Results 11,561-11,580 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I think a general election might be called if that happened.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Profligacy.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It will be backdated to July of last year.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: One cannot use public money for election purposes.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is not lawful.

Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: They cannot be used in that way.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: They have not yet been determined.

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Senators from all sides of the House for their support for this motion. Fianna Fáil’s record on freedom of information is inglorious and we will take no lectures from the party on it. There is a certain populist tone coming from Senator Byrne when he speaks about a bonus culture and so forth. That runs well in a newspaper headline. However, practices have been bedded...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I want to hear reasoned arguments and if they are reasonable I will accept them. I am not surrendering or U-turning because I hear wise counsel-----

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: -----on a rare occasion. Senator Barrett inquired about Irish Water coming under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. That office has the distinct role of monitoring voted expenditure. It cannot oversee expenditure in a commercial company. We vote moneys for a purpose; the Comptroller and Auditor General’s job is to ensure it is spent accordingly. Is he to judge the...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: No, monopoly companies. Irish Rail is another example. We can debate what a monopoly is and what it is not when I return with freedom of information legislation. Senators asked if the setting up of Irish Water was rushed. The establishment of Irish Water was a troika commitment entered into by the previous Government that we inherited. It is a move that I support and it must be remembered...

Seanad: Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome the opportunity to support this motion in the House. This will permit the making of regulations to enable the application of the provision of the freedom of information legislation to Irish Water, Uisce Éireann. The measure is being introduced in line with the procedures set out in the existing FOI legislation, but will of course continue in force once the new FOI legislation...

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Deputies for their contribution and their support for this motion. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl characterised this as a climb-down but he was not here when we debated the FOI amendments on Committee Stage, when I explained the position on commercial semi-State companies. The default position of the new regime - to borrow a phrase from Deputy Wallace - will be that every public body...

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has a fair point about monopolies. We will look at that in the context of new legislation. I strongly agree with the Deputy on the role of the Oireachtas. We need to have vigorous sectoral committees holding State agencies and Ministers to account. I think that is happening and we need to resource it better. This will evolve over time. Having the sectoral committees doing...

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Through the Chair, Deputy Flanagan thinks he is on the back of a lorry in this place, and he can scream down people with whose views he does not agree. I heard him say that he wanted to put in place a regime that in my judgment would kill off the semi-State sector. That is not something I am going to support. In terms of the general-----

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Stop shouting people down. This is Parliament. You are not on the back of a lorry. This is our national Parliament and people are entitled to hear and be heard, the same as I listened to you. I did not shout you down.

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The commitment I brought to the Government last year is to join the Open Government Partnership, which is a cutting edge set of measures to have transparency in everything we do. Part of what I want to do in that is to have what I describe as "open data". I hope that FOI will become obsolete over time, because open data means that we should have all information in the public domain as a...

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will have five minutes.

Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014: Motion (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I move:That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:Freedom of Information Act 1997 (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2014,copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 24 January 2014.I welcome the opportunity to move this motion today. This will permit the making of regulations to enable the application of the provisions of the freedom of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (29 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: All policy, guidance and implementation measures relating to capital projects is published on the Construction Procurement Reform website where the Capital Works Management Framework provides a suite of best practice guidance, standard contracts and generic template documents are available to download for all contracting authorities to provide a consistent approach to the management of...