Results 2,161-2,180 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 – Social Protection
Chapter 21 – Expenditure on Welfare and Employment Schemes
Chapter 22 – Welfare Overpayment Debts
Chapter 23 – Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Social Insurance Fund – Annual Accounts 2011 (14 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: When somebody gets an entitlement to free travel and receives a card, regardless of how often the card is used, the cost to the taxpayer is unchanged at the moment. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 – Social Protection
Chapter 21 – Expenditure on Welfare and Employment Schemes
Chapter 22 – Welfare Overpayment Debts
Chapter 23 – Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Social Insurance Fund – Annual Accounts 2011 (14 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: The information we have on the numbers eligible for free travel is the basis for the cost of the scheme.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 38 – Social Protection
Chapter 21 – Expenditure on Welfare and Employment Schemes
Chapter 22 – Welfare Overpayment Debts
Chapter 23 – Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Social Insurance Fund – Annual Accounts 2011 (14 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Thank you. I wanted to clarify that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Ireland's Role in the Future of the European Union: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I will have some supplementary questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Ireland's Role in the Future of the European Union: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the witnesses for coming in to speak to us. I am sorry I missed the early part of Dr. Barrett’s presentation. I was at another meeting but I might get a copy of his comments afterwards. While we have touched on the level of Europe’s crisis, with chronic unemployment and low levels of growth, it is worth acknowledging that what people thought was going to happen 12 or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Ireland's Role in the Future of the European Union: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: It is important to counter the fact of our terrible difficulty with the fact that the even greater difficulty which some thought likely has not happened. I have three questions on that point. Professor Laffan spoke about the politics of constrained choice. Would we not be dealing with that anyway? Regardless of the nature of the eurozone, or what the EU will look like, globalisation is...

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the issue and the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Ciarán Cannon, for coming in to respond. I acknowledge the huge work the Department of Education and Skills is already leading in regard to diversity of patronage at second level schools and in having a wide variety of organisations involved in...

Topical Issue Debate: School Patronage (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I welcome the progress that has been made in supporting Educate Together at secondary level. Does the Minister of State envisage a review of the number of new schools due to be provided in the next six years to see whether it would be possible for new schools to be included and to ensure the plan remains valid? While I accept demographics...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: We should have that meeting as soon as possible.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I would be entirely supportive of such a decision.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to raise a point which relates to last week's meeting. I requested that the Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection provide the committee with further figures regarding the interview rates for people in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. Some figures were presented to us relating to last summer. We asked if more up-to-date information could be provided. I assume...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: In the context of last week's discussion regarding the table and the number of people who were in receipt of allowances and the difficulties arising, getting the information about the number of people who turn up for interview is very important.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I will reserve my comments on chapter 15 until we reach the appropriate point in the meeting. I welcome the witnesses and thank them for the material supplied and their work in the Department and the Chief State Solicitor's office. The three areas of the Vote on which I want to focus my questioning are the cost of the citizenship and asylum seeking application process, free legal aid and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Will Mr. Purcell explain the reason those legal expenses were incurred?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Is that a figure that could have been foreseen earlier in the year, given the number of years the office has been in operation?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Will Mr. Purcell detail the target times the Department has in place for the handling of asylum seeker requests and, separately, the handling of citizenship applications?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Given what Mr. Purcell has just said, will he inform me of the current position on the target time for dealing with an initial asylum application? What is the position on the target time applying to the leave to remain period to which he referred?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Is Mr. Purcell in a position to tell me the target time for the completion of the entire process? By "process", I specifically mean the handling of the initial application and of the review of the leave-to-remain decision.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I appreciate that. I have dealt with individuals who are seeking asylum and also the officials, who all do a great job. As Mr. Purcell pointed out, it is a very difficult and complicated issue. I am aware of the amount of public commentary on how long some people are waiting and am struck by the fact that if I look at the different budget allocations in regard to immigration and asylum...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor
Vote 19 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 15: Lease of Accommodation for a Probation Service Project (21 Mar 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Does Mr. Purcell not believe that people applying for asylum should know roughly how long the process will take? The taxpayer who is funding the process has a right to know how long it will take. As I stated, the funding for the INIS is €57 million.