Results 15,641-15,660 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Job Creation Issues (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That would be wrong.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Deputy know how much teachers are paid?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: It is not true.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Not for the first time, I am bemused by Deputy McDonald. She is arguing that we did not go far enough while at the same time accusing us of failing to take account of spending power. I do not doubt that we would be having a different dialogue if we had taken the decision to eliminate all the allowances I have identified in the first annexe to the report, which would have taken €4,000...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: We have analysed the impact of the spending power of public servants and social welfare recipients on large parts of the economy. These factors are taken into account. This the first time we have drilled down into the composition of pay. I have been honest in acknowledging that it is much more complicated than I first envisaged. Under the pay regime that has built up over decades,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I am not sure whether Deputy Mattie McGrath asked a question but I will respond in any event. I do not think he wants to pick on any category of public servant, whether teachers, nurses or gardaí, simply because of the way in which their wages were historically constituted. I do not think any Deputy would have been happy if I had taken that route, other than, perhaps, one or two.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I have stated publicly that if I was starting again I would not set out the estimate of €75 million. The genesis of the figure is simple, however. The total for all allowances, including the big chunk that is core pay, is €1.5 billion and 5% of this total is €75 million. I believed we could set out a target of this nature. I did not put it into the budget arithmetic and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I will deal with the last point first in terms of engagement with the process. I had hoped that there would be full engagement with the real challenges that we face as a country and a people. That is why I published the medium-term fiscal horizons for every Department over three years, so that people would know what is required in terms of reductions in expenditure. I also published all of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That is correct.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In response to Deputy Fleming's question, it is indeed a matter for Government and not a matter for negotiations. We have set the targets and we are accelerating those targets. We have reduced public service numbers to 2005 levels and it cannot be argued that we had a desperately understaffed public service back then. We need to look at all of the new technologies that are available. More...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Allowances Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together. This Government is committed to securing sustainable reductions in the cost of the public service pay and pensions bill. The aim is to reduce the total cost of the Exchequer pay bill by some €3.8 billion in the period from 2009 to 2015, a large and sustainable fall in the cost of employing people to deliver public services by 2015....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: With the permission of the House, I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 5 together. The Government is committed to reducing the size of the public service and to creating a leaner more efficient public service. At mid-2012, public service numbers were 292,000. This is 28,000 below the peak number of 320,000 reached in 2008 and is comparable to the 2005 staffing levels. Service levels...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Issues (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I am taken by the Deputy's series of questions and his interest in having detail. He will find that everything we do will be spelled out in detail. To be clear, there is no scheme at present. I indicated after a Government meeting, because we were asked what was discussed at Government which is a normal occurrence after such a meeting, that I had brought a proposal simply to request every...

Leaders' Questions (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The previous Administration just threw money at it.

Leaders' Questions (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Does the Deputy just want us to spend more?

Leaders' Questions (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Deputies opposite have brass necks.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Procurement Service Framework Agreements (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In light of the need to accelerate the reform agenda, late last year my Department published the Public Service Reform Plan. This plan identified procurement reform as a key instrument that can assist the public service to deliver services in an efficient manner. The National Procurement Service (NPS) has put in place a number of national arrangements designed to secure better value for...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Properties (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 30 together. The property portfolio of the State covers lands and buildings owned or leased by a wide variety of organisations, including local authorities, organisations such as the Health Services Executive and non-commercial State bodies such as the Industrial Development Authority and SFADCo. It would be necessary for the Deputy to obtain the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Grades Review (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Under the Public Service Reform Plan my Department is reviewing the grading structure of the Civil Service. The Review will examine the number and distribution of management grades across the Civil Service, the percentage of the pay bill accounted for by such grades and taking account of organisational needs and best practice, assess the scope to reduce the number of management grades. In...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Performance Management and Development System (10 Oct 2012)

Brendan Howlin: My Department is engaged in the ongoing review and reform of the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) in the Civil Service. A major external review of PMDS was carried out in 2005 by Mercer Human Resource Consulting (Mercer). Using best practice in the review and design of performance management systems, the Review of PMDS was a comprehensive evaluation that provided...