Results 25,201-25,220 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am interested to hear what the Deputy's attitude was to the signing of the Lansdowne Road agreement. Did she welcome it?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Collins is now criticising the Government because she perceives that an agreement she did not welcome at the time is no longer in action. The Deputy cannot have her cake and eat it on this matter.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: This is an agreement that she criticised at the time and now that it is her view that it is no longer in place - a view with which I completely disagree given, for example, that the Labour Court recommendation was made inside the framework of the Lansdowne Road agreement - she cannot then criticise the Government for an agreement that she herself is against. That is the challenge Deputy Joan...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: That shows the difference in approach to politics between the Deputy and me. I legitimately respond with facts about what is happening elsewhere-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: -----but the Deputy's best retort is a mixture of interruptions and allegations that I do not care.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Sinn Féin does not have a monopoly of caring about issues of equality and fairness. The Deputy does not have a monopoly of caring about issues-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: -----that people within public services have to face and of the desire to do so fairly. Of course, I care about fairness. Of course, I want to deliver equality-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: -----but I also have a duty to deal with other issues, such as how to fund and provide the kind of housing that Sinn Féin constantly and correctly highlights in the Chamber and how to put in place the kind of funding that we need to support our hospitals and primary care centres. These are also issues of equality and fairness. All of it must be funded out of the money that is available...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I can make these points and put that argument to Sinn Féin and the Deputy while recognising a presumption of good faith on his behalf. It is just a pity that Sinn Féin cannot do the same for others.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Establishment (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: On 18 October at the conclusion of a period of consultation with stakeholders in the Lansdowne Road agreement, the Government approved the establishment of the PSPC to advise it on public service pay. For its initial report, the commission will be asked to consider the evolution of pay trends in the public and private sectors based on published data and a comparison of pay rates for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Establishment (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: We could not have a discussion with the commission without a recognition of the context in which we find ourselves, but I did not raise the matter with it directly because it was never envisaged that the pay commission would deal with issues in the Lansdowne Road agreement. Its terms of reference relate to what will happen after that agreement and the future sustainability of public pay. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Establishment (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I have no plans to review the terms of reference. As to SIPTU's role, parties to the Lansdowne Road agreement were required to have the opportunity to consult and give their views on the pay commission, which took up a fair bit of the summer period. I do not know whether Mr. O'Connor is aware of it; I will not comment on that. Everybody was given an opportunity to give their input into the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I have met the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on one occasion since the issuing of the Labour Court recommendation. My officials have been in contact with the representatives and met them on at least two occasions since. With regard to the discussions, the representatives have made two key points publicly. They have said they want the kinds of benefit that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: What was the Deputy's first question?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: All of the discussions to date have been on processes concerning the future of the Lansdowne Road agreement. I am not in a position to give the Deputy a cost or a proposal ICTU might make to me in the future. Overall, the cost of any adjustment to the Lansdowne Road agreement per month is between €25 million and €35 million. On the Deputy's questions about An Garda...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The 10% reductions in starting pay for certain new entrants were introduced by the then Government in January 2011 as part of the national recovery plan in order to reduce the public service pay bill. Terms and conditions of employment for public servants are also set by reference to legislation, including the FEMPI Acts, and through negotiation and agreement under collective agreements such...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I take seriously what unions state about matters. Let me quote a union leader who spoke about this matter:Teachers are feeling they are being taken for granted, that their goodwill is being exploited and that in the face of ever increasing workloads they are holding together a system which is underfunded and under-resourced. None of this is being recognised. This was said by the INTO's...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Lansdowne Road agreement is a collective agreement between the Government and public service employers with the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and other associations representing public servants. The agreement provides for a sustainable adjustment of the existing measures under the financial emergency measures legislation. The terms of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: This Government  strongly supports the Lansdowne Road Agreement as the centrepiece of public service pay policy which provides a negotiated pathway for the phased unwinding of FEMPI pay measures as they apply to existing public servants. The recent Labour Court's recommendations on Garda pay were explicitly made within the framework provided by the Lansdowne...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (24 Nov 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 34 and 36 together. In the context of the Labour Court Recommendations on Garda pay, and the potential wider implications for the Lansdowne Road Agreement, I met with representatives from ICTU on the 7th of November to listen to their views and inform considerations on these matters by Government. Senior officials within my...