Results 2,821-2,840 of 5,148 for speaker:Mairéad Farrell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I am aware of that. For my own understanding, is it correct that Mr. Moloney will be speaking on behalf of the Minister, rather than in a personal capacity, when he is in front of a committee?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I thank Mr. Moloney. It is important for me to understand how these things work. Will he start by explaining the Carltona doctrine? I have to say that name in my head before I say it out loud. Will he say initially what the doctrine is and then whether there are limitations on it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I understand that. Is Mr. Moloney aware of whether there have ever been any resignations because of any potential breach of the Carltona doctrine? I am not aware of any such breach but I wonder whether it is something that ever occurred.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I asked whether there has ever been an external review of the working of the Carltona doctrine. Has there ever been any kind of review or even any concerns expressed as to whether agency loss could arise from the use of the doctrine? I am interested to know whether it has had that kind of impact or has led to any encroachment on the control of policy function.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I am aware the Public Service Management Act 1997 made changes to the relationship between Ministers and Secretaries General and sought to place the accountability of the latter on a statutory footing. It was designed as well to minimise agency loss. The idea is that the principal, that is, the Minister, has his or her policy administered by the agent, that is, the Secretary General....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: Who does the reviewing of an objection? If it were felt such an objection was not met intentionally or whatever, does it then go to the Government rather than the Minister?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: What is the highest level of sanction Ministers can impose on their own undertaking, without going to the Government?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: What would such a warning involve? If the highest level of sanction available to a Minister is a warning, against what is he or she warning? Would he or she just go to the Government at that point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: Not to diminish the process in any way but, in some sense, then, would it be a scolding rather than a warning insofar as the Minister is able to do anything about it? Is it correct that it would, in effect, be a decision for the Government?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: It is a matter for the Government. I thank Mr. Moloney for that. Sometimes with these things there are so many different circulars etc. that it can be a bit confusing. As for the sanctions the Minister can do at that level, say the ones Mr. Moloney read out - barring the ones that cannot be given to a Secretary General - have they been done in the past? I am not asking him to comment on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: Of course. In terms of the ministerial-senior official relationship, does Mr. Moloney think that the concepts of accountability and responsibility and the differences between them are well clarified? Does he think that is clearly laid out or does he think there needs to be further clarification?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: Ministers are held accountable by the Dáil. They are selected by the Dáil and they can be deselected by it. The concept of responsibility implies a direct personal involvement in a decision or an action with accompanying credit or blame. The Carltona doctrine then allows many actions to be taken in the name of the Minister, some of which I imagine they may be completely unaware...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: That is what the crux comes down to because even despite the delegation, there still is that level of responsibility on the part of the Minister as well. We discussed the idea that there could be a need for clarification and that things could be looked at to make matters a bit clearer. Has there ever been consideration given to amending the Ministers and Secretaries Act and the Public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: What about the ones that they do?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: The Secretary General said that level 1 is a verbal warning, level 2 is a written warning and level 3 is a final written warning. Do all of those warnings relate to the deferral of the increments, etc?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: Yes, that would be great.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I was looking at a recent submission to the Commission on the Defence Forces. As we know, civilian control over the military is a core principle of democracy. This submission expressed concerns about the overreliance by the Department of Defence on the Carltona doctrine as a means of exercising control and said this overuse needed scrutinising. I am not commenting on that but it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (12 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: I have one brief final question. Mr. Moloney listed the sanctions that the Minister can take before it goes to Government. He also spoke about the sanctions from which the Secretaries General were excluded. Can he read out the ones in which they are included, just for my own notes?

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards (11 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: 80. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that ETBs no longer have the authority to grant cover for workforce leave as they did prior to the moratorium; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49479/22]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Funding (11 Oct 2022)

Mairéad Farrell: 90. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria set out for the Irish and bilingual grant; the reason that some schools in the same geographic area are included and others are not; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49478/22]