Results 13,201-13,220 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: If I may finish the point, today we published a report, done jointly by the European Investment Bank and PwC and commissioned by the European Investment Bank, on the use of financial instruments. Such instruments might be a way that we could use some of that money in the medium term. These matters must be, first, fully investigated and then agreed with the Commission before we can deploy...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Chairman.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I hoped we would have a scoping discussion about whether the shape of information is that which is of use to the Deputy or whether it should be in a different format. On my horizon in terms of time, I have four pieces of legislation currently before the Oireachtas. I do not mind providing a report to the committee and then, when I am available, coming in to do that in some detail. There...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We did not get around to discussing this at the beginning. Much was made about a Supplementary Estimate in excess of €1 billion. Everything must be put into context. Of that, €685 million was the social protection additional Vote. I explained right through the year that was made up largely of two components. The first was the live register over which we have no control.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The other was a shortfall in PRSI. That was simply money that was labelled PRSI originally that actually was universal social charge when one drilled down to it because it was not dis-aggregated by Revenue. It looked as if there was more in PRSI income than there was and when that was taken out, it looked like a hole in the PRSI. There was a hole in the Social Insurance Fund because of a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is a policy issue that I will debate with the Chairman separately.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Those are issues that the Chairman and I should not be talking about. The Joint Committee on Health and Children should be talking to the Minister for Health on those policy issues. We cannot drill down to that micro-management of a line Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That would be an appropriate parliamentary question to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am sure the Minister gave Deputy Humphreys a comprehensive answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Sorry, did the Deputy refer to communists?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: First, from the very outset of this process, I indicated in all my parliamentary questions that all the various broad ranges of issues would be considered in respect of the sale of the harvesting rights of trees in Coillte, including, for example, ensuring public access, amenity, the impact on existing contracts with sawmills and so on. It was necessary to assign an economic value, if one...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Is the Deputy talking about water and borrowing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As a commercial semi-State body.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Yes, it will go its own way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Allow me to deal with the energy side first. One must have a competitive market because that pushes down the price of everything and makes companies efficient. Bluntly, since the Government came into office, it has been required by the economic climate to do due diligence on every State asset in its possession, not only the commercial semi-State bodies but everything, including the public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I do not want to put that on the record but as I said in response to Deputies opposite, it is a minority, and not a significant minority, shareholding in a company. Obviously, the majority can make strategic decisions for the company over which we have no control but relinquishing that has implications that we have to fully parse and analyse before we come to a conclusion that it is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will make a number of points. First, there is a big focus on construction because of the 250,000 private sector jobs this economy lost in the three years up to 2011, a big chunk were in the construction sector. We have many long-term unemployed people who came from the construction sector. If we can get some of those back to work it would be welcome but we are not going to build things...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: There are a number of projects under way. The establishment of the interconnector with Britain is an important asset because if we can generate wind energy or alternative energy on this island, and there are many people both in the commercial area and in the public sector area who believe we can do that, there may well be programmes that we can ratchet up through investment to have new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I will ask Ms Fitzpatrick to comment on that because she has looked at that already.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of State Assets and Quarterly Review: Discussion with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (19 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am advised that there is commercial sensitivity around the data provided to Government but I will reflect on that and come back to the Deputy on it.