Results 361-380 of 19,445 for speaker:Brian Cowen

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: No, they are not. They are part of the overall pay bill.

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: Will the Deputies please allow me to explain?

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: This applies to middle-ranking public servants. Under a previous pay agreement there is a certain pay bill aggregate for those grades. As part of that pay award at the time, back in 1994, in some instances it was incorporated into the full pay bill. In other words, part of the full pay bill of that grade was incorporated as part of their pay rate. In other instances in the Department of...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: Last year, for example, some people obtained a special payment on that basis. That is the position regarding that matter. The total special service payments and seniority payments together amount to 1% of that Department's payroll, which is against the background of a 17% pay cut for those grades. To conflate that with what has been happening in the banking sector is not to compare like...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: At higher grades - Secretary General and assistant secretary general level - those were discontinued because 10% of the total pay bill was involved in that situation. With regard to non-commercial semi-State bodies, the decision on such payments is a matter for the boards themselves and are often built into the contracts of the individuals concerned. As regards those schemes, the Department...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: It has happened in the vast majority of cases.

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: I have explained the situation regarding the Department itself but it is not correct to conflate that with what we have been discussing in recent days. It is part of the existing pay pot of those departmental grades. As was the case in many public service pay review recommendations, it concerns how one can incentivise and recognise exceptional merit, far more modestly than what is suggested...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: The reason there is no precedent is that we are the first country to utilise funds under this new finance mechanism. That is the first point. It is easy to know why there is not a precedent; this is the first time this money has been provided for this purpose. Second, in the cases of the other aid that was provided to the countries the Deputy mentioned, whether humanitarian or other...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: The simple reason is that this is the first time the mechanism has been used as a lender of last resort working with other international organisations that are providing the cheapest form of international credit available to the IMF. If Deputy Gilmore wants to equate humanitarian or other aid to Latvia and Hungary with the situation we are in today, he is not acknowledging the context in...

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: That is not correct.

Leaders' Questions. (15 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: That is not correct. The Deputy is suggesting that the EU will make the money available at a lesser rate than the IMF, which itself is the cheapest international provider of credit. That is something ECOFIN is not prepared to do. ECOFIN was prepared to make sure it would provide additional credit to this country at rates similar to what was available from the IMF, which is the established...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together. Savings of up to €35 million will be implemented from my group of Votes, which includes the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Central Statistics Office, CSO, by 2014. The focus of savings is primarily aimed at administrative efficiencies given that most of the expenditure...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: On the last matter raised by the Deputy, there has been close liaison between the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the investigating authorities and obviously they are a matter of major priority. It is in the public interest that they are dealt with as expeditiously as possible. Concern has been raised about the length of time it takes but there is also a necessity to...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: We are still working to the schedule which applied in the last correspondence we received from the judge. We have received no correspondence since then that would change the situation. On the allocation within subhead D, the provision relates to the running costs of the tribunal in 2011 and the costs which are estimated to arise in 2011 in regard to the completion of the tribunal's work. It...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: Yes.

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: As I said in response to the third issue raised by Deputy Gilmore when he was asking supplementary questions, we will work with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which is a public sector organisation. The issues that apply to other offices, which are having to make these changes and adapt to these circumstances, also apply to the DPP's office. The number of staff in the...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: I have outlined the context of the situation as things stand. Like any organisation, I am sure it would be helpful for this organisation if other staff were available. We have to work within the constraints that apply to us all. I recognise the importance of the independence of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. We need to work in a realistic way to address certain issues....

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: My Department has to play its part in achieving the overall expenditure reductions required by the National Recovery Plan 2011-14. I was making the point that a large portion of the budgets of the offices under the group of Votes for which I have responsibility are administrative in character and, quite properly, have been taking reductions. They are making a contribution as one might...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: All of us interact with the public on an ongoing basis, regardless whether one is at home or travelling throughout the country. One of the big pluses is the degree of certainty it provides for people in terms of what is envisaged for the coming year. The uncertainty before the budget and some of the commentary made upon it beforehand spooked people as to what was involved. While it seeks...

National Recovery Plan (14 Dec 2010)

Brian Cowen: Exactly. The Labour Party suggested more tax.