Results 12,701-12,720 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Deputy O'Dea has a brass neck.

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will not be distracted because the issue of mortgage arrears is too important and central to the lives of too many people for Deputy O'Dea to be making silly comments about it. He should be ashamed of his part in it. The Government has put in place a comprehensive programme of action to assist mortgage holders. The Personal Insolvency Act was signed into law last December. The...

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The people of Ireland are hurting and are rightly angry. They want an accounting not some denunciation from the benches here. They want a real accounting. Those who committed criminal offences should be held to account under the law. We changed the law shortly after coming into Government to give additional powers to the prosecution authorities. I am confident that every shred of...

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Deputy Calleary for his acknowledgement of the success of the initiative taken by the Government. We made the decision to reduce the VAT rate in this area within 100 days of coming to office, when were facing an extraordinary financial situation with no flexibility at all. We determined that we would put together a €500 million stimulus package. As we did not want to...

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Not only did they denounce the jobs stimulus plan that was announced before this Government had been in place for 100 days, but they also denounced the funding mechanism. Deputies will recall that it was funded by means of a levy on pension funds. One cannot welcome the result while denying the means.

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I presume Deputy Calleary is belatedly acknowledging that the decision taken by the Government within 100 days of coming to office to focus on a sectoral job creation effort that has demonstrably created at least 15,000 additional jobs, as the Deputy has admitted, was the correct policy decision at that time. Obviously everything is on the agenda in the context of the forthcoming budget. We...

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Deputy Calleary for praising us more forcefully and convincingly than we could. He underscored the success of this Government's sectoral strategy, which he denounced early on in our term of office.

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We are pursuing the creation and maintenance of jobs as the first priority of the Government, the first priority of the forthcoming budget-----

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: -----and the first priority in all the decisions we will make for the remaining two and a half years of our term.

Leaders' Questions (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We will focus on that as we have done. The success that Deputy Calleary has outlined, in relation to the tourism sector, will be continued. While I appreciate that the Deputy does not want to take lectures, the unavoidable truth is that the last two years of his party's term of office saw the collapse of 250,000 private sector jobs. We are now creating 3,000 new private sector jobs net per...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Relations Contracts Expenditure (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question, I can confirm that my Department did not use any provider of public relations services since the formation of this Government.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Data (26 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As my Department was established in July 2011, I cannot provide figures for 1981 in respect of this Department. The table below provides information for 2011 and 2013. 2011 - Constituency Secretary 1 Parliamentary Assistant 1 Advisors 2 Programme Managers 0 Press Officers 1 Communication Staff 0 2013 - Constituency Secretary 1 Parliamentary Assistant 1 Advisors 2 Programme...

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

Brendan Howlin: The SEUPB is currently involved in drafting the Operational Programme for the PEACE IV Programme in close consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in Ireland and the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland. The first consultation with stakeholders across the eligible regions including the Border Region of Ireland and Northern Ireland for the PEACE...

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Referral to Select Committee (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform pursuant to Standing Orders 82A(3)(a) and (6)(a) and 126(1) of the Standing Orders relative to Public Business.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We must be realistic about it. Let us forensically examine them to ensure there is no organisation that is not fit for purpose. That forensic examination is being brought to ourselves and that is why we have a referendum on the future of the Seanad. The question should not be whether we can think of a purpose for a body. The question should be whether there is a compelling reason for a...

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank all Deputies for a wide ranging debate on a narrow Bill which none the less goes to the heart of the reform agenda in the public service. I thank, in particular, Deputy Calleary for returning to the House. Many Deputies leave the Chamber once they have made their contribution, which is understandable because we are all busy. In many ways, Deputy Calleary started the process which...

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I did.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will send the Deputy the report I got yesterday.

Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) (Amendment) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is a lot of quangos gone.

Seanad: Protected Disclosures Bill 2013: Second Stage (25 Sep 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank all Senators for their contributions and for the warm welcome the Bill has received across all sections of the House. That is what I expected. We have talked about consequences of our economic collapse in great detail but it was multidimensional and was more than an economic collapse. It was a failure of politics and of administration and we need to change the culture, which is a...