Results 23,001-23,020 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage (23 Mar 2022)

Michael McGrath: I move amendment No. 49: In page 44, line 9, to delete “10B” and substitute “10B, 10C, 10D”.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (31 Mar 2022)

Michael McGrath: Some €4 billion in funding was held in reserve in Budget 2022 to be allocated, if needed, for additional Covid-19 related measures that might be required in 2022. In the Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) 2022 in December, given the ongoing effects of the pandemic, a number of further targeted supports totalling €96 million were provided to Departments in respect of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Funding (31 Mar 2022)

Michael McGrath: The new PEACE PLUS cross-border EU programme is now at a very advanced point of development and will be formally launched later this year. Development of the new programme was led by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), working closely with my Department and the Department of Finance NI, together with a cross-border and cross-sectoral Programme Development Steering Group. The draft...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Gender Equality (31 Mar 2022)

Michael McGrath: My Department is committed to creating an inclusive working environment for all staff. As the Deputy may be aware, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth recently announced details of the introduction of gender pay gap reporting in Ireland. The Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 introduced the legislative basis for gender pay gap reporting and I have been...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Transport Policy (31 Mar 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Department of Transport is the principal Department with responsibility for active travel. Among a broad set of responsibilities across the transport area, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has certain statutory objectives and functions in relation to the promotion of active travel. In January of this year, the Minister of Transport announced that the NTA had allocated funds to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (5 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that there is currently one member of staff employed by my Department absent for a period greater than 12 months due to the circumstances set out in the question. There are no staff in this position in the bodies under the aegis of my Department with the exception of the Office of Public Works (OPW), where there is one member of staff absent for a period...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (5 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: Under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (the “Commission”) has the power to regulate the provision of “secretarial facilities” to Members. “Secretarial facilities” is a term encompassing the staff employed under the Scheme for Secretarial Assistance. The Act requires the Commission to obtain the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Legislative Reviews (5 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: We made a commitment the 2020 Programme for Government to “reform and consolidate the Ethics in Public Office legislation”. The review of the statutory framework that I have initiated and to which the Deputy’ question refers is the first step in meeting this commitment. In brief, this review is examining: - Ireland’s existing ethics legislative framework; - The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Legislative Measures (5 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Bill to which the Deputy refers was brought forward by the previous government in 2015 with the broad aims of: - Modernising, simplifying and streamlining the existing legislative framework covering Ethics in public office; - Responding to the recommendations on conflicts of interest contained in the final report of the Mahon and Moriarty Tribunals; and - Consolidating local...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flexible Work Practices (5 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: I was pleased to publish, along with Minister of State Ossian Smyth, the Civil Service Blended Working Policy Framework on Thursday 31stMarch. This Framework provides direction to individual Departments on the development of their own tailored Blended Working policies, and ensures a consistency of approach across the Civil Service. This new model of working marks another feature of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Contracts (5 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that details of the spend by my Department on consultancy services, professional fees and legal advice is regularly updated and published on gov.ie. Details of this spend since the Department’s establishment in 2011 up to the end of December 2021 can be found at the link below and the spend to end Q1 2022 will be published shortly....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Offices (6 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Government has no plans at this point to establish an ombudsman for older persons. It would fall to the relevant Minister with responsibility for policy regarding older persons to consider and to bring forward such a proposal. I would like to point out to the Deputy that older persons are entitled to use the services of all existing Ombudsman offices for any complaint regarding the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (6 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: It is important that Ireland’s statutory National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage concept are not confused. The Living Wage has no legislative basis and is therefore not a statutory entitlement. It currently stands at €12.90 per hour according to the Living Wage Technical Group document 2021. The National Minimum Wage is a statutory entitlement and has a legislative basis. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ombudsman and Information Commissioner (6 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: I am informed by the Ombudsman of the following: In 2020 the Ombudsman received 53 complaints about Private Nursing Homes. The majority of these complaints (30) related to the care and treatment of residents while the remainder of the complaints received concerned complaint-handling, the level of fees charged and other administrative actions. Six of the 2020 cases were either upheld or...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flexible Work Practices (6 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: The matter of a four day working week has been raised by the Four Day Week Ireland campaign led by Forsa, ICTU and other civil society groups. Correspondence on this issue has been received in my Department and I also met with the campaign in February of this year to discuss their work. In the context of the civil and public service, there are two main concerns in considering a move to a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (6 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: Responsibility for ensuring compliance with all national and EU procurement rules and procedures rests with contracting or purchasing Departments and public agencies. Screen Ireland are a body under the remit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media. Accordingly my Department has no role in this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (6 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: Responsibility for ensuring compliance with all national and EU procurement rules and procedures rests with contracting or purchasing Departments and public agencies. Screen Ireland are a body under the remit of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht , Sport and Media. Accordingly, my Department has no role in this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of Public Works (7 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: In relation to the first part of this question, the information is already publicly available through the published Revised Estimates Volume for the years in question, including at subhead level. The link to the Revised Estimates Volumes are available here: www.gov.ie/en/collection/e20037-revised-estimates/ Expenditure for all of these years (except 2021) is available through the yearly...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Priorities (7 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: All public works projects that are delivered under the Exchequer-funded element of the Government's capital plan must be procured in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). The CWMF represents the tools that a public body must use to procure and manage the external resources necessary to deliver a public works project that is to be delivered...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff (7 Apr 2022)

Michael McGrath: I wish to inform the Deputy that one member of staff of my Department is assigned to the post of Public Expenditure and Reform Attaché in the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels. The role of the Attaché is to represent and promote Ireland's interests in the policy areas under the remit of the Department, including Cohesion policy and funding, public...