Results 25,861-25,880 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I will address the Deputy's first question. This builds on a commitment I gave in the earlier Dáil session around dealing with issues for new entrants. I may have been responding to questions to Deputy Calleary on this when I indicated to him that the Lansdowne Road agreement creates the processes in which matters of concern to those inside the agreement can be dealt. That is what we...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: -----to look at how issues around the GRA, the Department of Justice and Equality and the Government can be dealt with. The Deputy's final question was about terms, conditions and allowances of other new entrants in the civil and public service. We will look at such matters and engage with unions all the time inside the Lansdowne Road agreement on issues of concern to them.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Alas, I am not a master of anything at all. I answer the questions which the Deputy puts to me. However, when I answered the questions, I pointed out that not only is there a plan, but the plan has been voted on by the majority of unions. These are points of truth of which the Deputy takes no cognisance, apart from the fact that if I was outlining any other course of action the Deputy...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: ------a plan that has been accepted by the majority of unions.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy referred to the need for urgency. I acknowledge that this is a matter that Deputy Calleary has raised with me on new entrants in to the public service and especially teachers. That has informed the approach taken by me and the Department of Education and Skills on this matter. With regard to the unwinding of FEMPI, it should be put into context. I am taking a group of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to correct a point I had made to Deputy Calleary. I should have said "when the agreement is due to expire" as opposed to "when the current agreement has expired". The FEMPI measures were enacted by the Oireachtas and remain in place until their repeal. Under section 12 of the FEMPI Act 2013, I am obliged to review and report to the Houses of the Oireachtas on the operation,...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I think I have 35 seconds left.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Would you allow me to answer the second question the Deputy put to me, please?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I would make the point that it is not my fault that the clock started late. I am doing the Deputy the courtesy of trying to answer the questions he put to me.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: To go back to the earlier question the Deputy put to me, the effect will become clearer in the run-up to budget 2017. The summer economic statement outlined that the cause of any change in national income would be the change in our trading relationship with sterling and having a greater understanding of what the relationship would be between the UK and the Single Market in particular. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: -----is our plans in the context of how they respond to what has happened in the UK. Capital investment to increase productivity and the growth potential of the economy is how we need to respond, and I will be taking specific account of the Border counties.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Lansdowne Road Agreement (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 21 together. First, to be clear and to correct the Deputy from the outset, there has not been talk from me or my Department about penalising anybody. Second, as I made clear publicly over the weekend and in the early part of this week, I am putting equal focus in my Department on the 23 unions that are inside the Lansdowne Road agreement while...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Planning for the potential implications of the result of the referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union is particularly challenging. Until Article 50 is invoked by the UK, the precise timescale for the UK's withdrawal from the EU is not known. The economic impact of the UK's exit from the EU will also very much depend on the nature of the new arrangements to be agreed between...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: UK Referendum on EU Membership (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy's first question was on how the change in the UK's status will affect our economic projections. The Deputy is correct. Two weeks have elapsed since the vote took place, but we have not seen a new Prime Minister elected in the United Kingdom, and it is only when a new Prime Minister is elected and his or her Government determines a negotiation strategy with the European Union that...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pensions Reform (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Last January the previous Government approved the establishment of an Interdepartmental Working Group to consider policy designed to support fuller working lives. The Group is chaired by an Assistant Secretary from my Department and includes senior representatives from the Departments of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Social Protection, Justice, Health and Education. The Group has...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Issues (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The programme of the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union is based on four priorities: an economically strong Europe; a modern single market; sustainable migration and asylum policies; and a globally engaged Europe. A key issue for which my Department has responsibility is Cohesion policy. The Slovak Presidency intends to lead a discussion on European Commission proposals...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In June 2015, Government approved proposals for a significant amelioration of pension reductions which had been applied under the financial emergency (FEMPI) legislation to all public service pensions above specified thresholds. This amelioration of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR), which subsequently became law under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The issue referred to in the Deputy's question concerns Community and Employment Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors who are seeking through their union representatives the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme dating back to 2008. In this regard the position has been that it is not possible for the State to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government recognises that economic and social progress go hand in hand. Therefore, the Programme for a Partnership Government sets out a clear strategy for increasing spending in a sustainable way built on stable revenues. A key focus of the Government is on providing the best environment for job creation. Unemployment has fallen from a peak of over 15% to 7.8% in May this year. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (6 Jul 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Summer Economic Statement (SES) recognises that economic and social progress go hand in hand. Only a strong economy supporting people at work can pay for the services needed to create a fair society. A key focus of the Government is on providing the best environment for job creation. Unemployment has fallen from a peak of over 15% to 7.8% in May this year. The Government's ambition is...