Results 25,041-25,060 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the centralised recruiter for the Civil Service. It is an independent, statutory body which provides professional recruitment and selection services. I am informed by the PAS that the closing date and time for the competition in question, i.e. Conservation Ranger, was 3pm on Thursday 1 December, 2016. This was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: EU Directives and national regulations impose legal obligations on public bodies in regard to advertising and the use of objective tendering procedures for awarding contracts above certain value thresholds. The basic principle is that competitive tendering should be used other than in justifiably exceptional circumstances. Even in the case of procurement which might not be subject to the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Lansdowne Road Agreement Implementation (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: A circular setting out the revised salary rates applicable from 1 April 2017 to general Civil Service grades, including Secretaries General, is currently in preparation and will be issued by my Department in due course.  As the Deputy may be aware, under the provisions of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015 (FEMPI Act 2015), those on salaries...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (19 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The issue of pension entitlements for Community Employment Scheme Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors was the subject of a Labour Court recommendation in 2008. The position is that although the employing bodies concerned are mainly funded by public expenditure programmes, the State does not have any role as an employer in this sector and the employees of such bodies are not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Referendum Expenditure (19 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The referendums on the abolition of Seanad Éireann and the Court of Appeal were taken together and held on 4 October, 2013. The final cost of the referendums on the abolition of Seanad Éireann and the Court of Appeal was €14.4m. When two or more election events are held on the same day there are significant savings from the sharing of people and facilities.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Data (19 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 to 178, inclusive, together. I understand there is a considerable diversity of pension provision and treatment of pensions under taxation provisions within the public sector in many countries and the detailed information sought by the Deputy in relation to public sector pensions in the UK, Northern Ireland, Germany and France is not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Issues (19 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Taoiseach and Ministers continue to meet and engage with our EU counterparts to emphasise Ireland's concerns and to ensure that they are fully understood once negotiations commence. This activity is reinforced by extensive engagement at official and diplomatic level. As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform I have responsibility for a number of areas of EU policy, most notably EU...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (18 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The issue of pension entitlements for Community Employment Scheme Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors was the subject of a Labour Court recommendation in 2008. The position is that although the employing bodies concerned are mainly funded by public expenditure programmes, the State does not have any role as an employer in this sector and the employees of such bodies are not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (18 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, Action 15 of the Civil Service Renewal calls to 'Expand career and mobility opportunities for staff across geographic, organisational and sectoral boundaries'.  A Service Wide Mobility Scheme is currently under development.  The Scheme will generate an open, fair, transparent and practical system that facilitates effective mobility of staff across the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Investigations (18 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the Deputy's question, my Department has not been responsible for setting up any Commissions of Investigation or Tribunals of Inquiry since it was established in 2011.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service Reform (18 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The matter of the amalgamation of the Civil Service Staff Officer grade with the Executive Officer grade is currently under deliberation between the management and union side parties concerned.  As this deliberative process has yet to be concluded it is considered that it would not be appropriate in the circumstances to comment on any issues that may arise between the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the committee for inviting me to discuss the Revised Estimates for 2017 and the outturn for expenditure in 2016. As the committee is well aware, this discussion is not simply about numbers. More importantly, it is about the provision of funding to deliver vital public services for our citizens and to invest in infrastructure. These services are delivered by over 300,000 public...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his questions. I will begin by responding to his questions on the spending review and I will conclude by answering his question on public service pay. Regarding the comprehensive spending review and the capital review, the process for each of them will be different. In terms of the comprehensive spending review, we will identify a portion of Government expenditure...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: There was a question on health expenditure. By this year we will be spending €3,200 per head on health expenditure. This is a 5.4% increase above our highest ever point before that in 2009. Not only is health expenditure at its highest ever level; in per capitaterms it is higher than where we have been before. At €14.1 billion, the allocation is the highest that has ever...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not need any encouragement to wake up. I am well aware of the capital needs of our country. I am also well aware of the difficulties that families are facing in regard to accessing our health services and the stress and anxiety families have faced across December and January. However, in any analysis of what we do to make progress, it is relevant to make the point that expenditure and...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I said, "in some sectors of our health service".

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is in recognition of the fact it is an important qualification that I made the point. I understand what is going on in different sectors of our health service but, cumulatively, as I said, what we have seen is an increase of just over 10% compared with where we were a number of years ago. It is due to an understanding of the sectoral challenges that are faced, particularly within our...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Chambers for her points. I make a broad point that this illustrates the contradiction and challenge I face as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Everywhere I go I face demands for more public expenditure and frequently, in the same analysis, people then go on to accuse me of breaching fiscal rules and expanding fiscal space. I must try to reconcile both...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Did I miss a question from the Deputy on capital expenditure?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I accept the Deputy's point. However, there is a broader issue. The Oireachtas is not a benevolent bystander in all of this. I had to manage a political process that had many participants, including the Deputy's party. We have an agreement with her party which it wants me to honour, and I had to deliver that. It was an exceptionally difficult process. While I take the Deputy's point...