Results 15,561-15,580 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Communications (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In answer to the Deputy's question and following on from receipt of clarification from the Deputy’s office, my Department has not undertaken procurement processes in relation to consultancy agencies, media or otherwise, to assist with formulating or contributing to policy messaging on social media or videos on behalf of my Departmental strategies or policies in 2018 and to date in...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Departmental Communications (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that co-ordination of Government of Ireland related social media and web content is led by the Merrionstreet team in the Government Information Service (GIS), which is part of the Department of An Taoiseach.  My Department is routinely requested by the GIS to provide information in relation to areas under the remit of my Department and to retweet...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Official Languages Act (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to inform the Deputy that the Department of Finance has an operating language scheme in accordance with Section 11 of the Official Languages Act 2003. The Department updated its Language Scheme, for the periods 2018 - 2021. This was implemented 28th February 2018. The Department supports staff in improving their standard of Irish through the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Administration (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can confirm that I approved the recruitment of 35 additional staff to the Office of the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman at the following levels: 5 Assistant Principal 11 Higher Executive Officer 15 Executive Officer 4 Clerical Officer  Obviously there is a process to be undertaken before these appointments are made. I understand that the Ombudsman...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: This issue relates to a claim by community employment supervisors and assistant supervisors who have been seeking, through their union representatives, the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme. The matter was the subject of discussion at the Community Sector High Level Forum which was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Lottery Regulator (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The National Lottery Act 1986 allowed for the creation of a National Lottery in Ireland, and since its launch in 1987 over €5 billion has been raised for use by good causes in communities and organisations across the country. From its inception until February 2014, the National Lottery was operated under licence by the An Post National Lottery Company, which was 80% owned by An Post...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Government Expenditure (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 142 together. Table 9 on page 45 of Expenditure Report 2019 sets out the revised baseline for current expenditure out to 2021 after taking account of pre-commitments in relation to demographic pressures, public service pay agreements, and the estimated carryover impact of certain budget measures. Expenditure Report 2019 sets out demographic costs of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Government Expenditure (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the National Development Plan, published last year, demonstrates the Government’s commitment to meeting Ireland’s infrastructure and investment requirements over the next 10 years, through a total estimated investment of €116 billion over the period to 2027.  In 2019, capital expenditure of €7.3 billion represents an increase of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Civil Service Spouses’ and Children’s Contributory Pension previously provided for payment of pension to children up to the age of 16 or up to their 21st birthday if they were in full time education. However, General Council Report No. 1324, adopted in December 1997, extended the period of payment for children in full time education up to age 22. This was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Functions (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 145 and 146 together. While my Department sets the capital allocations for Departments and the delegated sanction arrangements under which Departments make their spending decisions, the actual roll-out of particular capital projects and programmes is, of course, managed by the individual line Departments and their agencies who are responsible for project and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Appointments Service (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is an independent, statutory body which provides professional recruitment and selection services to the Civil and Public Service. PAS is a demand led service which advertises campaigns on an ongoing basis for a wide variety of roles according to the requirements of its clients in the Civil and Public service.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 has as its main focus the phased unwinding of the FEMPI legislation. However, the Agreement also contains a provision committing the Parties to an appropriate, time-bound process for addressing any outstanding adjudications, having due regard to the question of their continued validity and cost implications. Agreement on a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Communications (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: In relation to the services of Media Consultancy Agencies for social media purposes, I can confirm that my Department has not directly procured any such services nor drawn down any such services from the Office of Government Procurement’s Public Relations Framework.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Communications (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department's social media presence is managed primarily by the Department's Press Office. As such, the Press Office is sometimes asked to participate by sharing Government of Ireland campaign messages via the Department's Twitter account. A recent example of this is the ‘Getting Ireland Brexit Ready’ campaign, which is coordinated by the Department of an...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Official Languages Act (2 Apr 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department operates a Language Scheme in accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003. The Scheme, which came into effect on 21 October 2015, was developed to set out a standard approach across my Department to fulfilling obligations in relation to the Irish language. I wish to advise the Deputy that the Language Scheme is currently under review...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (28 Mar 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Where a couple is cohabiting, rather than married or in a civil partnership, each partner is treated for the purposes of income tax as a separate and unconnected individual. Because they are treated separately for tax purposes, credits, tax bands and reliefs cannot be transferred from one partner to the other. Cohabitants do not have the same legal rights and obligations as a married couple...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Rebates (28 Mar 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that any person who pays Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) but considers the amount charged to be excessive has two appeal options. The first option consists of a re-examination of the original valuation by a Revenue official who had no previous involvement with the case. If the person is still unhappy after the re-examination has been completed, there is the option to...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (28 Mar 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Hearings of the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal are held on average twice a month at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, which has the appropriate facilities to cater for people with mobility impairing disabilities of the kind provided for under the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme. The Medical Board of Appeal holds regional clinics as demand...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Costs (28 Mar 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Both I and the Minister of State for Financial Services and Insurance, Mr. Michael D’Arcy T.D., are very conscious of the difficulties that the cost and availability of insurance are having on many small businesses in this country, including those in the hospitality sector. As Minister for Finance, I am responsible for the development of the legal framework governing financial...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Fiscal Policy (28 Mar 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Commission assesses Member States' compliance with the fiscal rules on an ex-post basis in Spring using the outturn data for the previous year. My officials prepare updates to the macroeconomic and fiscal forecast in Spring - Stability Programme Update (SPU) - and Autumn - Draft Budgetary Plan. These take into account the most up-to-date information available, including the expenditure...