Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 29 June 2016

Select Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources

Estimates for Public Services 2016
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources (Revised)

9:00 am

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I remind members and witnesses to turn off their mobile phones or switch them to flight mode. Mobile phones interfere with the sound system and make it difficult for parliamentary reporters to report the meeting. Television coverage and web streaming can also be adversely affected. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the Houses or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I welcome all members and witnesses, especially any newly elected members, to the first public meeting of this select committee in the Thirty-second Dáil. It is a great honour for me to chair this Oireachtas committee and I look forward to working with all members in a positive and constructive manner.

I welcome the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Denis Naughten, and the Minister of State with responsibility for Gaeltacht affairs and natural resources, Deputy Seán Kyne. On behalf of the committee, I congratulate both on their appointments, and we look forward to working with them.

I also welcome the officials from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in attendance today: Mr. Mark Griffin, Secretary General; Mr. Martin Finucane, principal officer; Ms Finola Rossi, principal officer; Mr. Denis Maher, principal officer; Mr. Kenneth Cleary, assistant principal; and Mr. Jim Whelan, assistant principal. I thank the officials for providing the briefing material for the committee today.

As members are aware, we are meeting this morning to consider the 2016 Revised Estimate for Public Services for the year ending 31 December 2016, Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, referred by Dáil Éireann to the committee on 26 June 2016.

The OECD report Review of Budget Oversight by Parliament: Ireland sets out a roadmap for enhanced parliamentary scrutiny of spending by Departments throughout the budget cycle, which will have the following elements: ex-ante, budget year and ex-post. It is essential that the Department supply high-quality information in a timely manner to the committee. The committee intends to engage further with the Minister in September 2016, with a focus on impacts on expenditure in 2017.

As agreed in private session yesterday, the meeting will adopt the following structure. A fixed time will be allocated to each programme, A to E, with the option of returning to particular programmes after each has been gone through if issues remain outstanding. A timetable for the meeting has been circulated as agreed. At the outset of the consideration of each programme, I will ask the Minister to give a brief overview of the programme, including pressures that are likely to have an impact on the Department's performance or expenditure on the programme in 2016. This will be followed by a question and answer session for members.

When programmes A, B, C, D and E have been considered, the committee may consider the appropriations-in-aid information presented and programme F, administrative expenditure generally, with subheads A1 and A2 of each programme taken together. The committee also agreed that we should consider all the budget allocations across the programme subheadings together. This will allow members who have an interest in a particular programme to schedule their time and ensure the committee gives consideration to all programmes. The emphasis of questions should be on how effectively financial resources are being managed and the performance achieved relevant to that programme. I ask members putting questions or raising issues to indicate the subhead to which the question relates and the page number in the Department's briefing to which they are referring.

I wish to ask the Minister a question about the title of his Department. The existing Department is the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and it will be renamed the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Natural Resources, though the Minister told the Dáil it would be renamed the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. Can he elaborate on the transfer of functions from the old Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and when the transfer of functions will take place? When will the name of the Department and the title of the Minister be changed and how will that affect the 2016 Estimates?

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