Ó Cuív made when he was a member of government, it is part of the general Government debt, which has a ceiling set by the EU, the IMF and ECB. It is counted as part of our national debt and we cannot breach the ceiling because of the activities of Deputy Ó Cuív's party when in government. Unfortunately, for accounting purposes, as the Deputy well...

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I am not sure about Prize Bonds, but I will check that out for the Deputy. If there is a pot of gold there, I would be glad to avail of it. However, on the Dormant Accounts Fund, it is not a simple matter of €100 million being available, as Deputy Ó Cuív is trying to imply. I can assure all Deputies that if €100 million were available to me, I would be spending it.

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I cannot make it available and the Deputy knows that.

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: The Deputy knows that better than most, given the time he spent in government. He knows it must have the approval of the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, but he chooses to ignore that now that he is in opposition. This is not unusual for Deputy Ó Cuív. He has changed his mind on many issues in opposition.

Other Questions: Dormant Accounts Fund Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: It cannot be done without the approval of the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is counted as part of the general Government debt and I am not in a position to amend that.

Other Questions: Water Meters Installation (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: It might sound like pie in the sky to the Deputy that there will be a substantial amount of economic activity and job creation under this programme.

Other Questions: Water Meters Installation (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: Many people have been in touch with the Deputy, me and others in the last while about where to send curricula vitae, CVs, to get work. I hope that will continue and that people will be able to send their CVs to Irish Water and the firms that will win the regional contracts as part of this major investment. I cannot give the cost today for commercially sensitive reasons. With regard to the...

Other Questions: Water Meters Installation (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: The Construction Contracts Bill is an important one and being brought through the House by the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes. I understand it is due to go through Committee Stage. I can get the Deputy more information on when it is due to be brought before the House. I would like to see it enacted as quickly as possible, as it is important for subcontractors. As I said earlier...

Other Questions: Water Meters Installation (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: The Deputy was wrong about the local property tax figure and the bin charges figure in the past and he is wrong now.

Other Questions: Water Meters Installation (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 7, 17 and 30 together. The programme for Government and the memorandum of understanding with the EU, the IMF and the ECB both provide for the introduction of domestic water charges. The Government considers that charging based on usage is the fairest way to charge for water and has decided that water meters should be installed in households connected to...

Other Questions: Water Meters Installation (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: Deputy Joe Higgins prefers to pick figures off the top of his head. The sum of €1,000 per family is way off the mark and he knows it. People are paying, through their taxes, for the treatment of good quality water at a cost of €1 billion. It comes from ordinary working people, as Deputy Joe Higgins call them. They are already paying through their taxes. I am not in a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Water Charges Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: Will the Deputy clarify to what liberalisation he is referring?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Water Charges Administration (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: No. Water services will continue to remain the preserve of the public utility company, Irish Water. We have learned from the previous experience with Eircom and the difficulties its sale created in service provision. Certainly, the Government does not intend to do anything other than to enshrine in legislation the need to keep public resources such as water, an essential resource, in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Leader Programmes Funding (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: The Leader elements of the rural development programme 2007 to 2013 commenced in February 2009 after a delay of more than two years, which reduced the time available to allocate funding to less than five years from the normal seven. During 2010 and 2011 it became evident that a significant number of local development companies, LDCs, contracted to deliver the programme were not committing...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Leader Programmes Funding (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: More than anyone else, the Deputy knows that we are in a difficult financial position. I do not expect to receive approval from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to allocate additional moneys over and above what is included in the programme. I have already received the co-operation of the Department to make a great many changes to the funding for the programme to help to draw...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Leader Programmes Funding (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I have already allocated an additional €19 million for the basic services measure and each of the Leader companies was told last December that no more money was available other than what had already been committed. We have earmarked and committed a substantial amount of money in 2009, 2010 and 2011, which will not be drawn down. I will reallocate this money after 31 August 2013. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Leader Programmes Funding (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: The Government of which the Deputy was a member did not do it.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Local Government Reform (12 Jun 2013)

Phil Hogan: I subscribe to the general principle-----