Results 21,441-21,460 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I will take that. I thank the Deputy for the question. There are undoubtedly opportunities for the regions in the post-Covid world that we are all really looking forward to. Many of the changes that have occurred in the past nine or ten months have been forced upon us, and we would not be having this engagement in this format were it not for Covid-19. The truth is that many people have...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: We now have the volume of Revised Estimates for the following year in December. We would like to see the select committees then considering the Estimates as early as possible in the year. I remember when I was first elected, we dealt with Estimates months into the year to which they related and I questioned the relevance of it. Committees only consider the Estimates and do not vote on them...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I will add something to that, briefly. The legal basis and authority for the expenditure of public money ultimately comes from a vote of Dáil Éireann. I know the committee in its interim report touched on the possibility of the committee playing an enhanced role when it comes to Supplementary Estimates. As committee members know, Supplementary Estimates go to the line committee...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: There has not been any specific risk assessment of what CETA might mean in terms of its public expenditure implications. I would point to the overall context within which our economy operates and our experience over the last ten or 11 months of living with Covid-19. The reality is that the role of FDI in Ireland and our position as an open, trading economy has, in many ways, helped us to...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: The very principle that the Deputy outlined there has been fully adhered to on this issue and in this context. The move across of the Secretary General from my own Department to the Department of Health on an interim basis did not involve or attract any change in remuneration-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy knows we are currently in the middle of an open and competitive recruitment process and have advertised the terms and conditions that are associated with the post. I would prefer to let that take its course at this point in time.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: We have an open process. I do not know who has applied for the post or how many candidates have applied at this point. This process is governed by the Public Appointments Service, PAS and the Top-Level Appointments Committee, TLAC and-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: As this is an open process, any person is entitled to apply and be considered as part of the process that is under way-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: The terms that are attached to the position have been advertised in an open and transparent manner. It is open to anyone to apply and it is best to let the process take its course and see how it ends.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: No, there will not.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: Is Deputy Ryan referring to the pension issue and the Labour Court finding?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: Work on that issue is ongoing. As the Deputy knows, responsibility for policy for community employment schemes sits with the Department of Social Protection but we are working on this issue on a joint basis. We are continuing the work that my predecessor as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and his colleagues did in the previous Government. We are trying to find a way through this...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I do not have all of the figures in front of me but there certainly was no reduction in current spending for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for 2021. As the Deputy has acknowledged, there was an increase on the capital side of in excess of €500 million. The overall Vote and allocation for the Department increased very significantly, including on the current...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: That is a really important issue. We have a record overall budget for capital expenditure for 2021. If one includes the carry forward from last year, it is approaching €11 billion. Of course, the reason we have that carry forward is because of the underspend in 2020, which can, in part, be attributed to the restrictions imposed earlier in 2020. We had an overall underspend on the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: Can I add a few points because I know the Chairman has a keen interest in this area? I have always made the point that narrow or traditional economic indicators only tell us so much. The memorandum that was brought to Cabinet today by the Taoiseach is really important in that respect. It sets out the approach that will be taken in developing a well-being framework building on the extensive...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I will take that question. I assume the Deputy is referring in particular to the warmer homes scheme which is for the lowest income households.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: We significantly increased the budget for that in 2021, as the Deputy has acknowledged. We also increased the SEAI's operational budget so it has the capacity for a major retrofitting programme which the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is very anxious to deliver, as are all of us in the Government. Any underspends on the capital side can be carried forward subject to a limit. In overall...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: Very briefly, I think the significant delay has been in getting the assessors out to homes. Deputy Canney is right that some people have been waiting for between 12 and 18 months to get this work done. That is why we have provided the extra money and capacity to the SEAI. I do not believe the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, plans to transfer responsibility for those schemes back to the local...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Framework for Parliamentary Engagement Throughout the Budgetary Cycle: Discussion (9 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: As part of the review of the national development plan, NDP, we are engaging directly with the commercial State companies on their investment plans and we are supporting them in their plans to transition to sustainable forms of energy. The Deputy will be aware that the borrowing limit for the ESB has increased significantly to enable it to fulfil the huge ambitions it has vis-à-visthe...