Results 11,741-11,760 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I do not know if the Deputy has had an opportunity to read the reform plan in detail. It is a radical and dramatic plan to change the way in which services are delivered. She touched on some aspects of it. The old idea was that one throws money or bodies at a problem and things get better. The process of applying for a medical card should not be much different from applying for an airline...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I was asked a question in a public interview. Money is scarce but if I thought we could make significant long-term savings that reduced the demand on the public purse by targeting some money from the sale of State assets at a voluntary redundancy scheme, I would consider it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I am open to discussing any idea and to hearing views. We are working through a crisis and I want to see what good ideas can be suggested. If people are drawing down a permanent salary on the public payroll, even they do not have a job to do, it is better that they move on. If we need to find the resources that allow them to move on, that would be a good thing. Let us see where we can...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: JobBridge is a useful scheme for getting people who are unemployed into useful employment. We took over the statute law revision programme from the Office of the Attorney General. It was a pilot scheme in the Office of the Attorney General to examine old statute law. The first two significant bodies of legislation repealing old statute law have been enacted by the Oireachtas. The final...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: We are working on a specific numbers policy rather than a crude simple head count reduction. We are at the stage where there are pressure points which I am relieving in the way I indicated earlier. In the plan I published yesterday, there are good graphs on public service employment per thousand, public pay and pensions reduction through a profile from peak to the end of last year and other...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: It is crude in the context that we had a recruitment moratorium-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: What is the Deputy’s question?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I do not want to indicate that there is going to be a great relaxation of numbers. However, I want, through rational discussion as we improve our capacity, to look at real pressure points and relieve them. I am not aware of any chaos in the public service. Will the Deputy tell me of this chaos of which she has discerned? The outturn numbers for the end of 2013 are 288,840. The overall...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: If we have not got a written answer, I will get my office to ring those concerned.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The ESRI's pension scheme was taken under the remit of the State at the same time as the university pension schemes were dealt with by the previous Administration. I am advised in respect of the ESRI and IPA that the net contribution they make to the State, which we take in as appropriations-in-aid, is greater than the cost of pensions. Therefore, there is a net benefit to us in current...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I will give the Deputy as much information as I can on what we are doing. As she knows, there has been very significant downsizing of the public service. Some 10% of staff, or 30,000, have left. We have made payroll savings from peak to the end of last year of €3.4 billion, a quantum of 17.7%. There is no other place in Europe that has been as successful in downsizing pay and...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy. It is helpful to have a dialogue rather than go through items but I am in the hands of the committee.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Let me answer the questions in general terms first. Deputy Sean Fleming asked about the new comprehensive review of expenditure, CRE. We stated it would be every three years. It should be a permanent feature that there should be a review of expenditure. We conducted the first one in 2011 and I would be anxious to hear the committee's views in its regard. Ultimately, if the new budgetary...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: A new CRE.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: I welcome everyone back and wish them a happy new year. I am pleased to have the opportunity to present the 2014 Estimates for my Department’s group of Votes that have been outlined by the Chairman. The group comprises a sizeable number of Votes including the following: the Vote for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform; a new Vote for the Office of Government Procurement;...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Since 2004, recruitment to the civil service has taken place under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. This legislation abolished the Civil Service Commission and established a new body, the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA), which licences, regulates and audits recruitment processes. Processes are governed by the provisions of the Act as...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Data (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The Single Public Service Pension Scheme was launched on 1 January 2013. It is the default pension scheme for persons commencing employment in the public service from that date onward. The Single Scheme is administered at workplace level in a large number of "relevant authorities", which equate to individual employments or sectors. Because of this dispersed membership, a figure for the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: Recruitment to the civil service and a range of other public bodies is carried out under the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 which established a central recruitment agency, the Public Appointments Service (PAS), for this purpose.  The PAS operates under licence from the Commission for Public Service Appointments and is independent in its operations. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Data (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The data requested by the Deputy in relation to the number of persons working in the civil and public service in each of the years 2008 to end Quarter 3 2013 is available at .  The numbers in respect of Quarter 4 2013 are currently being compiled and will be available on the databank in early February. The overall numbers target for 2014...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Brendan Howlin: The most recent C&AG exercise showed the accrued liability in respect of public service occupational pensions to have been €116bn as of December 2009. This figure covers the liability in respect of serving staff and pensioners from all Public Service pension schemes i.e. Health, Education, Civil Service, Defence Forces, Local Authorities, Garda Síochána,...