Results 16,461-16,480 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Job Creation (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I know the Deputy prefers to make speeches than ask questions even at Question Time. There are Deputies in this House who wish us to fail, which is shocking.

Job Creation (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The constant down talking of our economy is not without its own consequence. We were bequeathed the most disastrous economic hand ever left to a Government. We have set out a strategy to get us to recovery. I have said to the Deputy that it cannot be done by balancing the budget alone, although that is an integral part which she has entirely ignored. We cannot continue to borrow €1.4...

National Lottery (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy is aware, I announced on 4 April that the Government had decided to hold a competition for the next national lottery licence. The licence will be for a 20-year period and will involve an upfront payment to the State with part of this payment being used to help fund the building of the new national children's hospital. No decision has yet been taken on the terms of the...

National Lottery (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy makes a valid point of which I am cognisant. I want to ensure that any process involving my Department or the Government is transparent and has no external pressures or influences placed on it. I have issued a protocol to myself as well as to every senior official-----

National Lottery (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Yes. I would have no difficulty with placing it on a website. The protocol relates to all of these matters. For example, I will not meet anyone - I have received calls from all over the place from people who want to see me or my advisers - in respect of these matters. There is one access point at arm's length for people who will advise others on how to go about the process. This will...

National Lottery (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I fully accept the Deputy's point. He is right and it is good to have this discussion at an early stage. It is my firm intention to achieve that. Regarding the register of lobbyists Bill, I am anxious that it proceed. There are a number of linked Bills. For example and as the Deputy knows, the detailed heads of the whistleblowers legislation are before the committee. I hope I will...

Public Service Increments (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: My Department has access to detailed data on increments only in the Civil Service sector, for which I have direct responsibility. Detailed pay roll data for other public servants, including that for increments, are held and managed by individual public service employers. The availability of specific data on increments varies across those bodies. For example, detailed data on the cost of...

Public Service Increments (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I agree with much of what the Deputy said. I am anxious to amass as much data on all public expenditure as possible. Bluntly, however, I was more than surprised - let me put it in a kind way - at the lack of overview of all public expenditure that resided in the former Department of Finance. Some of the detailed questions the Deputy raised over the past 12 months have helped to expose this...

Public Service Increments (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: It would be very unfair to say we are working on guess work - we understand the full quantum of pay in the total sums. However, we do not have it disaggregated to the degree the Deputy feels we ought to have at a central level. There is always a divergence of view about devolution. We call it local government and not national government in a local setting. The local authorities have...

Public Service Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I am pleased to report to the House that the management of retirements from the public sector at the ending of the "grace period" on the 29th of February last was broadly successful. This is not to say that there were not problems in some locations in the public service, rather that any problems that arose were resolved locally as is right and proper. Returns from the various sectors...

Public Service Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I would be happy to give a detailed briefing to the Deputy in that regard. We will have to move on in a few minutes, so I probably will not be able to give the Deputy a comprehensive answer. However, I will give the specifics. The announcement I made with regard to public sector numbers was that by 2015 numbers would have reduced to 282,500. The outturn figure for the end of last year was...

Public Service Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Yes.

Public Service Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: That is a good question. Many people did not understand - although obviously those in the House did - the nature of the exit at the end of February. Put simply, those who were coming up to retirement did a calculation in which they compared their expected retirement pensions and lump sums with the amount that would be available at the end of the grace period and decided, based on this,...

Public Service Staff (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I readily acknowledge it. If there was any smugness about my statement it certainly was not intended. I was anxious that things would go smoothly during that period, and I pay public tribute to those who ensured it did, that is, local managers across every sector and local workers who increased productivity and flexibility to ensure the impact on front line services was minimised. Of...

Expenditure Reviews (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Government is making good progress on achieving all its 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 practices play a full part in contributing to the overall budgetary consolidation effort. This...

Semi-State Bodies (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In June, 2011 the Government took two significant steps on the payment arrangements of CEOs in commercial State bodies. First, we introduced a general pay ceiling of €250,000 per annum in the case of newly appointed CEOs in commercial State companies, along with reductions to similar appointees in such companies with lesser pay ceiling levels. Second, we sought voluntary reductions in the...

Semi-State Bodies (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I am reviewing premium pay and performance-related pay and I do not have a closed mind. For some, the idea of performance-related pay or bonuses is entirely acceptable in the private sphere but unacceptable in the public sphere. I do not subscribe to that idea. It is not appropriate in the Civil Service but there may be some commercial companies where performance-related pay is worth...

Croke Park Agreement (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 141 together. Under Paragraph 1.16 of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014, the implementation body is required to carry out an annual review of the sustainable savings generated from the implementation of the agreement and of the agreements in each sector. The body carried out its first such review last year and published a detailed first annual...

Croke Park Agreement (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I heard the Deputy's criticism of the format of the first annual report last year and I take note of it. I know that Mr. Fitzpatrick met the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and I suppose that point was made to him there. We look forward to seeing the nature and content of the next report and I note what Deputy Fleming has said. I do not accept the point...

Croke Park Agreement (24 Apr 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The normal way of implementation within the workforce is to involve employers and the workers. An external person who has nothing to do with the process has nothing to do with it normally. The employers - my Department - are represented and the workers are represented through their unions and an objective outcome is demonstrable. If any of their presentation is not robust, that can be checked.