Results 12,061-12,080 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

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

Brendan Howlin: They are not each apportioned an allowance.

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

Brendan Howlin: They are not each apportioned an allowance.

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

Brendan Howlin: The Senator might read the full quote.

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

Brendan Howlin: That was a moral issue, don't you know.

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

Brendan Howlin: I did not say that.

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

Brendan Howlin: I did not refer to the Senators in that context at all.

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

Brendan Howlin: I did not refer to either Senator in that way.

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

Brendan Howlin: No, I am saying that I certainly would be opposed to that but the Senator talked in terms of whether those are lesser people-----

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

Brendan Howlin: Allow me to respond first.

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

Brendan Howlin: Thank you very much. That would be seen for what it was. The Senator wants her little pot of money and to walk away with it. I also want to say that what I said on the first occasion has been misrepresented again by Senator Bradford. What I suggested in terms of resigning was that if a Member wanted his or her own allowance, there was a way to do that. I was elected to the other House...

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

Brendan Howlin: We have had this same debate for three consecutive weeks and obviously there is no meeting of minds because I have heard the same argument repeatedly. As I tried to explain to Senator Bradford, clearly very inadequately, his presentation is a fundamental misunderstanding, certainly a misrepresentation of the facts. It is not the Senator's money, as he put it. He said, "It is not for me"....

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

Brendan Howlin: The Senators like to see me coming in here.

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

Brendan Howlin: I was responding to the case made by Senators regarding this matter. I think I had made most of my contribution. I was explaining that the parliamentary activities allowance is the means by which the State supports our parliamentary system, which is based on political parties. Most of us in this House joined political parties because we subscribed to the collective party policies. From...

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

Brendan Howlin: -----enough of that. It is not a payment to be divvied out among the members for their own use. In order to calculate the level of support which will be paid to a party it was decided to base the total amount of funding on the number of Deputies and Senators elected or nominated to each of the Houses. Other funding sources use different metrics, as I explained, such as the share of first...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Legislation (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As with Public Servants generally, the pensions of politicians have been subject to a range of measures implemented over recent years which have had significant downward effects on pensions and pension awards. Reforms have been introduced in relation to the age at which politicians receive a pension. Under the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2004, pension...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Haddington Road Agreement Implementation (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In the public service where a majority of employees are members of a trade union or association, the relevant union or association are recognised as negotiating parties in matters affecting the terms and conditions of employment of the grades of public servants they are recognised as representing. The public service as an employer does not distinguish between those employees who are members...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I understand the question relates to pay reductions applied to public servants under the terms of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts. Under Section 12 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013, as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I am required to review the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009 to 2013...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures in the Public Interest (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The protections set out in Part 3 of the Protected Disclosures Bill 2013 are the same for all workers regardless as to whether they are employed in the public or private sector. Sections 11 and 12 of the Bill provide protections against unfair dismissal and penalisation falling short of a dismissal respectively. In both instances the extent to which protections under these sections can be...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Redeployment (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Public Service Agreements (PSAs) covering the period 2010-16 (the Croke Park and Haddington Road Agreements) set out the redeployment arrangements that apply in the Civil Service and in other parts of the Public Service. Under the PSAs, redeployment generally takes precedence over all other methods of filling a vacancy and supersedes any existing agreements on the deployment of staff. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of the Ombudsman Remit (19 Nov 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In line with the Programme for Government commitment, the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 significantly extended the remit of the Ombudsman bringing some 180 public bodies, including Údarás na Gaeltachta, which I presume the Deputy is referring to in her question, under the legislation. As such, the Ombudsman is empowered to investigate complaints about the administrative functions...