Results 9,361-9,380 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Shared Services (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There have been issues with mobility. As we have not been recruiting to the Civil Service, there is a reluctance to cede staff, particularly skilled staff, to projects like this. If there is to be a common shared services centre in human resources management, all the human resources experts in a Department might migrate out of it and managers might not want to lose them. It will improve...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Corruption Perception Index (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: While I welcome the findings of the recently published Transparency International's index for 2014 which shows an improvement in Ireland's score for the second year in a row, there is an active debate among commentators on the robustness of such measures which indicates the results should always be treated with some degree of caution. My priority in implementing a suite of reforms under the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Shared Services (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Shared services are a key element of the public service reform plan and a core priority for my Department. The national shared service office within the Department is leading the shared service strategy and the implementation of shared service projects within the overall reform and renewal context. The new office is directly responsible for overseeing shared service projects within the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Shared Services (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is something I will bear in mind. We have a Cabinet sub-committee under the chairmanship of the Taoiseach and each Minister with responsibility for a shared service reports to it. Post-2016, when shared service centres are fully operational, it is projected that PeoplePoint will deliver savings in the region of €12.5 million annually, with payroll shared services delivering...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Again, I thank Deputy Healy for the question. The question of legislation to give rights to pensioners or representatives of pensioners to engage in industrial relations matters or to appear before the State's industrial tribunals is a matter within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, not mine. It of course is not necessary for any group to have...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Again, the actual introduction of legislation that would give any group statutory rights of representation before the State's industrial tribunals or in industrial relations matters is a matter for the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and consequently, I have no function in that regard. However, as I stated, I am happy to meet the retired pensioners' association whenever issues...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will happily raise this point and will indicate Deputy Healy's concern on this issue with my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Compact Treaty (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I understand the very important question the Deputy is asking. The calculation of the expenditure benchmark is subject to a number of key inputs including the GDP deflator and potential growth. The Department of Finance is engaging with the Commission to calculate a reasonable benchmark for Ireland. In the answer to the parliamentary question to which the Deputy referred, the Minister for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Compact Treaty (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Stability and Growth Pact is binding on us, as it is on every eurozone country, and is designed to ensure fiscal policies are sustainable into the future and prevent economic collapse due to our being profligate at any time in our electoral or economic cycle. The estimates provided in the answer to the parliamentary question are technical and will change and evolve as potential growth...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Fiscal Compact Treaty (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The key fiscal objective in budget 2015 is a general government deficit of 2.7% of GDP. Achieving this target will see Ireland exit the excessive deficit procedure. Thereafter fiscal policy will become subject to the preventative arm of the Stability and Growth Pact, SGP. Each country has a medium-term budgetary objective, MTO, for its fiscal policy. For Ireland, the MTO is to achieve a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Expenditure (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows, that is not a question. The Deputy made a series of false charges which were argumentative and which are not normally allowed at Question Time. When the Government took office, the deficit in 2010 left by the shambles of the previous Administration, of which the Deputy was a prominent member, was a Zimbabwe-like 30% of GDP, whcih was unprecedented in our...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Expenditure (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The last time an integrated Department presided over the Deputy's party, there was a deficit of 30% of GDP. It was so crippling that we could not borrow a bob anywhere and had to call in the IMF. That is the record the Deputy is now applauding. It is a joke. In truth, the Deputy knows well that the €1.2 billion is due to timing factors in many cases. I will offer some details. A...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Government Expenditure (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Twelve months ago, Ireland successfully exited the EU-IMF programme of financial support. This was achieved after five years of significant expenditure reductions and restraint across all areas of Government. The expenditure allocations published in the 2014 Revised Estimates Volume required the delivery of an expenditure reduction of €1.6 billion in order to achieve the budget 2014...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform Implementation (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Since this Government took office, sustainable and far reaching Public Service Reform has been a key element of our strategy to meet the challenges that have faced the country. Public Service Reform will also continue to play an important role in our recovery. As the Deputy will be aware, we published our first Public Service Reform Plan in November 2011. A Progress Report published in...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy will be aware that in September the Government agreed to introduce a new system for State Board Appointments. The Decision, building on the earlier 2011 Decision, required my Department to prepare Guidelines on a new process to be agreed by Government. In preparing the Guidelines the Department sought the views of all Departments, as well as meeting with interested parties and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Programme (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Capital Review, which was conducted in parallel with the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure, is now drawing to a conclusion and the report on the review will be published in the coming weeks. The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) issues Irish Government bonds which attract investment from institutions, including pension funds, and from individuals. A number of other financial...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In 2011 the Government introduced new arrangements for the appointment of State board members. Under those arrangements Departments invited expressions of interest from the public in vacancies on the boards of bodies under their aegis on their websites. It was intended that all members of the public could apply for appointment to these vacancies. In order to facilitate this wider access, a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In Budget 2015, I was pleased to be able to announce that there will be a targeted programme of recruitment into the Civil Service to address service needs and a shortfall in key skills commencing in late 2014 and continuing during 2015. At this stage, in advance of the outcome of various competitions, it is not possible to be definitive about actual numbers. These will be determined by a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Haddington Road Agreement came into effect on 1 July 2013 and forms the cornerstone for public serice pay policy over a three year period. Over the first 17 months of its lifetime, the Agreement has been a key enabler in reducing the cost of the public service pay and pensions bill. The cost reductions and productivity increases, and the reform dividend which the Agreement has...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (16 Dec 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Under EU and national rules, the public procurement of works, supplies and service contracts above certain thresholds must be awarded on the basis of objective and non-restrictive criteria. It would be a breach of the rules for a public body to favour or discriminate against particular bidders on grounds of nationality and there are legal remedies which may be used against any public body...