Results 161-180 of 2,965 for speaker:Robert Dowds

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Sometimes I hear complaints about delays in recruitment in terms of the public service and in the health area as well. Does Mr. Watt have any sense of how long it takes to fill posts? I have heard of some situations anecdotally such as an occupational therapist within the HSE system who was interviewed for one position but offered another after all the interviews. In some cases, there...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Is that not way slower than other areas? I come from the teaching profession. When I applied for jobs, it did not take that long to fill them. Surely, in many cases, one is trying to fill positions that need to be filled yesterday, as it were.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: I have mentioned the teaching sector but my impression is that the private sector fills posts much more rapidly and presumably they also want to get the best and most suitable people.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: My last questions are on the area of procurement. Part of Mr. Watt's opening statement dealt with that issue. In the broad sense, we should all be satisfied if the changes in procurement policy are improving efficiency. On the other side of it, as individual Deputies, we get complaints, particularly from small companies that are feeling as though they are being pushed to the wall because...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Is that within the Civil Service?

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Mr. Watt mentioned that some areas were non-compliant. I ask him to name the Departments that are non-compliant and outline what his Department is doing about that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Does the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have any role in terms of compliance in the context of spending by charitable organisations that receive Government funding?

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: That is an area that we need to focus on for the future.

Housing and Homelessness: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (18 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Housing is the most pressing issue this Government and country currently faces. Long before it was possible to put lots of money towards the issue, I was part of a group of Labour Deputies that was pressing for social housing to be built. What stalled everything for so long was the fact that the country was broke. It is a pity that no member of Fianna Fáil is in the Chamber to hear...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Policy Issues arising from Cemetery Management Bill 2013: Discussion (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: I welcome our visitors. As the only person from Glasnevin in the room, I acknowledge the great job the Glasnevin Trust has done in the cemetery, which stands out in all kinds of ways. I have a number of questions, the first of which is directed at Ms Goggin and the Competition and Consumer Protection Authority. The authority's four requests to the Glasnevin Trust included that it make its...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Policy Issues arising from Cemetery Management Bill 2013: Discussion (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: That is all right. May I also ask for a response from Glasnevin Trust to the points raised by Mr. Pierce? He made some very serious allegations and I am not satisfied that Mr. Green has answered them. I would ask that we be given answers to those questions. Does the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government see an issue that needs to be addressed here? I agree with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Policy Issues arising from Cemetery Management Bill 2013: Discussion (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: I ask Ms Goggin to address the question on costs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Policy Issues arising from Cemetery Management Bill 2013: Discussion (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Her problem was that she was told the cost for the actual grave but not for the extras like the headstone, every letter that was put on it, the grave surround and so forth. It is quite a long time since I had the conversation with her. It was approximately three years ago. The problem was that it did not become apparent until a certain amount of time had passed that she was going to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Policy Issues arising from Cemetery Management Bill 2013: Discussion (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: I have said what I want to say.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Policy Issues arising from Cemetery Management Bill 2013: Discussion (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: Is Ms Goggin satisfied that it has been addressed? Does she have any role in overseeing whether it has been addressed?

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Bank IT Systems (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: 207. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has instructed the Irish banks to upgrade their out-of-date information and technology infrastructure and systems since Bank of Ireland recently experienced difficulties in this regard. [40362/15]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Rainwater Harvesting Systems Provision (17 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: 513. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide grants to schools for facilities for water harvesting. [40187/15]

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: I move amendment No. 1a:In page 8, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following:"(3) An agreed statutory instrument, following consultation and negotiation with the existing boards be enacted in order to clarify the future structures and roles of the Docklands Housing Trust and the Docklands Community Trust.".

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: When are we going to discuss those amendments?

Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht: Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Dissolution) Bill 2015: Committee Stage (11 Nov 2015)

Robert Dowds: I will speak to amendments Nos. 1aand 4ain my name. I support what the previous speaker said and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, for the significant conversation he has had with me and Deputy Joe Costello. It is very important that the docklands be a vibrant area. We need to get back to what the Victorians, of all people, believed, that it was important for people to...