Results 45,221-45,240 of 46,267 for speaker:Simon Harris

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: Is this something that, in general, has originated in the local authority sector?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: This genuinely is not a flippant question, but the caretaker in County Mayo VEC gets the allowance; is that because County Mayo VEC has been more proactive in seeking payment of an allowance? This is not to single out County Mayo VEC, but is one to take it that every other caretaker in every other VEC has on-site facilities in which to eat?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I do not expect Mr. Crosby to have the data to hand. Not to speak for him, I refer to the concept espoused by Deputy Deasy to the effect that some allowances have sprung up. The committee needs to try to get a handle on whether there is an element of some local sectors within the education system perhaps being more proactive in the pursuit of allowances than others. This is a subject to...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: Again, I am picking out these allowances in the context of the comments I have made, which is that many allowances seem logical because someone is doing additional work but others simply do not make sense to me. I refer to allowances paid in the VEC and institute of technology sectors, namely, the junior caretaker allowance, the senior caretaker allowance and then another junior caretaker...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I take the Secretary General's point, although it is slightly confusing for me to take in what it means.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: The meeting with the Department of Defence and the representative bodies of the Defence Forces was very productive. I understand the representatives of the personnel in the Defence Forces are not covered by congress. However, it is very useful to have them here. I acknowledge we cannot compel representatives to come here but I am aware that congress will attend. When the congress...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I am certainly not presenting it as that; I am just saying it would be constructive and helpful, and in the interest of both the professions and this committee, to have an exchange about the specific sector. As the Chairman said, it is the choice of the representatives in question.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I am very much aware of that. Significant work is taking place under the Croke Park agreement. I am aware of some of the changes happening in schools in my constituency as a result of it. Could Mr. Ó Foghlú give us a broad outline of the tangible benefits of the changes made in the education sector under the Croke Park agreement? It would be useful to put these on the record.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: That is useful. There can often be one-way traffic when we are discussing the Croke Park agreement. It is healthy at the outset to list some of the examples of change management in the sector in these difficult times. It is important to acknowledge this. Let me return to the issue of supervision and retired teachers re-entering the classroom. This is a bugbear of the taxpayer and every...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: Is the Department able to tell from its systems and data when a retired member of staff is brought back? While the Department can issue circulars, does it have any figures?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Education and Skills - Review of Allowances (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: While I am not committing Mr. Ó Foghlú to a figure, could he state whether the percentage is very small?

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Water and Sewerage Schemes (24 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for the provision of a new sewerage treatment plant (details supplied) in County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46656/12]

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: There is no international analysis.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I might return to that again.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I will be brief. I apologise for being late as I was in another meeting. The point made by Deputy McDonald is very fair. Many of these allowances are doing a disservice to people in the public service, and a number of people I have met who are civil and public servants are nearly embarrassed by the legacy system that exists. They want to see it reformed. Where an allowance is pay for...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: Is there a timeline on moving the priority allowances? Will it happen after the end of the Croke Park agreement or is it ongoing? When will we see the first steps?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: This exercise by the Committee of Public Accounts has been quite useful. Representatives of the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence were before us last week, as the witness is probably aware. I have been critical of the Croke Park agreement for adopting what I see as a catch-all way of treating everyone, regardless of income, the same. It has created a two-tier process in how we...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: I have some final comments. I presume we are not doing this in a vacuum, that we are learning from international best practice and that there are ongoing political discussions with the troika, our international friends, for the want of a better phrase. Have we done an analysis of how other countries, including other OECD countries, measure up?

Leaders' Questions (23 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: Deputy Adams would know all about that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Appropriation Accounts of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Vote 36: Defence - Review of Allowances (18 Oct 2012)

Simon Harris: Does Mr. Rooney have a similar opinion?