Results 11,941-11,960 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is somewhat different from the argument reported on during the referendum debate, namely, that Members were all gong to work for nothing.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is not my view, as the Senator has heard.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is determined by the electorate, not by the individual. That is the point.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is the people who will get to make the determination.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: No, it is the people who will make the determination.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am delighted to be back in the Seanad, to which I have become a frequent visitor. I should get mileage points. I have learned from my visits to this House that its debates are eclectic and broad ranging, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The purpose of the Bill is simple. It implements our commitment to reduce the party leaders' allowance, as it was then called, or the...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I never received such a payment. Such payments are anomalous in terms of the pressures we are facing and we need to abolish them. We are doing a lot of things we did not do in the 1990s. Perhaps we should have done them at that stage. A number of policies were wrongly bolted on during what were purported to be the boom times. At one stage, all but two Fianna Fáil Members had an...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Sick Leave (28 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 69 to 71, inclusive, together. As the Deputies will be aware, in July 2012 sick leave arrangements for all public service employees were the subject of a Labour Court Recommendation relating to the introduction of a reformed Sick Leave Scheme. The rationale for the new scheme was the need to reduce the unsustainable cost of sick leave for the public service...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Lottery Licence Sale (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: On 3rd October 2013, I announced that following a competition for the next National Lottery licence, Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) has been selected as the preferred applicant for the next licence. PLI is a consortium comprising Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (the owner of the Camelot Group), An Post and An Post pension funds. Discussions on finalising the terms of the licence are...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Funding (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds comprise the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Ireland will benefit from all of these funds with the exception of the Cohesion Fund. Preparations for the new...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Grades (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The information the Deputy has requested going back over the last 24 years is not readily available. The following table presents the number of staff in each of the main general service grades in the Civil Service each year for the last ten years. Additional information may be available in the State Directories, which can be found in the Oireachtas library. Aggregate figures on all those...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Banking (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy’s question my Department does not provide any service to the public where a payment by debit card or credit card is required. I understand that the Office of Public Works are unable to provide the information in the time allowed but will be writing to you shortly with a comprehensive reply.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Semi-State Bodies Dividends (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In general, dividends of 30% of profits after tax have been sought of State companies in recent years. My Department, working with other relevant Departments and NewERA, is at present working on a range of shareholder considerations, including developing a new dividend policy for commercial state companies.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Semi-State Bodies Mergers (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As referred to in the Deputy’s question, and in light of the Programme for Government commitment to create a streamlined and refocused commercial state company in the bio-energy and forestry sectors, the Government decided in June of this year that an evaluation would be carried out on how to give effect to a beneficial merger of Coillte and Bord na Móna. NewERA is undertaking a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Consultancy Contracts Expenditure (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 286 to 298, inclusive, together. In response to the Deputy’s questions I can only answer on behalf of my Department as this information is not collated centrally. Since the formation of my Department in 2011 only four companies mentioned were awarded contracts with details as follows: Name of Consultancy Firm Year Amount Paid Number of Contracts...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Health Services Staff Data (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Following the identification of serious capacity issues in a number of hospitals in Galway and Limerick, the Minister for Health sought urgent approval from my Department on 2 December 2011 to appoint two identified senior managers from within the health system to new roles as the Group CEOs for the Galway/Roscommon and the Mid-West Hospital Groups. On 13 December 2011 my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Peace and Reconciliation Programme (26 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: On 20 November the European Parliament in Strasbourg agreed proposals for a new round of Structural Funds. The agreement reached will see Ireland’s share of Structural Funds increase to just over €1 billion which will be used to support a range of projects to promote jobs and growth. Political agreement on four of the six regulations approved by the European Parliament had...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Financial Resolutions (21 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move:THAT section 253 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which provides for relief to individuals on loans applied in acquiring interest in partnerships, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution. THAT Schedule 3 to the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) be amended in the manner and to the extent specified...

Protection of Life in Pregnancy (Amendment) (Fatal Foetal Abnormalities) Bill 2013: First Stage (21 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: No.

Defence Forces Report: Motion (21 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move:That Dáil Éireann approves the report by the Minister for Defence regarding service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations in 2012, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 14th October 2013, in accordance with section 13 of the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006.