Results 9,421-9,440 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: There will be an opportunity to discuss it in the context of the budget debate as part of public sector pay policy generally.

Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: I understand it will not be introduced before next year.

Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: We hope it will be published this session.

Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: Both Bills will be published this session. I hope the nursing home support Bill will be published very soon.

Order of Business (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: The first two Bills mentioned will not be published this year. I understand it will be next year at the earliest before they are published. With regard to the animal welfare Bill, a consultation process is taking place and until it is completed the legislation will not arise.

Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: The scheme has not been approved by Government. It is at an advanced stage with work being done on it by the Department of Finance, the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator. The preparation of the framework for the scheme to give effect to the guarantee is at an advanced stage. The objective is to enable the terms and conditions of the guarantee to be prepared in accordance with the...

Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: On the drawing up of the framework for the schemes to give effect to the guarantees provided for in the legislation and to answer a previous question that I may not have answered, the Minister for Finance has already made it clear that applications from the subsidiaries of parent bodies incorporated and regulated outside this jurisdiction for inclusion in the guarantee scheme will be...

Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: The Deputy is aware we are preparing a budget for next week. All of these issues are being considered with some degree of detail as to how we can, on the one hand, provide the necessary changes in public finances to ensure we arrest the rate of increase in public expenditure seen in recent years in different economic circumstances and, on the other hand, provide a means by which we can in...

Leaders' Questions (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: There is nothing self-congratulatory about this or any other Government amendment. It acknowledges that unemployment has increased from 4.5% to 6.3% this year. The Central Bank and others, as the Deputy points out, indicate that next year we will have great difficulty in creating growth in the economy, that there is a wider downturn in the world economy and that this open economy is not...

Death of Former Member: Expressions of Sympathy (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: Ar mo shon féin agus ar shon an Rialtais agus Páirtí Fhianna Fáil, ba mhaith liom comhbhrón a chur in iúl do chlann Shéamuis Ó Braonáin. Chaith Séamus blianta fada ag freastal ar an Teach seo. Bhí sé ina chara, chomrádaí agus chomhpháirtí againn ar fad, is cuma cén taobh den urlár a bhí éinne. Bhí ardmheas air mar pholaiteoir a bhí dílis dá pháirtí, dá thír agus...

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: To be helpful, on the question of the OECD's comments on how to deliver a modern public service, it requires flexibility and is about changes of attitude and approach. The genuine requirement of public accountability also arises. How does one provide discretion at the appropriate level, while at the same time ensuring criteria are in place to avoid what might be regarded as arbitrary...

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: I meant to answer that aspect. If there is a health service consisting of 140,000 employees, for example, the idea that operational responsibility for every action of the health service should be handled in the House by a Minister is not a sensible management model to adopt. We must be responsible for policy and where there are systems failures, the democratic mandate of every Member is to...

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: I was making the point that there is another aspect to the delay in implementing policy, namely, that service providers in certain areas have a view. For example, some time was required before the provision of a primary care centre in the north inner city of Dublin was secured because the matter had to be negotiated. It is not simply a question of the Government, the HSE or personnel not...

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: There is no doubt that a strong lobby and vested interest wishes to retain the current level of resources within the acute hospital sector. Various members of the Deputy's profession, depending on whether they are on the primary care or acute care side of the line, have a certain view on the matter. Let us be fair and honest about it.

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: There is a responsibility on everyone not to prevaricate on concluding contracts over numbers of years rather than numbers of months.

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: The problem with the Deputy is that he shouts people down when he gets a response.

Departmental Agencies. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: Having listened to the Deputy, I am simply stating, as a former Minister for Health and Children with some knowledge of the reforms that are taking place, that it is time we were prepared to acknowledge that there are service providers' interests which also have to be taken into account if we are to make the progress we need to make. It is not simply a question of the Government or the...

Appointments to State Boards. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 6, inclusive, together. From 1 April 2008 to date, two appointments were made to the board of the National Economic and Social Council, with Mr. Tom Parlon of the Construction Industry Federation replacing Mr. Liam Kelleher, the outgoing director general of the CIF, and Ms Siobhán Masterson of IBEC replacing Ms Aileen O'Donoghue; one appointment was made...

Appointments to State Boards. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: I do not know if the Bill has been published, but I have not studied or considered it. If the Minister for Finance made some comments last week which were for consideration or reflection, that is fine. I have no problem with such consideration or reflection. Appointments to boards are made on the basis of the knowledge, expertise and experience individuals can bring to the work of a board....

Appointments to State Boards. (7 Oct 2008)

Brian Cowen: There are many more people I do not know personally than people I do know whom I have appointed to boards. One needs a good balance of representatives on boards, which involves not only technical knowledge of the area but also people who are involved in public administration, have a commitment to public service and who should agree to serve out of a sense of public duty rather than any...