Results 16,661-16,680 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: My understanding is that the Public Accounts Committee has been given access to Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport records among which is reference to the Department of Finance having indicated orally that it could not consent to abandoning an attempt to recover VAT in a case involving Campus Stadium Ireland Development. The relevant Vote section - which generally acts as a first...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Section 47 of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, inter alia, provides for the charging of a fee by a public body and for payment by the requester in respect of the grant of a Freedom of Information request of an amount equal to — (a) the estimated cost of the search for and retrieval of the record concerned, and (b) the estimated cost of any copy of the record made by the public body...

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The EU Commission has determined that public broadcasters funded through fee based systems such as the TV licence are subject to EU public procurement rules. These rules specifically do not apply to the acquisition, development, production or co-production of programme material intended for broadcasting by broadcasters and contracts for broadcasting time. However, the normal rules on public...

Written Answers — Sale of State Assets: Sale of State Assets (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As I have already told the House, I do not propose to indicate to the market how much I expect to raise from the sale of the individual assets contained in the programme of State asset disposals that I announced on 22 February. However, I can assure the Deputy that the sales will be transacted via an open, transparent and competitive process.

Written Answers — Tax Code: Tax Code (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I wish to confirm that the taxpayer support to the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund is €56.29 million as published in the recent Revised Estimates for Public Services 2012. The forecast for Betting Duty in 2012 is €34m which includes €10m for the extension of the betting duty to the online sector as per Budget announcement.

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 215 and 216 together. Since the establishment of my Department in July of last year, the number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests received to the end of December 2011 was 61. My Department received 56 non personal requests and 5 personal requests. In accordance with the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Act 2003 an 'up-front' fee of 15 euro must...

Written Answers — Office of the Ombudsman: Office of the Ombudsman (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Ombudsman (Amendment) Bill 2008 completed all stages in the Dáil in June 2010 and is awaiting second stage in the Seanad. This Bill represents the most significant extension of the Ombudsman's remit in almost 30 years. On completion of its passage in the Dáil the main areas included in the Bill are third level education institutions, the Vocational Educational Colleges and the Courts...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Irish Human Rights Commission's (IHRC) Human Rights Guide for the Civil and Public Service makes an important contribution to the human rights agenda in Ireland. The updating of the 2010 edition is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality and the IHRC. Organisational training strategies are aligned to civil service Departmental business objectives and are derived...

Order of Business (6 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: He circulated it widely.

Written Answers — Commercial Rates: Commercial Rates (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Commissioner of Valuation is independent in the exercise of his duties under the Valuation Act 2001 and the making of valuations for rating purposes is his sole prerogative. The statute does not accord me as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform any function in this regard. The Valuation Act 2001 provides for the exemption from rates of land that is developed for sport such as...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy will be aware that the Programme for Government contains a commitment to extend Freedom of Information to ensure that all statutory bodies and all bodies significantly funded by the Exchequer are covered by the legislation. The next steps in implementing this commitment will be consultation with Ministers in the coming weeks, in the context of finalising proposals for consideration...

Written Answers — Semi-State Bodies: Semi-State Bodies (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: As the Deputy will be aware, the NewERA unit was established within the National Treasury Management Agency in 2011 to reform the manner in which Government manages the commercial semi-State companies. NewERA will initially undertake the corporate governance function, from a shareholder perspective and reporting to relevant ministers, of ESB, Bord Gáis Éireann, EirGrid, Bord na Móna and...

Written Answers — Semi-State Bodies: Semi-State Bodies (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question each Department is responsible for providing pension fund details in relation to commercial semi State companies for which they hold responsibility. In relation to an Post National Lottery Company which comes under the aegis of my Department I wish to inform the Deputy that pay and pensions issues are a matter for An Post. The information requested...

Departmental Expenditure (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I thank Deputy Maloney for raising this issue, although the impact of departmental savings is a fairly broad topic. Having listened to him, however, I now understand the focus of his commentary, which certainly merits some discussion. On taking office, one of the things I did was to have a cross-departmental review, which culminated in the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2012-14 published...

Departmental Expenditure (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Contract.

Departmental Expenditure (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: Or not.

Departmental Expenditure (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I fully agree with Deputy Maloney. Transparency and openness are the best antidotes to abuse. When things are understood to be open and accessible, people will be much more mindful of how they use resources. There must be a balance, however, because we must be able to justify the use of resources as well. It is true that Ministers are reluctant to use the Government jet, which always...

Departmental Expenditure (1 Mar 2012)

Brendan Howlin: We have pilots that are paid for, while Ministers are now saying: "No, I'll take commercial flights and leave that there." We need to have a different approach that is efficient, mindful of scarce resources and not wasteful. I fully agree with the Deputy in that regard. My final point concerns the management of it, and Deputy Maloney touched on cartridge-gate. It is important to give...

Written Answers — Public Service Staff: Public Service Staff (29 Feb 2012)

Brendan Howlin: I remind the Deputy there is no generally available incentivised scheme of early retirement in operation at present in the public or civil service. Many of the retirements at this time are occurring in the normal course where an individual has reached retirement age. There are also cases where individuals are availing of cost-neutral early retirement, which allows retirement earlier than...

Written Answers — Departmental Funding: Departmental Funding (29 Feb 2012)

Brendan Howlin: The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has no function in programmes of assistance to individual groups. The Deputy should raise the matter directly with the Departments concerned, indicating the basis on which funding is being sought.