Results 14,581-14,600 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Reform Plan Measures (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Government’s Public Service Reform Plan, published in November 2011, is based on five core commitments to change, which include "Placing customer service at the core of everything we do". To this end, the Reform Plan includes a range of actions to improve the citizen’s access to, and interaction with, Government services. No one has a monopoly on good ideas and a broad...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: On the 17th of July 2012, the Government announced its plans for an additional 2.25 billion euro investment in public infrastructure projects in Ireland. The most important contribution capital investment can now make is in providing the capacity for the economy to grow, which will in turn create employment. As the Deputy will recall, the stimulus package included 1.4 billion euro to fund...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Croke Park Agreement Negotiations (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Negotiations have taken place between public service employers and the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions regarding the Government’s stated intention to reach agreement on securing an overall saving of €1bn gross from the public service pay and pensions bill by 2015. Following intensive engagement in recent days between the parties, which was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Recruitment (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware, the Government is committed to delivering a leaner, more efficient public service; a process that continues to require tight control of public service numbers. The moratorium on promotion and recruitment in the public service has been an important control mechanism for this purpose and has served to help reduce numbers and allow for some limited recruitment where...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Remuneration (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I refer to my replies to Questions Nos. 162, 163, 166, 167 and 171 of 8 November 2012. The estimated full year gross saving in the Exchequer and Local Government pay bill arising from a cap of €100,000 is €290m. The estimate takes account of the reductions in pay arising from the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act, 2009, but does not take account...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Expenditure (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: My Department estimates that the Single Public Service Pension Scheme will, in the long run, lead to a reduction of about one third in the cost of providing public service pensions, subject to the important caveat that long-term projections in this area are inherently subject to a high degree of uncertainty. This amounts to an eventual saving in terms of annual pension outgo of some...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Expenditure Reviews (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 19, 29, 154, 155, 157 to 159, inclusive, 161 and 163 together. The Government is making good progress on achieving all of our targets and priorities, as articulated in the Government Programme. We are bringing public expenditure back to a sustainable level and driving forward the public service reform agenda to ensure that efficiencies and reformed work...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Remuneration (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I refer to my reply to Question No: 2834 of 23 January 2013. I have no plans to establish a new high pay commission to assemble pay data. The collection of pay data currently forms an important part of the services provided by the Central Statistics Office.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Recruitment (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy’s question the following table outlines the numbers and cost of agency staff in my Department or in State Agencies under the aegis of my Department: Office of Public Works Year Numbers of Agency Staff Cost (€’000) 2012 3 210 Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) Year Numbers of Agency Staff Cost (€’000) 2012 2.875 (Full Time...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Commercial Rates Valuation Process (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: In accordance with the Valuation Act, 2001, which came into force on 2nd May, 2002, a national programme, under the direction of the Commissioner of Valuation, is being rolled out progressively for the revaluation of all commercial and industrial properties in the State. The revaluation programme which has been completed in three County Council areas in Dublin began in November 2005 in the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Remuneration (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Discussions have taken place between public service employers and the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions regarding the Government’s stated intention to reach agreement on securing the required overall savings from the public service pay and pensions bill by 2015. Following intensive engagement in recent days between the parties, which was facilitated by the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Agencies (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Since the Government announced its programme of agency rationalisation measures in the Public Service Reform Plan, I have consistently argued that the real benefit from the rationalisation of State Bodies will be a less crowded administrative landscape resulting in greater democratic accountability, less duplication of effort and clearer lines of responsibility for the citizen. This will be...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy may be aware, only around 1% of public service pensioners are in receipt of a pension in excess of €60,000 and only a few hundred have a pension in excess of €100,000. The average public service pension is estimated at around €25,000 and many of these pensioners do not have any entitlement to the social welfare pension. I would add that there would be...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Agencies (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The focus to date of this Government has been on the rationalisation of state bodies, and by the end of 2012 there were rationalisation measures fully implemented across 21 bodiesand measures effecting a further 82 bodies at advanced legislative / administrative stages. The Programme for Government also contains a commitment that when a Department is proposing a new agency or state body, it...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I would refer the Deputy to my reply to his previous written PQ (PQ 9199/13 – answered 20 February 2013) in which I noted that the key objective of the Construction Contracts Bill is to ensure that cash flows down the supply chain on all construction contracts. This is achieved by providing a statutory schedule of payments, prohibiting the use of ‘pay when paid’ clauses...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Remuneration (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Based on updated information submitted to my Department on the total cost of increments in a full year in the various sectors, the full year cost of increments in the public service (excluding the Local Authority sector) is now estimated at some €150 million per annum. My Department will review the information available to it on the cost of increments across the public service and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget 2014 (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The “two-pack”, which has just been agreed at EU level, reinforces the European Semester process and introduces a common budgetary timeline for all Euro-area Member States both in relation to the publication of the national budget and the enactment of the legislation. Member States are required to publish their draft budget for central government and the main parameters of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information Legislation (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Decisions on the application of Freedom of Information to public bodies are a matter for Government based on proposals presented to them by me as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. As the Deputy will be aware, the Government decided last July to endorse the principle contained in the Programme for Government that Freedom of Information should apply to all public bodies subject to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Croke Park Agreement Implementation (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Government has, and will continue to be acutely aware of the needs and interests of the users of public services and the quality of those services. The Government’s ambitious Public Service Reform Plan was published in November, 2011 and sets out the basis for the comprehensive and strategic reform of the Irish Public Service. The Plan includes a core commitment to “place...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Exchequer Savings (27 Feb 2013)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware this Government is committed to developing a leaner, more efficient Public Service. To this end, we agreed on 2 October 2012 to accelerate the reduction in Public Service numbers in order to achieve the previous end 2015 target of 282,500 by end 2014 instead. Greater efficiencies in the way the Public Service is going about its business means that some functions and...