Results 25,601-25,620 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Our colleagues in Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, in particular, are doing that. My colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are also doing it. We are trying to provide as much certainty as we can. I repeat the point I made that a crucial element is knowing when exactly the United Kingdom wants to trigger Article 50 and will make its views very clear on the kind...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chairman.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Lottery Funding Data (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Under the National Lottery Act 2013, any price increase in National Lottery tickets is a matter for decision by the operator of the National Lottery, while any change to the scheme of a National Lottery game must be approved by the National Lottery Regulator, who acts independently in the discharge of his functions. Under the legislation, the operator decides on the prizes to be...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I can confirm that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, on foot of terms set out in Circular 18/2010, had been applying the 10 % reduction in pay rates and fixed term allowances to persons recruited at entry grades to the department from 1 January 2011 onwards. I can confirm that this was not applied to staff recruited at entry grades after 1 January 2011 with previous reckonable...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Nursing Staff Remuneration (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Incremental credit for the 36 week clinical placement undertaken by 4th Year Student Nurses was abolished by the then Government in December 2010 as part of a range of measures aimed at reducing the public service pay bill. In the context of the Lansdowne Road Agreement it was agreed between management and unions that the issue of the 36 week incremental credit would be examined in relation...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Oireachtas Members' Remuneration (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I would refer the Deputy to my Department's website at where the information sought has been published.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 to 179, inclusive, together. The appointment of the Chief Executive is a matter for the Board of Horse Racing Ireland under the relevant legislation. The Board of Horse Racing Ireland formally reappointed the Chief Executive Officer on the 21st of July on terms and conditions approved by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to my answer to PQ Ref 25170/16 on the 15.09.2016. Generally, the Chief Executive Officer of commercial state bodies is appointed by the Board and holds office on terms and conditions determined by the Board with the consent of the relevant Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Guidelines on Contracts, Remuneration and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Cross-Border Projects (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The projects referred to by the Deputy all relate to the INTERREG Programme, which has a total value of €283 million over the period 2014-2020 and which is 85% funded by the European Union. While all of the projects have been the subject of an assessment process led by the Special EU Programmes Body, uncertainty surrounds the availability of EU funding as a consequence of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Interpretation Services framework was established in February 2016. There are 3 framework suppliers.  The Translation Services framework was established in March 2016. There are 6 framework suppliers.  Both frameworks are for the provision of services in respect of some 90 languages and are both are still in place. Draw down from both the Interpretation Services framework...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Labour Court Recommendations (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Following a meeting between my predecessor and union interests on 30th September 2015, the Community Sector High Level Forum (or Working Group) (previously the Informal Forum) was convened to examine the matter of the Labour Court Recommendation on the Community Employment sector as well as the issue of pensions and terms and conditions of employment for those working...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government recognises the importance of the SME Sector and continues to develop measures to support SMEs in accessing the public procurement market.  My colleague, Minister of State Eoghan Murphy, chairs the SME Advisory Group so that the voice of Irish SMEs can be heard by Government.  Circular 10/14: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement, sets out guidelines to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Cross-Border Projects (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The outcome of the UK Referendum on EU membership will obviously have implications not only for the EU-funded PEACE Programme, but also its sister INTERREG Programme.  Together the two Programmes have a total value of more than half a billion Euro over the period 2014-2020, with 85% of the funding coming from the EU. As part of our contingency planning, my Department had...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Policy Functions (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: There are robust and well-established arrangements in place for responding to the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General which have cross-public service implications. As the Deputy will be aware, when the Comptroller and Auditor General makes a recommendation relating to a Government Department or body under the aegis of a particular Government Department...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: European Council Meetings (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The European Council meeting that the Deputy refers to took place in Brussels on 28 June 2016.  The agenda dealt with three broad themes - migration; jobs, growth and investment; and external relations.  I understand that at the meeting the European Council generally endorsed the country-specific recommendations as discussed by the Council, thus allowing the conclusion of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Private Partnerships (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to PPP stakeholders' calls for greater clarity on the way in which Eurostat is classifying public private partnerships, the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) and Eurostat have worked together over recent months to produce a practitioners' guide on this topic. The Guide has been developed with a desire to bring greater clarity and improve the understanding of how the rules used...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Directives (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The three EU Public Procurement Directives were adopted in April 2014 and Member States are in the process of transposing the directives into national law.  The Directives clarify the existing framework of procurement law and are designed to improve the effectiveness of the regime and to codify recent procurement case law. Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, in August I published the Report of the Interdepartmental Group on Fuller Working Lives which was agreed by Government.  The Group, which was chaired by my Department, considered policy around retirement age in both the public and private sectors, examining implications arising from retirement ages now and in the future. The report makes recommendations...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Expenditure Report 2016 and the Mid-Year Expenditure Report 2016 outlined a total allowance for demographic pressures of approximate €0.36bn outlined in the following table. This funding, which does not form part of the additional fiscal space of €0.61bn available for current expenditure increases in Budget 2017, will help provide for State Pension payments to additional...