Results 7,781-7,800 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Other Questions: Employment Rights (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I do not know whether the Deputy has indicated which agency or body is involved. I do not have any such information in front of me, but I certainly will look at any specific case she presents to me and ensure it is examined by experts in my Department. If there are broader implications for the conduct of any agency, we will certainly advise it to that effect. In addition, we will give...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I would obviously love to be in a position to spend more, but we have defended investment in infrastructure and, more importantly, focused on it as best we can in the capital plan. Social housing was a feature of the budget I introduced 13 months ago. At that stage we allocated in excess of €2.2 billion for housing and re-established the spend on social housing for the first time in...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I agree absolutely with a lot of what Deputy Mick Wallace said. It is simple to rejig local authorities back into providing housing because that capacity was hollowed out of them for the past ten years. I spoke to housing officers, including those in our county. There was an annual trawl to find the correct sites and make sure they were serviced. There were a number of local authority...

Other Questions: Wild Atlantic Way Project (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for his question. The Wild Atlantic Way brand has successfully grabbed the imagination of many visitors to Ireland and proved to be a very popular proposition for attract tourists. The OPW manages in excess of 716 national monument and heritage sites, a significant number of which are located on the route to which the Deputy referred. We are all familiar with sites such...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Regulations (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Public procurement practices are subject to audit and scrutiny under the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 and the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Accounting Officers, not Ministers, are publicly accountable for expenditure incurred. Individual contracting authorities are responsible for establishing arrangements for ensuring the proper conduct of their affairs,...

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: In line with the public service reform plan, I have organised and reconfigured resources within my Department to establish the national shared service office. The office is responsible for delivering shared services projects in the Civil Service and for the operation of Civil Service shared service centres. As one of the key priorities set out in the public service reform plan, I...

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Let me deal with the two points made by the Deputy. On his first question, there are 13 Supplementary Estimates on the Order Paper. The rules of the House require that I do not pre-empt the discussion on Supplementary Estimates listed on the Order Paper.

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy knows that. He knows the Supplementary Estimates are listed on the Order Paper. The ones that are not on the Order Paper have not yet been dealt with by the Government. Thirteen of the 15-----

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Ceann Comhairle works very hard to educate Deputies on the rules of the House but those who have been here a long time should know them. On this issue, I have answered comprehensively on any agency within my ministerial remit. I am not answerable for every Minister in the Government. The normal procedure for the kind of information requested by the Deputy is to table a question to...

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I said no such thing.

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy knows.

Other Questions: State Bodies (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy plays the game both ways. He knows the rules and normally asks questions seeking information in tabular form. I will happily answer questions on areas for which I am responsible. However, if the Deputy wants to ask specifically about legislation brought through this House to establish other agencies or bodies by my ministerial colleagues, he knows full well he must ask those...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I am not aware of the foundational basis of the analysis referred to in the Deputy's question or the basis for the specific conclusion relating to the level of public expenditure relative to that in other EU states. As the Deputy will be aware, there are important issues relating to differences in the composition of public expenditure in different jurisdictions affected by such factors as,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Policy (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: They are not once-off, as the Revenue has confirmed.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Policy (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is correct in that the Department of Finance is conservative in determining the fiscal space. His criticism is that we have done better than we expected every time we made a projection. Had we erred on the other side, the country, as well as the Deputy, would have something even stronger to say. We have been prudent and, perhaps, overly conservative in estimating the pace of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Policy (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Ireland has been very vigorously engaged in the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, process with the OECD. Many corporations want to ensure they are very solid regarding it and it is a new and welcome paradigm in corporation tax payment. Given that we are a very clear and transparent country regarding the rate of corporation tax we pay, more and more companies will decide to pay their...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Regulations (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I do not have knowledge of any particular issue such as the one the Deputy indicated. Public procurement is governed by well-established EU and national rules and guidelines. The aim of the rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money. EU directives on public procurement require that public works,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Regulations (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I have no knowledge of the issue the Deputy raises. I will not give general answers that could be applied to a particular case about which I have no knowledge whatsoever.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Expenditure (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy should note that, as set out in the expenditure report I circulated on budget day, the underlying increase in gross funded current expenditure is, in fact, €170 million. Excluding Lansdowne Road agreement related costs of €43 million, the increase in the allocation for the Department of Education and Skills is more than five times the figure mentioned in the Deputy's...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Expenditure (19 Nov 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As it is always a mistake to prepare one's speaking notes before hearing the answer to a question, I will repeat my answer. There is a non-recurring pay cost of €127 million which must be taken into account when making the comparison between the figures for 2015 and 2016. This should be clear. The Deputy's figure is wrong, as I have explained already. We have protected education...