Results 8,661-8,680 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Parliamentary Party Allowances Expenditure (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy will be aware, details of payments to all Members of the Oireachtas under the Parliamentary Standard Allowance are published on the Houses of the Oireachtas website. Deputy Thomas Pringle receives an allowance as Chairperson of the Committee on Members' Interests of Dáil Éireann for which the current rate is €8,740 per annum.  The amounts paid to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Levy (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I understand the Deputy's question to refer to the impact on the pensions of certain retired public servants of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR), which was imposed as one of the pay and pension retrenchments in the public service under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation. I have invited the Public Services Committee of ICTU to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Bodies Mergers (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I refer the Deputy to the Report on the Implementation of the Agency Rationalisation Programme which is published on my Department's website.  The Report provides information on what has been achieved in reducing the number of state bodies as set out in the 2011 Public Service Reform Plan, including savings, and can be found at . The Report based on information...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) was established as a key element of the Public Service Reform agenda to reduce costs and achieve better value for money through reform of public procurement. The OGP's mission is to deliver sustainable procurement savings for the tax payer by optimising value for money across the public service. The Office of Government Procurement (OGP)...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Government Expenditure (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 313 to 315, inclusive, and 321 and 324 together. When Ireland was subject to an EU-IMF programme, this Government faced the challenge of restoring stability to our public finances and creating the environment to support sustainable economic growth and job creation.  The recent publication of the Spring Economic Statement and the Stability...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Haddington Road Agreement Implementation (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The Haddington Road Agreement is comprised of measures which have been implemented through the enactment of legislation and other central measures, and sector specific measures, which are set out in the relevant sectoral agreements. The central measures under the Agreement were, for the most part, fully implemented from 1 July 2013.  In addition to delivering on monetary...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts Expenditure (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: The reform of the procurement system across the public service is a key element of the reform programme for the public service.  The fragmented procurement arrangements across the public service have enabled suppliers to charge different public service bodies different prices for the same goods and services. Public Procurement savings are necessary to enable public service organisations...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: At Budget time last October, I  announced an end to the Moratorium on Recruitment and Promotion in the Public Service, with new delegated management arrangements to be phased in during 2015. These delegated arrangements are designed to give Public Service managers the means to respond to service needs as they arise, including considerable...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Regulations (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: There is no central mailing list in existence but a notifications feature exists on the national eTenders procurement portal. It is the responsibility of individual contracting authorities to publish tender notices with an estimated value of more than €25,000. This process is facilitated through the national eProcurement portal .  This portal is the Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of State Assets (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Prior to this Government taking office, Aer Lingus was partially privatised in 2006 via an Initial Public Offering on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges. The partial sale yielded €241m for the Exchequer. Under the State Assets Disposal Programme announced by this Government in February 2012, there have been three further asset disposals: -ESB...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Retirements (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware, retirement is a normal feature of human resource management in all organisations, and so too on occasion is voluntary redundancy.  As part of the Government's response to the crisis in the public finances, both incentived retirement and voluntary redundancy featured among a range of measures which were introduced to address...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform Implementation (12 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: Public Service Reform was a key element of the Government's response to the crisis and continues to be essential as part of our strategy for recovery.  The reforms we have implemented have enabled us to maintain and improve public services in the face of the necessary reduction in staff numbers and budgets, at a time of increased demand for public services.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pensions Legislation (7 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I have invited the Public Services Committee of ICTU to discussions on an approach to commencing the gradual unwinding of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation which provides inter alia for the imposition of a public service pension reduction (PSPR). Both I and my officials have also had a number of meetings and ongoing engagement with the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (7 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I refer the Deputy to my reply to parliamentary question No. 321 on 21st April 2015 (ref. 15494/15). As regards agencies funded under Section 38 of the Health Act 2004, it is equally the case that any applications for increases in remuneration in respect of such agencies fall to be considered in the context of the Haddington Road Agreement and FEMPI legislation.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Increment Payments (7 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question the following table outlines the approximate annual cost of increment payments to staff in my Department and those under my remit since the formation of my Department on 6 July 2011.  2011 2012 2013 2014 Department of Public Expenditure & Reform €60,199 €126,270 €182,113 €183,175 Institute of Public...

Sale of Siteserv: Motion [Private Members] (6 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----speedily and thoroughly. Unless the Members doubt the bona fides of the individuals concerned, I ask them to give space for the investigative mechanisms that have been put in place to come to their conclusions and present a report. In truth, it is my belief that had the Minister for Finance moved directly to set up a commission of inquiry, the Deputies opposite would be equally scandalised.

Sale of Siteserv: Motion [Private Members] (6 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: They would have accused us of delaying access to the full facts. They would have accused the Minister of trying to bury the facts and trying to push the decisions well into the future. They cannot have it both ways. What the Minister has chosen to do, quite reasonably and correctly, is to pursue the best avenue designed to provide an assessment of the issues of concern, which are...

Sale of Siteserv: Motion [Private Members] (6 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: I will take ten minutes and my colleague, the Minister of State, will take a different slot. I am pleased to make a contribution to this debate and thank my colleague, the Minister for Finance, for sharing time. At the outset, I congratulate Deputy Catherine Murphy for her work on this issue. As the Minister responsible for the reform of the freedom of information legislation, I am...

Sale of Siteserv: Motion [Private Members] (6 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: -----immediate electoral contests that might arise next year.

Sale of Siteserv: Motion [Private Members] (6 May 2015)

Brendan Howlin: To initiate such an inquiry would undoubtedly take longer and cost more than the approach advocated by the Government. We have said that if it is decided that such an inquiry is needed, it will be provided. We will do whatever is required to get to the full truth. However, what is asked is that people would wait for the facts before turning a charge into a result.