Results 12,501-12,520 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am pleased to confirm that child benefit rates are being maintained at €130 per month.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: And finally, there will be no reduction in the rate or the duration of the weekly fuel allowance. Further details of the social welfare package are set out in the expenditure report and will be outlined in full by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, later. Education As I have already outlined, education has been a considerable beneficiary of our capital investment programme...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am also making provision for the recruitment of more than 1,250 new classroom and resource teachers for the school system next year.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: A further €5 million will be allocated to extend the reach of the books-to-rent programme in primary schools. Justice We will be providing additional funding to the Department of Justice and Equality to increase staff for the Garda vetting service. Also in the justice sector, it is expected that the new court of appeal and the legal services regulatory authority will be established...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Today, I am more than confident; I am certain. Yes, there will be difficult days ahead. Yes, there are still difficult decisions to be made, but we are now picking up speed and our goal is in sight. I commend these Estimates to the House.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The reduced rate of €144 will apply to those reaching 25 from January 2014.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It should be noted that the rate for those availing of the back to education scheme is €160 per week. It is in education and training that our young people should be.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We will also continue our support for employers across all sectors in creating and sustaining jobs. Our enterprise policies are continuing to secure new investments, employment and export growth. Taking account of requirements in these sectors, I am allocating total capital expenditure of just under €450 million for the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to drive the jobs...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: This is a first step in our programme to provide free GP care for all.

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am also allocating €20 million for the development of community mental health services as envisaged under A Vision for Change. I have agreed to a much reduced headcount savings target of 1,000 to protect front line health services. While health is a key priority for Government, the fact is that it accounts for 27% of public expenditure and, therefore, cannot be immune from making a...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Some €25 million will be saved by a lowering of the income thresholds for the over 70s medical cards to €900 per week for a couple and €500 for a single person and €30 million for private bed charges in public hospitals. Further details of the Health Estimates will be announced by my colleague, the Minister for Health, later today. Social Protection I am pleased...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: -----is due to issue by the end of this month. A total of 13,000 direct and many more indirect jobs are expected to be created by this programme. Earlier this year I announced €150 million of direct Exchequer capital and a further €250 million of PPPs. The extra Exchequer money is being invested in 28 badly needed school projects, maintaining the local road network and a...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: This is in stark contrast to the previous Government, which oversaw a litany of disastrous decisions that failed-----

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: -----the Irish people. Real Consolidation The progress we have made in bringing stability to the economy and meeting our fiscal targets must be viewed in the context of the increased demands on public services. Not only have we reduced spending in absolute terms, we are delivering more services with that reduced money. We have a growing population, which increased by almost 350,000 between...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Medical card holders have increased by 540,000, or over 40%, an increase between 2008 and 2012 from 1.35 million to the highest level of medical card ownership in our history, currently at 1.89 million. The number of people of pensionable age has increased by 65,500, or 13.5%, since 2008. Budget Reform There are few areas where reform has been more manifest than it has been in the actual...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Over the course of the past five years, the public service has reduced in size by almost 10%. The cost of the pay bill has fallen even further, by some 17%, and the Haddington Road agreement which I reached with the public service unions earlier this year will permit that cost to fall still further. These savings need to be protected and sustained, which means we must continue to demand...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: This budget and Estimates process sets out to deliver on this Government's promise to the Irish people at the last general election to fulfil our commitments under the troika programme foisted on the Irish people by the previous Government and to restore Ireland's economic sovereignty. In pursuit of this goal, the two Government parties agreed a strategy for this budget and the Estimates....

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Budget Statement 2014 (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Some have argued that rather than seeking consolidation of our position with international support, we should have harnessed whatever remained of our resources and, with a final throw of a dice, spent it all in an effort to reinflate our economy, regardless of the international economic environment. We tried that before, in 1977, and it led to more than a decade of hardship. As I have...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: International Agreements (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I understand based on the latest information available to my Department, that the Convention referred to in the Deputy’s question, which opened for signing on 18 June 2009, has been ratified by six of forty seven member States of the Council of Europe (i.e. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway and Sweden). The Convention must be ratified by ten member...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Procurement Service Savings (15 Oct 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am keenly aware that public procurement can be an important source of business for Irish small and medium enterprises (SMEs). I am also aware of the need for Departments and Offices to make every effort to contain and reduce all administrative costs. The current programme of reform will lead to reductions in the cost of goods and services; better procurement services at lower cost;...