Results 12,901-12,920 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Whether we move to a unicameral system is a matter for the people. We will put it to them and will hear and respect their view on the matter. With regard to last night's debate being characterised by Deputy Martin as shambolic, I reject that.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: It was a proper debate in this House for those participating in it and it was passionate and real. What is shambolic is what occurred in the dying days of the Fianna Fáil Government, when it was left with just seven Ministers.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That was barely constitutional. The Opposition can shout us down if it wants, but if it wants a yardstick for a shambolic exit, that was it.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: If Fianna Fáil wants a yardstick for a shambolic end to a government, it is when Ministers resign with such alacrity that government is barely constitutional at the end.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: At the time, the then Government was looking at the prospect of reappointing Ministers who had resigned. That is a shambles.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We are now dealing with a difficult, sensitive and important piece of legislation. I know Deputy O'Dea has more views on this than Boris Karloff had faces.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: This is an important issue for people and we are allowing the fullest possible debate. We are respecting the views of all and affording the opportunity for their views to be heard.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As normal, the Deputy opposite never lets the truth of a situation get in the way of a line. Normally she is wrong. Let me give the facts. Some 43% of the population now have medical cards, the highest number ever.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Last year, 1.854 million people were covered by medical cards. This year it is planned that to extend that to 1.9 million people. Therefore, the numbers covered by medical cards are increasing and the funding provided for them is increasing. There are decisions being made about medical cards - for example, with regard to automatic provision of medical cards in some categories - because...

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not need the help of the columnist from the Sunday Independent. It is a normal part of Parliament. Other parliaments sit late to debate issues. The commitment of the Government on this important and sensitive legislation is to allow it the maximum time possible for debate. It has been unprecedented for two different sets of committee hearings to take place, to have an open ended...

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In regard to his comments on internal difficulties and Whips, we operate a whip system. That is normally the basis of how the Deputy's party operates.

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We meet to reach consensus within our parties after robust debate and then we act as a unit. That is the norm. It is rare that a leader cannot bring his own troops with him and then makes a virtue of necessity by pretending that somehow it is virtuous to allow people to express whatever views they like on an issue of this importance. Normally a party takes a collective view on these...

Leaders' Questions (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I did not say it was normal.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Oireachtas Members' Remuneration (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 108 and 111 together. The Oireachtas (Allowances to Members) and Ministerial, Parliamentary, Judicial and Court Offices (Amendment) Act, 1998, provides that an order may be made to provide for a payment to a member of the Oireachtas who holds the position of Party Whip in Dáil Éireann. In that Act, a Party Whip is defined as a member of Dáil...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Oireachtas Members' Remuneration (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Party Leaders Allowance is provided for in the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) Act, 1938, as amended by the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices (Amendment) Act, 2001. The legislation also provides that payments may be made to a member of Dáil Éireann, who at the last preceding general election or at a subsequent bye-election was elected as a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Issues (11 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The civil service is strongly committed to the development and implementation of measures to promote and support the employment of individuals with disabilities. All Departments/ Offices must adhere to the Code of Practice for the Employment of People with a Disability in the Irish Civil Service (). The civil service endeavours to meet the requirements of persons with disabilities so as to...

Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Report Stage (Resumed) (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has no respect for the House.

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is not normally the practice. No more than the advice of any lawyer to a client, if one is going to get the advice of the Attorney General to the Government as a client, one would have to open up the advice of all lawyers to their clients in regard to proceedings of this kind. That is something that would not be welcomed by the legal profession in terms of the fundamental principle of...

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The client can, but it is very unusual, certainly in the context of inquiries of this sort. In regard to Cabinet confidentiality, subsection (1)(a) provides that the committee shall not direct a person to give evidence or documents relating to the discussions at a meeting of the Government or a committee appointed by the Government whose membership consists of members of the Government....

Seanad: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Jul 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We are always reforming. The only reform we can have is a tightening of the legal representation. People have constitutional rights in these matters. To put it bluntly, there would be a revolution if we were to embark on another tribunal that could take a decade, as some of them did. That was convenient for people. I sat in these Houses during a decade or more of inquiries when...