Results 17,861-17,880 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: On the basis of data supplied by the Office of the Paymaster General, the information requested by the Deputy in respect of retired civil servants and spouses of deceased pensioners is set out in the table below. The corresponding information for bodies under the aegis of my Department will be provided direct to the Deputy by the bodies themselves. Pension Range Number of Civil Service...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The Programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce new legislation to protect small building subcontractors that have been denied payments from bigger companies. In addition, you may be aware that the Construction Contracts Bill 2010 was introduced by Senator Feargal Quinn and passed Committee and remaining stages in the Seanad on 8 March 2011. It is now before the Dáil. My...

Written Answers — National Lottery Funding: National Lottery Funding (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 287 and 288 together. The surplus generated by the National Lottery is transferred annually to the Exchequer and is applied to part-fund the Exchequer allocations to a specified range of expenditure subheads across various Votes. The amount transferred to the Exchequer from the Lottery surplus, together with details of the total Exchequer allocations to the...

Written Answers — Civil Service Staff: Civil Service Staff (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The organisation in question was established to provide a specific service to civil and public servants. In respect of the first officer referred to, in 2001 the organisation had need of a person with specific expertise to fill a vacant position. A member of staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs had the requisite skills and experience and it was agreed that the staff member would be...

Written Answers — Public Private Partnerships: Public Private Partnerships (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 290 and 291 together. My Department is responsible for the overall PPP investment framework, including the framework for the appraisal, assessment, procurement and evaluation of projects. Individual Departments are responsible for the projects and programmes in their areas, within that overall framework. There are currently 36 PPP projects committed to by...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The table below sets out the list of suppliers to my Department of professional services, where professional service withholding tax has been applied, and the invoice value of each, from July to date. Supplier Name Invoice Amount€ Deloitte & Touche 26,365.90 Baseline Creative Services Ltd 272.25 Accenture Consulting 32,186.00 Mercer (Ireland) Ltd 1,210.00 Canavan & Byrne 8,046.50...

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: Since my appointment as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on 9 March 2011, the following staff have been appointed to my constituency office: GRADE SALARY SCALE (per annum) Whole-time Equivalent Personal Secretary €23,820 - €47,755 1.00 Personal Assistant €43,715 - €56,060 1.00 Clerical Officer (CO) €23,177 - €37,341 0.80 Clerical Officer (CO)...

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: I am not aware of specific complaints being received by me or my Department with regard to public works contracts being carried out by contractors in the black economy. I would point out that contractors being awarded a public contract must provide a Tax Clearance Certificate issued by Revenue confirming that the firm's tax affairs are in order and that it has complied with its tax...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: Capital allocations to Departments are announced in the Budget each year as part of the framework of rolling multi-annual capital envelopes and, early in the year, Departments publish their profile of expected monthly draw-downs. These profiles reflect the business needs of Departments and their agencies, mapping when they need to access their capital allocations during the course of the...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The saving from capping pensions, net of the Public Service Pension Reduction, of retired civil servants at €35,000, per annum is estimated to be of the order of €37 million annually.

Written Answers — Public Service Staff: Public Service Staff (4 Oct 2011)

Brendan Howlin: Ensuring a more flexible and responsive public service is a key element of the Government's reform programme. Measures to increase staff mobility and to ensure that resources are allocated to priority areas in a timely and strategic manner will form part of the reform programme implementation plan, which is currently being developed in my Department. A significant instrument in that regard...

Written Answers — Public Service Staff: Public Service Staff (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The Government plans to bring about a reduction of between 18,000 and 21,000 in overall public service numbers by 2014, relative to the end-2010 position, with a further 4,000 reduction in 2015, subject to there being no compulsory redundancies and to the protection of front line services. As outlined in the Government Programme, in order to protect front-line services, this reduction will...

Written Answers — Roads Funding: Roads Funding (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The Government is currently finalising expenditure allocations as part of its Comprehensive Review of Expenditure. No decisions have been taken at this stage, but clearly there is a need to seek further savings in public expenditure. The purpose of the Review of Expenditure is to target those savings at waste and inefficiencies and maintain affordable levels of investment in public...

Written Answers — Education Funding: Education Funding (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: The position regarding the funding allocation for Education for 2012 will be determined by Government in the context of the overall public sector Estimates and Budgetary process. A key element of this process will be the results of the Comprehensive Reviews of Expenditure (CRE) undertaken by all Government Departments.

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: Under the EU Public Procurement Directives, public contracts above certain threshold levels must be open to businesses from across the EU Member States. In the case of public works contracts (including construction-type contracts) the relevant threshold is €4.845 million. In the case of contracts below the threshold levels, the Treaty principles of openness, competition, transparency etc....

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: In response to the Deputy's question, each Department hold details in respect of board memberships in relation to boards that come under their aegis. Details of those appointed and their remuneration arrangements are held by the individual Departments. With regard to my own Department, the following tables contain details of board members and their remuneration. An Post National Lottery...

Written Answers — Public Procurements: Public Procurements (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: My Department is responsible for the development of policy, legislation and guidance in relation to public procurement. Ensuring the application of these policies and rules in individual Departments and public bodies is the direct responsibility of the Accounting Officer and Accountable Person concerned. My Department and the National Procurement Service are working with public bodies to...

Written Answers — Public Sector Reform: Public Sector Reform (29 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88 and 89 together. The Programme for Government envisages a renewed focus on Public Service Reform. Notwithstanding developments to date, the cost of delivering public services must be reduced further, with fewer staff and tighter budgets, and the Public Service must become better integrated and more customer-focused, as well as being leaner and more...

Written Answers — Public Procurement: Public Procurement (28 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: My Department and the National Procurement Service have been engaged with a number of State bodies which are critically involved in the engagement of legal services, with a view to pursuing reductions in overall costs through a number of measures including reducing fee levels and increasing competitive forces. My Department will shortly be reporting to me about the extent of reductions...

Written Answers — Departmental Records: Departmental Records (28 Sep 2011)

Brendan Howlin: My Department views Cloud Computing as a major shift in the provision of ICT infrastructure, systems and services. Consequently, over time, it expects Cloud Computing to be a key part of the strategic future of ICT in the public service. To that end, my Department has been engaged in a programme of research with a very wide variety of ICT companies of all types and nature. This research...