Results 15,901-15,920 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Government Response to Mahon Tribunal Recommendations: Statements (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: If it is acceptable to the House, I propose to share time with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Government Response to Mahon Tribunal Recommendations: Statements (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In common with my Government and party colleagues, I have strongly welcomed the publication of the Mahon tribunal's final report. I wish to take this opportunity to outline the role my Department played in respect of the overall response paper being published today. The Mahon tribunal's final report and its findings of endemic corruption of Irish political life call for a comprehensive and...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I thank the Chair for its indulgence. I have been trying to perfect the art of bilocation. I was speaking in the Lower House until 3.05 p.m. I thank the Senator for his contribution on the amendment he tabled. I dealt with a similar amendment in the Dáil. I explained that the proposal in this amendment to repeal sections 6 and 7 of the 1963 Act could only have a prospective effect. One...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I will address both issues. The fundamental principle underscoring this Bill is a shift from the calculation of final pension. Instead of the final salary dictating the pension, it will be based on a career average. We may have seen where people were appointed to a very senior position in the last year of their public service life and their pension is evermore determined by that last...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Let me deal with that. There are two elements to the full explanation. Abatement does apply, but the change I am bringing about in this Bill is that all pensions and salaries will be aggregated. People who retire on more than one pension as things stood were not subject to the top levy, but under the Bill the pensions will be aggregated to ensure everybody is treated in a like manner....

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I think we are straying well outside the terms of the debate, but important issues are being raised and I will respond to them. One of the changes I brought about in the structure of the TLAC, and not without some resistance, is that the majority of TLAC members come from outside the public service. The majority of every interview board comes from outside the public service. The chair of...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: We can stray back.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: This amendment seeks to delete the subsection that provides that former or current Members of the Oireachtas "shall not be regarded as" members of the single scheme. The Government decided that the single scheme should extend to new or first-time Members of the Oireachtas and office-holders, including Ministers and Ministers of State. Unlike almost all other public servants, Members of the...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I understand the Deputy's position, but I do not agree with it. It is patently obvious that elected Members of the Oireachtas are not like ordinary public servants who have a career path and a contract of service. They cannot be fired in the middle of their careers only to be rehired after a few years. It would be an anomaly for a person who served for 15 years in the Oireachtas before...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That has nothing to do with this amendment.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I am always intrigued by Sinn Féin's enthusiasm for putting the squeeze on expenses and costs to the State. I answer many parliamentary questions on claims that are made. I answered a question last week on whether anyone has voluntarily given up their pay to bring it to a certain level. The reply stated that nobody in Senator Cullinane's party has done so. I can facilitate his party...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I will offer the Senator such a facility if he wishes.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The figure is €93,000.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That does not benefit taxpayers.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I did not realise Deputies' salaries were to be part of a social employment scheme.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: If that is what the Senator wants, he cannot argue for Deputies' salaries to be lower.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Perhaps we should increase Deputies' salaries in order that Sinn Féin could start an employment scheme of its own. The bottom line is that I am interested in ensuring a fair scheme is in place. We have moved well beyond the substance of the amendment and I do not propose to further elaborate on this issue. However, people on the average industrial wage would scarcely be able to attain the...

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Some could lead by example.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Senator's moralising was just too much for me.

Seanad: Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Jul 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I am afraid I know the Senator too well.