Results 11,001-11,020 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: For the second occasion the Deputy wants to play with figures. In 2007, as I told him, voted current expenditure was €48.6 billion at a time when unemployment payments totalled €159 million.

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: This is the reality. Unemployment figures were marching towards 500,000 when the previous Government marched out of office. Needless to say we had to pay for this, and because people's incomes had collapsed the number of medical cards increased from 1.2 million to 2 million and we had to provide money for this also. The Deputy stated the previous Government had done the heavy lifting in...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Do not count chickens.

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy asked three distinct questions. In regard to his first question, I agree with the Deputy that there will be functional bilinguals who have absolute proficiency in Irish and English working in areas other than the defined posts or geographical areas that would require it and are designated. I hope there will be a much broader spread of people who are proficient to handle any case...

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is true.

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The reason I disagree with the Deputy's mathematics is that it is too sterile an approach. The issue is whether we are going to recruit to try to change and transform the Civil Service immediately.

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I do not believe that the current policy, which we have all stood over - particularly Deputy Ó Cuív, who was in government for much of the last decade - has worked, so we need a change. We need to say that we will have a change. I am saying we need functional bilinguals. We have to set a reasonable number for that. Is the Deputy suggesting that everybody we recruit when are...

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That would not be fair. The Deputy asked two other questions. I cannot answer one of them now but I will ask whether we have any data on the number of functional bilinguals that are currently employed.

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: A related and relevant point is how many people seek to do their business with State agencies trí Ghaeilge. That would be an interesting number. There is no point, as we have done in the past, in providing Irish translations of documentation and so on that nobody asks for. We need to match the demand with the provisions.

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Tá. Aontaím leis an Teachta. Ba chóir go mbeadh sé ar chumas saoránach ar bith a gnó nó a ghnó a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge más mian leis nó léi, cibé Roinn atá i gceist. Tá mé sásta go bhfuil sé ar chumas muintir mo Roinne a gcuid gnó a dhéanamh as Gaeilge más gá.

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Gross voted total expenditure in 2007 was €56.4 billion, in 2011 it was €57.4 billion, and for 2014 the estimate is just under €53 billion. Gross voted current expenditure in 2007 was €48.6 billion, in 2011 it was €52.8 billion, and the estimate for 2014 is €49.6 billion, as I have stated previously. The Deputy is specifically asking...

Other Questions: Regional Development (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Neither the European Regional Development Fund, ERDF, nor the Energy Efficiency Finance Facility, EEFF, will fund local authority houses. That is a different issue. We must find the resources to do that. I recommend to the Deputy a very fine document published by the Labour Parliamentary Party last week on the housing crisis. I accept there is an issue in that regard and perhaps we could...

Other Questions: Regional Development (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I do not have a problem with that.

Other Questions: Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an cheist sin a ardú. As the Deputy is aware, the Government approved the introduction of a new approach to ensure that there is a sufficient number of civil servants who are able to perform their duties through Irish. These new arrangements were put in place in the context of replacing the policy of awarding bonus marks for Irish language...

Other Questions: Public Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy asked a very profound question. Gross voted expenditure has been reduced from its peak of €63.1 billion in 2009 to just under €53 billion in 2014. This represents a reduction of 16% between 2009 and 2014 and will help us meet our general Government deficit target of 4.8%, which is still very large, for 2014. The radical improvement in the sustainability of the...

Other Questions: Public Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Again, the Deputy asks a very good question. There is a view that having gone through such a painful and difficult period of expenditure, we can somehow take our foot off the pedal. Even if we achieve all our targets, and we are determined we will, the fact that our deficit is expected to be of the order of 4.8% this year shows that we are still not out of the woods. We need to get to our...

Other Questions: Public Expenditure (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We have made remarkable progress on almost every level in respect of the external overview of this country. Even the most jaundiced of analysts in the rating agencies have a more positive view of Ireland, which has helped us in terms of the bond yields for our ten-year debt. When we came into Government, Ireland was basically rated as junk and we could not sell our bonds. There was no...

Other Questions: Regional Development (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: On 26 March 2014, I met a delegation from the European Parliament's committee on regional development, REGI, to discuss the next round of Structural Funds spending in Ireland. I was accompanied at the meeting by Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes. The REGI committee is a key committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for regional and cohesion policy, including the European...

Other Questions: Regional Development (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is touching on a very important point. We are experiencing recovery in this country but it is not a balanced recovery, as the Deputy rightly said. It is clear that parts of our main cities are doing very well now but other parts are not and rural areas, small rural towns in particular, have yet to feel the real impact of recovery. That is a work in progress. The Government has...

Other Questions: Haddington Road Agreement Review (10 Apr 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy's comments bring us to the heart of the matter. His basic thesis is that we should have reneged on the solemn commitments made by the previous Dáil, which I voted against, in respect of our requirements. What would have been the consequences if the Government had decided not to pay the debts in question? We would have defaulted and would not have had funding for public...