Results 17,781-17,800 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- Public Service Appointments (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I do not disagree with what the Deputy has suggested. There is merit, and I availed of it, in being able to headhunt somebody to lead my own Department that I thought would be good at the job. I should not make personal mention of that person but the Government made a wise choice. The TLAC process will have to be looked at very carefully. I would be willing to discuss it with anybody who...
- Public Service Appointments (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: The Secretary General to the Government is ex officio a member.
- Public Service Appointments (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: The TLAC arrangement to which I referred was done in 1987.
- Public Service Appointments (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: -----that Mr. Dermot McCarthy or anybody else currently had anything to do with the terms determined in 1987.
- Pension Provisions (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 64 together. I do not accept that the value of benefits payable to teachers in the proposed single public service pension scheme will exceed the value of employee contributions nor do I accept that the scheme will in some instances be less valuable to ordinary teachers than no pension provision whatsoever. It is true that the teacher unions have voiced...
- Pension Provisions (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: Figures are figures. If one counts the so-called pension levy which all workers, some of whom who do not have a pension entitlement, are paying as a contribution to one's pension the sums are different from the actual contribution to one's pension, which will be 6.5% under the new regime. I have indicated to them from my perspective that I do not regard the so-called pension levy to be a...
- Pension Provisions (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: But they will argue-----
- Pension Provisions (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: It is not for me to make that determination, that is for my colleague, the Minister for Finance. However, I can give the Deputy my views on the matter. If the Deputy is asking when we will be out of the economic mess, I do not know. We have a trajectory to get a balanced budget, a deficit of 3% by 2015. The Government is determined to achieve that and we will achieve it. We have no...
- Departmental Audit Unit (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 67 together. There are no plans to establish a unit of this nature within my Department. The Comptroller and Auditor General is an independent constitutional officer with a distinct role in accounting for the effective and efficient use of public funds. The role of the Comptroller and Auditor General is to control, on behalf of the State, all...
- Departmental Audit Unit (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for tabling the question and for his investigative work. Deputy Keating approached me directly about the question and I asked my Department for a briefing because I was not aware of the audit function of the city of Toronto. I have a detailed briefing on the auditor general and the role of his office. I would be happy to discuss that. The Deputy might consider it in the...
- Ministerial Engagements (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: It is my intention to meet with the troika delegation during its fourth quarterly review along with my colleague, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and senior officials from both Departments.
- Ministerial Engagements (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I can confirm that the figure of â¬2 billion emerged from the negotiations between the two parties in the programme for Government. The IMF publicly called for State asset sales of â¬5 billion. That was the figure that confronted the Minister for Finance and myself when we opened discussions with the troika. The troika wanted to write a â¬5 billion figure into the last agreement, and we...
- Ministerial Engagements (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is right when he says the comprehensive review of expenditure is not completed. I am currently engaged in bilateral discussions and I do not want to pre-empt further questions which have yet to be reached. I want to find a mechanism that would allow a greater debate in the House on this matter. I will be bringing proposals to Government to ensure there is engagement on the...
- Public Service Contracts (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: Prior to the appointment of the former Secretary General to the post of Secretary General to the Government in January 2000, the then Government decided that the terms applicable to Secretaries General appointed under the Top Level Appointments Committee, TLAC, process would apply in his case. At the end of his term in December 2010, the then Government confirmed the application of those...
- Public Service Contracts (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy likes to grand-stand. I am conscious that we are speaking here about an individual who has served this State well over a long period. Senior public servants have families. I am conscious we are speaking now about an identified individual. While the Deputy might say I should have known about the TLAC terms since 1987, I only learned of them when I became Minister. Many of the...
- Public Service Contracts (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: Deputy McDonald is not long enough in the House to know that I do not hide behind anything. That is not my form and I have never done so before. I answer questions up front and never make pretence or grandstand on issues. We need to change these arrangements in a way that is sustainable for the public purse. For example, I could spend moneys sending lawyers down to the Four Courts and...
- Public Sector Reform (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: As outlined in the programme for Government, the Government is committed to the most ambitious programme of public service reform since the foundation of the State. This programme will take place in tandem with an equally significant programme of constitutional, political and institutional reform to ensure there is a fundamental change in democratic and public governance and a dramatic...
- Public Sector Reform (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy.
- Public Sector Reform (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. It is a daunting task. We are trying to reform a system that has built like Topsy since the 1920s. One of the most daunting aspects of the task is that there is no integration within the public service. Our ambition is to create an integrated public service with common pension and salary schemes and to rationalise various working hours. Some...
- Public Sector Reform (11 Oct 2011)
Brendan Howlin: I am afraid the matter of the group overseeing the amalgamation is outside my area of-----