Results 30,521-30,540 of 33,289 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: There has been an increase in capital investment but the increase in capital investment is in line with the indications we gave for the national development plan a few years ago. The reason we make decisions years in advance to increase investment is to give our economy the ability to organise itself so that it is able to build and transform this higher level of capital spend into output,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course I am committed to how we can maintain and grow the capital investment in our economy, but I do not have a guiding anchor of what it should be as a share of GNI* that supersedes the fact that I had to make decisions regarding how we allocate money that is available to us. The first ordered decision is how much money is available to the country and whether we are going to reduce our...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Publication (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for the question. Expenditure Report 2024, published on budget day included budget Estimates. These budget Estimates for public services set out the allocations for the following year for each Vote at programme level. This represents a high-level summary of the budget and allocations for the following year. The Revised Estimates Volume for Public Service, REV 2024,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Publication (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy very much for his comments and, of course, I am well aware of my duties to the Dáil and the need to put forward factual answers to questions the Deputy raises, which at all points I endeavour to do. I will just deal with the different layers of the question the Deputy has put to me. First, on the obligation we have to those looking for hospital and medical care...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Publication (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Again, I believe it is important to put this budget in the context of recent spending decisions. Over the past eight years, we have seen an effective doubling of our spending within our health services. Over recent years, we have seen an increase in investment in our health services of between €6 billion and €7 billion. We have seen very significant and needed increases in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 36 together. The Government has committed to €165 billion in capital investment through the national development plan published in 2021. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the European Union. In 2023, almost €13 billion will fund vital infrastructure in areas such as housing,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The process for that tends to be that Ministers and their Departments identify any individual project, particularly high-profile projects, that may be affected by the impact of inflation and some of the other factors the Deputy has touched on. In the past year or so, we still managed to make progress on the majority of such individual projects, moving some of them to construction, a number...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Development Plan (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I will do my best, and I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will deal with each of them in turn. On Deputy Durkan's point, I took care with the words I used earlier in my first answer to him. I said projects would be moved along, but of course it is the case that many projects are not hitting the original timings that were anticipated for them. So many capital projects have been...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: These are all excellent questions which I will be in a position to answer a little later in relation to the duration of the wage agreement, the issues that will be covered off within it and the policy matters that will be included within it. To touch on some of the answers I can give at this point, first, I hope to be in a position to engage through my officials with the public sector...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: That is the system that has been in place since 2016. There is pretty binary clarity indicated in whether someone is performing in their job or not. There is merit in that approach. In any case, we have committed to review the system that is in place. In the renewal action plan for the Civil Service which the Government has agreed, action step 3 commits us to a review of the Civil Service...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I take on board the point made by the Deputy. I can see the merits of a more graduated way of doing it. Before I entered public life myself and became a politician, I saw how these performance reviews worked and they were graded. It works very well in other employers. I will make sure this is looked at in the context of the review of the system next year. Return times, that is when...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Evaluations of Government expenditure are a vital component of the public expenditure management framework, and are central to ensuring and demonstrating the appropriate use of public money. As with other business, evaluations are planned and conducted by individual Government Departments in relation to policies falling under their remit. One of the main initiatives by Department to support...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget 2024 (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 32 together. Budget 2024 outlines an overall tax and expenditure budgetary package of €14 billion, with total gross voted expenditure increasing to €96.6 billion next year. Inflation has fallen back from the average of 8.1 per cent seen in 2022, and the forecasts continue to predict further reductions, with the Budget day forecasts of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Budgetary and expenditure reform is a key feature of public expenditure management and is progressed in a number of ways including through regular engagement across Departments on cross cutting issues and through the public service reform programme. The promotion of innovation may be seen within the overall context of budgetary reform through a range of initiatives including: •...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Tribunals of Inquiry (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department has not been responsible for the setting up of any Tribunal of Inquiry, Commission of Inquiry or Commission of Investigation since its establishment. Government Departments/Offices are required where relevant and appropriate to publish details on their website of costs and estimates relative to original estimate for Tribunals of Inquiry and Commissions of Investigation on a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Regional Development (26 Oct 2023)

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 (NDP), rests with the individual...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The current Civil Service Disciplinary Code applies to all civil servants. The Code sets out the arrangements for dealing with disciplinary matters in the Civil Service. It is ensures that all civil servants are aware that if there is a failure to adhere to the required standards of conduct, work performance and attendance, the disciplinary procedure set out in the Code will apply. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Climate Change Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 52 together. Since 2019, my Department has been reporting the level of climate-related expenditure annually in the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services. The classification of such expenditure is validated and updated every year before being published with the Revised Estimates. Building on the progress made in relation to assessment of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Public Procurement is governed by EU legislation and national rules and guidelines. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime that delivers best value for money. Public procurement procedures require applicants to meet certain standards when applying for public contracts. The criteria upon which contracting authorities may...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, my Department is responsible for the allocation of public funds across each area of Government spending and seeks to ensure that expenditure is managed by Departments in line with these allocations. In Budget 2024, I allocated an additional €900 million in 2024 over the 2023 capital allocation for essential investment in providing more schools, hospitals...