Results 21,761-21,780 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Contracts (11 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that neither my Department nor the Office of Government Procurement, which is also part of my Department, engages external firms or agencies for this purpose. One of the responsibilities of my Department's Press Office is to communicate in a strategic and effective manner my Department’s messages and goals to all stakeholders. The Press Office organises...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Appointments Service (11 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I am informed by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) that they use a variety of assessments across the range of roles for which it recruits. Each selection process is designed to assess the particular skills, competencies and experience required for the specific role, informed by a detailed Job Analysis. Some examples of the assessments used by PAS include pre-recorded Video Interviews,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (12 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department has had no expenditure of this nature.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Tax Code (12 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Programme for Government recognises the special economic and social role that agriculture plays in Ireland, but also commits to the creation of schemes that will encourage and incentivise farmers to farm in a greener and more sustainable way. This is with the aim of developing a sustainable Irish agricultural sector that protects the environment and aligns with emerging consumer...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Environmental Policy (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy will be aware, good progress has already been made by the Department in including strategic, green and social policy considerations in public procurement processes more broadly. This has been done for example through: (a) the publication of an Information Note on Incorporating Social Considerations into Public Procurement in 2018; (b) the roll out of Circular 20/2019: Promoting...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Vice Chairman and hope we will be okay from now on. I thank the select committee for the invitation to attend the meeting today. I welcome the opportunity to present this legislation to the committee. Before dealing with the specific provisions of the Bill, I would like to emphasise that it is a key enabler for the new public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I thank Deputy Farrell for her support for this important legislation. When she mentions bargaining, is she referring to how pay will be agreed in the future, future collective bargaining agreements and so on?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: This agreement, which has been adopted by the public services committee of congress and which we are giving effect to in law today, takes us up to the end of next year. I anticipate that in advance of that we will again engage with the trade union movement on a possible successor agreement. We are reverting to a more normal era of industrial relations and hopefully agreeing pay deals into...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I very much welcome the concluding statement from the IMF team who conducted the mission. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and I met them at the beginning of their work and we met them at the end of the process to discuss the outcome and their findings. We welcome the statement they have issued. I share the Deputy's ambition with regard to the public capital investment programme. We have a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: At the moment it is at an all-time high. The first challenge is to maintain that level of public expenditure on capital projects and then, where appropriate, to increase it. We also need to spend it in the right areas. We have to ensure that the content of the national development plan is aligned with the priorities in the programme for Government. As members know they are in housing in...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I will take the Vice Chairman's questions on FEMPI first. As committee members know, under the 2017 Act the pathway for the unwinding of FEMPI cuts was laid out. There are complexities but in simple terms people earning up to €70,000 at this point have had full restoration. Those earning between €70,000 and €150,000 under the 2017 Act are to have restoration by July...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I strongly agree with the Deputy's sentiments on the importance of issues such as retrofitting. There is a commitment in the programme for Government that a large share of the proceeds we get from increases in carbon tax to 2030 will be ring-fenced for that purpose. I have been working closely with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to get the infrastructure right. For example, we greatly...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: This is a technical proposal. We had anticipated this Bill would have been signed off last year but that did not take place so it is now going to be in 2021. I will repeat the formal note. Prior to consideration at the select committee, section 5 of the Bill provided for amendment of section 24(3) of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 to align the date for repeal of section 5(1)...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, lines 7 to 9, to delete all words from and including “, the” in line 7 down to and including “2017” in line 9 and substitute “and the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011”.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I thank colleagues on the committee for their support. This is in an important day in that it removes the restrictions on pay set out in the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, legislation and gives effect to Building Momentum, which has a very significant reform element and embeds many of the flexibilities that have been demonstrated by the public service over the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I add one point for the joint committee to consider, which the Vice Chairman might pass on to the Chairman. I wrote to the committee in the last day or so on the general scheme of a protected disclosures Bill. I would like the committee to conduct pre-legislative scrutiny of that Bill. I highlight that it transposes an EU directive and there is a deadline of 17 December for that...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: Okay.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Service Pay Bill: Committee Stage (13 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I thank the Vice Chairman.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Funding (18 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 319, 320 and 321 together. Since its establishment in 2011, my Department funded three non-governmental organisations for the periods of time set out in the tables below. The Leuven Institute  Funding 2012 €18,000 2013 €18,000 2014 ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Sustainable Development Goals (18 May 2021)

Michael McGrath: The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a significant and ambitious policy agenda that concerns all Government Departments.  The first National Implementation Plan (2018-2020), published in 2018, set out Ireland’s strategy to achieve the SDGs both domestically and internationally. The Goals are mainstreamed in domestic...