Results 10,441-10,460 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Legislative Process (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Government published the Valuation (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2012 on 3rd August, 2012 as part of its legislative programme. The Bill proceeded through its second stage in Seanad Éireann on 11th October 2012.  The primary purpose of the Bill is to accelerate the national programme of revaluing every commercial and industrial property in the country which is being undertaken by...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Policy (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: While Ireland is no longer in a Troika programme, following our successful programme exit in December 2013, we are still subject to the fiscal deficit ceilings set out in the Excessive Deficit Procedure.  The Government's overall fiscal target is to bring the General Government Deficit below 3 per cent of GDP by the end of 2015 and, in progressing towards that,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Remit (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The current legal position is that under the existing Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, an exemption is provided for personal information, which would include pension arrangements, except where such information concerns a director or a member of staff of a public body, which is covered by FOI.  The Freedom of Information Act specifically...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Budgets (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: A key objective of this Government is to create a positive environment to support business and growth, drive exports and facilitate job creation and retention by the enterprise sector. Your question in relation to the impact of any expenditure reduction on the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation s ability to drive job creation and economic recovery is, in the first instance, a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Regulations (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Public Procurement is governed by EU and National rules. T he aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money.  These rules apply to Central Government Departments and bodies under their aegis, commercial or non-commercial state bodies, Local and regional authorities, health authorities and,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Data (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There are 176 out of 801 staff in my Department on fixed term contracts.  143 of these are Temporary Clerical Officers (TCO's) in PeoplePoint. PeoplePoint, the Civil Service Human Resources and Pensions Shared Service Centre, became operational in March 2013 and brings together shared HR and Pension processes and systems to ensure a more consistent and efficient HR and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Sale of State Assets (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy's question notes, the European Commission's Spring 2014 Post-Programme Surveillance Report on Ireland estimates that the sale of Bord Gáis Energy and two ESB power plants could, in their words, yield up to €500 million in government revenue in 2014. Deputies will appreciate that this represents the Commission's view of potential receipts. For my part, I am...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Properties Data (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: There are in excess of two hundred State owned properties currently vacant in the care of the Commissioners of Public Works, the majority of these being the recently closed Garda stations and residences. The OPW has a clearly defined policy relating to vacant properties that are identified as surplus to its requirements. In the first instance, the OPW engages with other Public Service...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Appointments (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Instructions and Guidelines for Ministerial Appointments were revised and issued in March 2011 following decisions by the Government on a number of cost saving measures relating to the personal appointees of Ministers and Ministers of State. The guidelines specify that all appointments of ministerial staff, including the pay and terms and conditions of employment, require the prior...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Local Government Reform (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The range of legislative provisions of the Comptroller and Auditor General Act, 1993 involve both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, while issues relating to Local Government Audit are a matter for the Minister for the Environment and Local Government. In this context, the issue of a possible merger between the Local Government Auditing...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Stability Programme Data (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Stability Programme Update, published by the Department of Finance in April 2014, showed an amount of €261 million as being the level by which, at the end of March this year, the total net voted expenditure for the year to date was lower than the level of expenditure that had been profiled by Departments;  the variance against profile arose €184...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together. In response to the Deputy's question the annual saving to the Exchequer of a 20% reduction to all professional fees in my Department would amount to €1,324,450.33. The following table outlines the total amount spent by my Department on professional fees between 1 June 2013 and 31 May 2014. Department of Public Expenditure and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Training (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The following table outlines the range of academic programmes and courses pursued by staff in my Department for the academic year 1 September 2013 to 30 June 2014.    Academic  year 2013/2014 Academic Programmes and Courses Qualification Level No.  of Participants Financial Business & Economics Masters Postgraduate Degree 4 Postgraduate Diploma 1 ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Training (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The training and development budget in 2014 for my Department is €220,000.  The following table outlines the annual saving to the Exchequer of a 5%, 7%, 10%, 12%, 15%, 17% and 20% reduction to the training and development budget. % Reduction  Annual saving (€) 5% 11,000 7% 15,400 10% 22,000 12% 26,400 15% 33,000 17% 37,400 20% 44,000

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Exchequer Savings (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's questions the total annual cost of travel and expenses incurred by my Department, the Shared Services Centre and the Office of Government Procurement in 2013 amounted to €278,000, €125,000 and €300,000 respectively giving a total of €703,000. Similarly €3,454,356 was incurred for the same period in the Office of Public Works. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Bodies Data (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question the following tables outline the fees and expenses paid to individual Board members, including the Chair, of each of the two State Boards under my remit: State Board No. of Board Members Membership Type Fees Paid Expenses Paid Public Appointments Service * 9 Chairman €11,970 p.a. - - - 3 Board Members paid €7,695 each p.a. €200...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Bodies Data (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 155 together. In response to the Deputy's question the following table gives the annual CEO salary of each non-commercial State sponsored body under my remit. Name of Body Title Annual Salary Institute of Public Administration Director General €175,407 Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) Chief Executive Officer €105,787.50

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Advisers Remuneration (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 143 and 158 together. My Department was established in July 2011 and, as requested, the following table reflects notional savings, since that time, had the Special Advisors in my Department been capped at the first point of the Principal Officer grade. JULY-DEC 2011 2012 2013 JAN-JUNE 2014 18,474 39,506 41,172 23,246

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Exchequer Savings (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 144, 160, 163 and 164 together. Since the introduction of multi-annual capital envelopes in 2004, Departments have been able to avail of capital carryover which allows them to carry over any unspent capital into the next financial year. The amount is subject to Dáil approval and is limited to a maximum of 10 per cent of the Department's voted...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Exchequer Savings (9 Jul 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 145 and 161 together. Estimates for carryover of unspent capital are usually collated by my Department in the final quarter of the year and are published in the Revised Estimates for Public Services and included in the Appropriation Bill in the December of that year. At this juncture it is too early to speculate what the level of capital underspend (if any)...