Results 12,041-12,060 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am conscious of that issue. Section 10E provides for me as the Minister to be able to fix a date from which the provisions of the Act relating to reporting and the retention of documents will apply to Independent Members and leaders of qualifying parties. We want the legislation to be enacted, as it was a commitment made some time ago. We will need to have a bedding down period, but the...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It sounded like bullying to me as well, but there we are. I am clear the provisions of this Bill will apply to everyone as soon as it is practicable. Senator Norris has made a valid point. To ensure people do not make mistakes and are prepared for this system, we will allow time for there to be some preparation in the reporting mechanisms. There will be a time gap between the commencement...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I saw a political statement coming out-----

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: "The Minister resiles from accountability." There is no such thing as that. I am simply saying that-----

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As soon as is practicable. It had been my intention to start it from 1 January. I did not expect to spend three weeks in the Seanad before reaching Report Stage, which was originally meant to be taken today. To schedule Report Stage, however, I have to get time in the other House. I therefore cannot give Senators an absolute commitment until the will of the Houses is determined in the...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Senator Norris's amendments seek to remove the auditing requirement for qualifying Independent Members in receipt of parliamentary activities money. As I stated on Second Stage, with the increased scrutiny of all public expenditure, it is not acceptable for Independent Members to receive funding for which they alone would be excluded from being accountable when others must be accountable....

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Senator is aware, there is provision in the Electoral Acts for the reimbursement of electoral expenses post facto. The purpose of the parliamentary allowances, which is what we are dealing with in this Bill, is to support Parliament and parliamentary activities. They are not intended to be used for electoral purposes nor should they be.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Could the Senator spare us that patronising tone? Nobody is feathering their own nest and none of us came into politics to do that. The Senator would take great umbrage if I made that suggestion about him so he should not make it about me or anybody else in the other House.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is also my view that to allow expenditure of the parliamentary activities allowance on electoral expenses, as proposed by the Senator, would almost certainly run foul of the Supreme Court judgement in the McKenna case.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will give the Senator a direct quote from the McKenna judgement. The judgement stated that "no branch of the government is entitled to use taxpayers monies from the Central Fund to intercede with the democratic process either as to the voting process or as to the campaign prior to the vote". Using public moneys for campaigning is not allowed. Imagine the advantage Senator Norris would...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will get a full briefing for the Senator. Did he apply for reimbursement in the presidential campaign?

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It is a school year. A school gets its capitation grant for the school year.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: There is a determined term. I do not want to prolong this debate because we are not going to go anywhere on it.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We have spent three weeks at it now.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: People are confused with anything else but Fianna Fáil.

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The notion that money follows individuals is in my judgment a misunderstanding of what was intended, which was to support the workings of Parliament. Although the Constitution does not recognise the role of parties, we all do. Senators Byrne and Healy Eames made the point that none of the people elected to this House were elected on a party ticket. It is true that there is no party...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We make those discernments. I accept that people who operate outside their parties also get elected but they still have to convince their party councillors to vote for them which Senator Walsh did very well. For anyone wishing to do tutorials about it, I would recommend it. There was no luck involved. Well travelled politicians in this House and the other House do not operate on that...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is exactly what I said. The status quo determined on the day of the election holds true so that if a candidate is an Independent the allowance is his or hers as an Independent. The discernment is that it is the determination on the day of the election. That is the point I made. People leave parliamentary parties, often on a temporary basis. For example, Deputy Penrose, who left the...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We have spent over two hours on this amendment and I do not want to prolong the debate, although I will respond briefly to the specific matters raised. In making his last point, Senator Walsh suggested that money should follow the individual, but that is to misunderstand the basis of why the parliamentary allowance was brought into being, which was to support parliamentary activities. A lot...

Seanad: Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: One could, but if one resigns I suggest that one is less likely of being able to win one's own seat. I would not recommend it to the Senator as a certainty, shall I say. In the other House, however, one would stand in one's own constituency and be able to ask the people who gave the original mandate, and those alone, to reconfirm that mandate, if one was so minded.