Results 11,381-11,400 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Protected Disclosures Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I amended it in the Seanad to include that.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Data Protection (20 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: While my Department does not have a formal role of Information Officer, it is registered as a data controller and data processor, fully complies with the relevant data protection legislation and and has a nominated contact person to whom members of the public may address any applications for access to their personal data.

Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Time is up.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We had that discussion with Deputy Mary Lou McDonald previously.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I worry a little when someone tells me what I am doing is "interesting". I thank Senator Sean D. Barrett for his comments, but I cannot deal with all of the points he made now. I will not allow him to drag me into a discussion on the size and scale of the Taoiseach's office. I know he is trying to lead me into difficulty, but I will resist it. I agree with him that there should be a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am talking about 2016.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy makes a very valid point. We all know such people. This is not an easy nut to crack. What we need is to have more clarity in terms of people's role and better and more objective evaluation of people's performance. Even in the private sector, this is a huge issue, because in small enterprises where people are working cheek by jowl, it is very difficult to make an effective and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Absolutely, that is part of the job of the task force. It will make recommendations to me, but it will not be simple to do that and the implementation of the recommendations will certainly not be simple.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We have taken a whole range of initiatives and are more proactive than ever before in terms of enabling SMEs to become involved in public contracts. We have a public contract website and are showing people how to operate and access it. We are conducting meet-the-buyer workshops so that people can see how to access small and large contracts, how to network with others and submit joint bids,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: This is a work in progress. There is a regional scale to contracts also, in terms of transport, other costs and immediacy, in terms of being able to supply within hours or by a next day delivery.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is the theme the Deputy is developing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy's theme is that private sector workers do not get decent terms and conditions of work. There are instances in which people do not get terms and conditions. I am as implacably opposed to that as is the Deputy. We in government have determined that after the Supreme Court decision on REAs-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We will have it reconstituted and that law will be enacted this year. This will ensure that low-paid workers are protected. That is the reason we reintroduced the minimum wage, which had been reduced by our predecessors in government. Even in the most difficult times, when we took office, we did that. I have the greatest concern about zero-hour contracts. I do not like it. I have raised...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Please let me finish.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: An exchange means that one gets to finish one's answer. The final point the Deputy made related to agency workers. Of course the 15 million additional hours we have negotiated through the Haddington Road agreement will allow a reduction in agency workers and overtime and premium rates because people can be deployed at their normal working time in a more rational way. There is no...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I know the Deputy speaks disparagingly about the Haddington Road agreement, as if at that time we were not facing an existential threat to the very existence of our economy that required us to make very difficult decisions. I know the Deputy is disparaging in a disrespectful way, in my judgment, of the group of 27 trade unions who made a democratic decision to accept the proposals in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We have already reduced pensions from peak to trough to a low of €14.1 billion last year. We have set out that we need to save an additional €1 billion by 2016 during the entire term of the Haddington Road process that was started last year. I intend using some of the reform dividend to put something back into some front-line public services, such as the ones I have spoken about.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The significant chunk of savings have been made in pay and pensions. We envisage that it will be of the order of €4.5 billion. We have set out to make a saving on procurement in the next three years of €500 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: That is a saving of €500 million over three years. We have made a saving of €127 million this year. We have identified savings to be made in property management as well. It is proposed that PeoplePoint will save us €12.5 million and the shared service centre on payroll will save €55.6 million when fully operational. I do not want to give figures for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Feb 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Yes.