Results 17,021-17,040 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- State Agencies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 88 together. The Government is committed to a programme of public service reform and improvement. As part of the work in this area, we are looking at classifications and listings of State agencies in order to produce more coherent and focused directories of services for citizens and the Oireachtas. Deputies will be aware of the Government's plans to...
- State Agencies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: For once, I largely agree with the Deputy. Since we started the dialogue I have been anxious to obtain a comprehensive list. There are some listed agencies which no longer function and have not done so for years. I have asked every line Department for its list. Some bodies operate as a subset of another State agency. We will draw all of them together. That work is ongoing. I never said...
- State Agencies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: We know about everything that is significant.
- Members of State Boards (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: My Department has no plans to standardise the rates of remuneration paid to State board members. The rates of remuneration paid to members of both commercial and non-commercial State boards are structured within four categories of fee payment type, the basis of which has regard to factors such as organisational scale, complexity and governance. The rates of expenses paid to State board...
- Members of State Boards (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: On foot of the Deputy's request, I will look at this issue. There are four bands, or categories, depending on complexity. In the non-commercial State bodies the bands range from the top end - the more complicated and larger agencies - in which the fee per board member is â¬14,963 to the bottom end - the less complicated agencies - where the fee is â¬5,985. If the Deputy, or any Deputy,...
- Public Service Reform (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Ireland is committed under the EU-IMF programme to reducing the overall size and costs of the public service. It remains a matter for local agency and parent Department management to decide on operational priorities within the framework of Government policy and resources allocated. All Departments and agencies have to deliver better value to the public in order to reduce the deficit and...
- Semi-State Bodies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy's question refers to the commitment in the programme for Government to sell non-strategic State assets with a view to generating resources to fund additional investment in job creation initiatives in the economy. As I have told the House in response to previous questions, this will be done over time, when market conditions are right and in a manner that allows time to implement...
- Semi-State Bodies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Does the Deputy agree with our approach?
- Semi-State Bodies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy will be familiar with the programme agreed by the last Government.
- Semi-State Bodies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: It included no figure, but it stated the then Government would examine the sale of State assets on foot of the then unpublished McCarthy report. During our initial discussions with the troika it was pushing the issue of the sale of State assets. As I have indicated, it wanted the entire proceeds of any such sale to be used to retire debt. Under the programme for Government negotiated by...
- Semi-State Bodies (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: No decision on the specifics has yet been taken by the Government which announced last September that it had decided to sell a minority shareholding in an integrated ESB. We have undertaken a proper analysis of that decosopm in regulatory and value for money terms. We have established a cross-departmental group, chaired jointly by the Departments of Public Expenditure and Reform and...
- Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I said no such thing.
- Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: We would have to print money.
- Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Ourselves alone.
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 47 together. Latest figures from across the public service, excluding the health sector, indicate that approximately 4,000 are expected to retire in the first two months of 2012. In the health sector the data are based on the period September to February, with approximately 3,500 expected to retire in that timeframe. These figures are based on data...
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: That is true.
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I wish to be as helpful to the Deputy and the House as I possibly can. I will take the last question first. The Deputy is correct. People may not have given notice yet because, by virtue of their contractual arrangements, they are only required to give four weeks notice. I asked, as I repeatedly said in the House last year, for three months notice in order that we could make advance...
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: Some â¬3.5 billion if one counts the levy.
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: I do not expect any acknowledgment or praise from the Deputy opposite and I am never disappointed. The head count reduction is a strategic part of the Government's plan to reduce numbers, given that it constitutes a permanent reduction in pay. If one merely reduces pay, a choice that some Deputies on both sides of the House have indicated their preference for, it could develop back....
- Departmental Staff (24 Jan 2012)
Brendan Howlin: In regard to education, the Minister for Education and Skills has announced that where teachers retiring between the end of last year and the end of February 2012 are teaching examination classes, either at junior or leaving certificate level, they may continue on the payroll up to the conclusion of the examinations. It is important that we put people's minds at ease in that regard. In the...