Results 1,741-1,760 of 33,175 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Artificial Intelligence (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 213 and 214 together. The Government published interim guidance on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Public Service in February 2024 and instructed that all AI tools used by the Irish Public Service comply with the seven requirements for ethical AI that have been developed by the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on AI. These...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Appointments to State Boards (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by the Public Appointments Service that the process for the position of Chairperson of Rásíocht Con Éireann took place earlier this year. Eight applications were received with Five candidates deemed suitable to meet with the Assessment Panel.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Equality Issues (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Equality budgeting has been a core component of performance budgeting policy since 2018. It focuses on ten themes - Gender; Marital Status; Family Status; Age; Disability; Sexual Orientation; Race; Religion; Membership of the Traveller and Roma Communities; and Socio-economic Status. The two key annual outputs of the equality budgeting calendar are the Revised Estimates Volume for the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I can confirm that I have received the correspondence from the Deputy and that the issues raised are currently under consideration by my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Funding (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) As a consequence of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the EU put in place funding support for Member States to mitigate the resulting impacts, in the form of a Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR). Ireland’s BAR allocation is €802 million, the largest allocation for any Member State. Ireland has received its share in the form of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (18 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The Single Public Service Pension Scheme is a statutory Public Service Career-Average Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, established on 1 January 2013 under the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012. The Single Scheme was established to place publicly-funded retirement benefits on a more sustainable footing in the context of longer life expectancies and is a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I take it that the Deputy is asking about capital investment in County Carlow. As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects or sectoral policy...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Regional Development (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan 2021-30 (NDP), rests with the individual...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Programme for Government (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: There are a significant number of commitments in the Programme for Government which are assigned to my Department. A large amount of useful information on the work of my Department, including in respect of these commitments, is contained in the Department's Annual Report for 2023, which was published in June 2024 and is available on the gov.ie website. Some of the progress to-date on these...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Circulars (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy may be aware, the principle of abatement of a public service pension is longstanding within the rules of various public service pension schemes and pension abatement is an important aspect of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 (the “2012 Act”). The Act provides for the abatement of a public service pension where a retired...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: For the purposes of this response, I will assume that the Deputy is referring to Table 1 in the Summer Economic Statement 2024 document which details the Government's Budgetary Strategy for Budget 2025. In the first footnote of the table (which relates to the 'Budgetary Decisions' line), the reference to "NDP" is to the windfall increases in capital investment for 2025 and 2026. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Table 1 of the SES 2024 sets out the funding 'to be allocated' over the period 2025 to 2030. As noted beneath Table 1 of the SES, the funding 'to be allocated' in 2026 includes allocation of funding from the Infrastructure Climate and Nature Fund. The legislation underpinning the establishment of the ICNF allows the Government to invest up to €3.15 Billion over 2026 to 2030 from the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Paragraph 19 of the Coillte Teoranta Main Superannuation Scheme provides that if a member or former member is aggrieved by a refusal to make an award or the amount of an award made under the Scheme then they may appeal to the Minister for Agriculture who shall refer the dispute to the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform for decision. A pension appeal has been lodged by an...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Having sought further clarity from the Deputy, this question is being answered on the basis that it relates to occupational public service pension schemes. These schemes include the Single Public Service Pension Scheme (‘Single Scheme’), for new-entrant public service employees appointed since 1 January 2013, and “pre-existing” public service pension schemes, for...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Official Travel (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Since assuming office as Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in December 2022, I have taken no flights to Shannon Airport, Cork Airport or Knock Airport.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Services Provision (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Performance Report (PSPR) is a key output of my Department's performance budgeting framework. That framework, which has been in operation since 2012, promotes the systematic use of performance information to inform resource allocation decisions by strengthening the link between budget allocations and the delivery of results. It provides greater transparency about the use of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table below. I am advised that the Office of Public Works will respond to the Deputy directly in respect of employees of that Office encompassed by this Question. Year Number of staff in categories in question Annual Salary and Job Title Role 2020 5 Civilian Drivers (Change of Minister during year) (4 posts) 4 Civilian...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Staff (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table below. I am advised that the Office of Public Works will respond to the Deputy directly in respect of employees of that Office encompassed by this Question. Year Advisors Name (and Minister in question) Annual Salary Areas of Expertise 2020 (Change of Minister during year) Deborah Sweeney (Paschal Donohoe) Kevin...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Staff (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the Deputy’s question, please see the table of expenses paid to Ministerial Advisers in this Department since 2020 to date. 2020 Advisers to Minister McGrath €0.00 2021 Advisers to Minister McGrath €517.15 2022 Advisers to Minister McGrath €3,485.87 2023 Advisers to Minister Donohoe €5,760.98 2024 Advisers to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (9 Sep 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I am informed by publicjobs (the Public Appointments Service), the statutory independent recruiter for the Public and Civil Service, that Remote Proctoring is a critical tool in their assessment process. It is utilised to confirm the candidate’s identity, to ensure adherence with the rules and guidelines, and to verify that the assessments are completed independently, fairly and...