Results 10,041-10,060 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That was passionate advocacy for Senator Norris's position. I expect nothing less. I will explain a few points. First, this is a new offence. It was not an offence in the original 1997 Act. It certainly was not an offence under the amending legislation brought in by the Fianna Fáil-led Government. I regard this as an important issue to create this new offence.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: This is new, in and of itself. It has to fit somewhere in the pantheon of offences and it has to be determined to be appropriate for that. All these matters are subject to judicial practice on which those much more learned and eminent than me would be best placed to advise.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: For those reasons, I accept the advice of the Attorney General on these matters. If the Senator reflects further, if someone - he keeps instancing a civil servant - erases information-----

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----deliberately, it might be a minor matter.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: If it is a serious matter, there are consequences beyond the contravention of this Act. There are employment and reputational consequences. If detriment or harm fell upon any third party, there is the possibility of other criminal or civil sanctions.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is not a simple matter, in and of itself. By and large, I am content that the advice of the Attorney General is consistent and needs to be accepted in the context of the Bill. I am intrigued by Senator Norris's reference to the former Minister of State, Mr. Mansergh. I presume the Senator refers to the statute law revision work begun some time ago.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Senator Norris will be delighted to hear that the next tranche of that is about to appear before the House in which a number of offences and declarations are being taken off the Statute Book. It is the final tranche of statute law revision, and it includes our declaration of war against Denmark, which we are now ceasing, and our declaration of war against France. I was not aware, but we...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: One only gets jail if one does not pay the fine. The same would apply here. If one does not pay the fine, one will get jail. However, no jail sentence is set out.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Private communication between two Members of the Government is at issue here. What is private communication? Is it anything I deem to be private? Is that private? Can I discuss fundamental issues of public policy outside any scrutiny of any kind and deem them simply to be private?

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I know that in the specific case in which I was involved, in the course of the debate of this particular issue in both the High Court and the Supreme Courts a great deal of focus was placed on the very important right of privacy. There are countervailing rights such as the right to one's good name and the right to not interfere in the course of justice. If I discussed knowledge I had about...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I agree entirely with Senator Norris. It has always been the tradition, and accepted in both Houses, that the President is above politics. It has been a firm and rooted tradition since the foundation of the State, and accepted in the Dáil and Seanad, that we do not discuss the President. In keeping with this independence I felt it would not be appropriate to cover the Office of the...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I understand the very clear point made by Senator Norris, and it is a balance between inhibiting proper ventilation of issues for fear they might come into the public domain and putting all options on the table with the need for the public to know what options are considered. The Senator is not right to state he wants to revert to the status quo. This is the status quo, in as much as I am...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I have not changed my view. The Senator assumed his proposal was in the legalisation in the United Kingdom. I have checked there and it is not. Its freedom of information system replicates what we have here.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We will have guidelines too. As I explained on Committee Stage, the import of the Senator’s amendment will be captured but it would be a bridge too far to require the trawl of every personal account and text that an individual would have in order that there might be something there that would be germane to it. The guidelines will state that any official correspondence on any official...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Commercial Rates (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In recognition of the increased volume of appeals to the Valuation Tribunal arising from the revaluation of Dublin City and Waterford rating authority areas my Department approved  last August a proposal  for the secondment/redeployment of seven staff, one Higher Executive Officer (Assistant Registrar), two Executive Officers and four Clerical...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I have the authority to appoint Board members to An Post National Lottery and the Public Appointments Service. The appointments process for the new board of the Public Appointments Service is currently underway. As part of this vacancies have been advertised on the stateboards.ieportal. I expect to make appointments to the board very shortly. With regard to An Post National Lottery the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Legislative Process (2 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Valuation (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012  commenced Committee Stage in the Seanad yesterday. Further time for the Committee Stage in the Seanad is scheduled for early October.   This is a complex piece of legislation and there are a significant number of amendments to be debated. Among the amendments which we are bringing forward will be one that...

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Referral to Select Committee (1 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform pursuant to Standing Order 82A(3)(a) and (6)(a) and 126(1).

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (1 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----do not often want to hear these facts, but that is true because we knew what we were facing into. We went into government not to decry the darkness but to roll up our sleeves and solve the problem. Objectively, most people think we have done a fair job in the past three and a half years of bringing us not from the edge of the abyss but from the deep end of the abyss to a better place.

Registration of Lobbying Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (1 Oct 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy Catherine Murphy made a very important point, and it is something I am very conscious of because in many ways the easiest thing to do is legislate. It is much more difficult to change behaviour or change a culture. There is a tiny minority of people whose first attitude, no matter what we legislate for, is to find a way around it as opposed to saying, "This is a cultural change"....