Results 7,541-7,560 of 32,643 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Current and Capital Expenditure: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (21 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not envisaging, nor will I be, any further changes in either public service pay levels or the public service pension reduction, PSPR, in budget 2017 on top of what has already been agreed as part of the Lansdowne Road agreement.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Current and Capital Expenditure: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (21 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a graph in front of me but if I try to interpret it, I may give the Deputy the wrong answer. We will get the answer for him, but they are new people who came in.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Labour Court Recommendations (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Following a meeting between my predecessor and union interests on 30th September 2015, the Community Sector High Level Forum (or Working Group) (previously the Informal Forum) was convened to examine the matter of the Labour Court Recommendation on the Community Employment sector as well as the issue of pensions and terms and conditions of employment for those working...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government recognises the importance of the SME Sector and continues to develop measures to support SMEs in accessing the public procurement market.  My colleague, Minister of State Eoghan Murphy, chairs the SME Advisory Group so that the voice of Irish SMEs can be heard by Government.  Circular 10/14: Initiatives to assist SMEs in Public Procurement, sets out guidelines to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Cross-Border Projects (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The outcome of the UK Referendum on EU membership will obviously have implications not only for the EU-funded PEACE Programme, but also its sister INTERREG Programme.  Together the two Programmes have a total value of more than half a billion Euro over the period 2014-2020, with 85% of the funding coming from the EU. As part of our contingency planning, my Department had...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Policy Functions (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: There are robust and well-established arrangements in place for responding to the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General which have cross-public service implications. As the Deputy will be aware, when the Comptroller and Auditor General makes a recommendation relating to a Government Department or body under the aegis of a particular Government Department...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: European Council Meetings (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The European Council meeting that the Deputy refers to took place in Brussels on 28 June 2016.  The agenda dealt with three broad themes - migration; jobs, growth and investment; and external relations.  I understand that at the meeting the European Council generally endorsed the country-specific recommendations as discussed by the Council, thus allowing the conclusion of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Private Partnerships (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to PPP stakeholders' calls for greater clarity on the way in which Eurostat is classifying public private partnerships, the European PPP Expertise Centre (EPEC) and Eurostat have worked together over recent months to produce a practitioners' guide on this topic. The Guide has been developed with a desire to bring greater clarity and improve the understanding of how the rules used...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Directives (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The three EU Public Procurement Directives were adopted in April 2014 and Member States are in the process of transposing the directives into national law.  The Directives clarify the existing framework of procurement law and are designed to improve the effectiveness of the regime and to codify recent procurement case law. Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, in August I published the Report of the Interdepartmental Group on Fuller Working Lives which was agreed by Government.  The Group, which was chaired by my Department, considered policy around retirement age in both the public and private sectors, examining implications arising from retirement ages now and in the future. The report makes recommendations...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Expenditure Report 2016 and the Mid-Year Expenditure Report 2016 outlined a total allowance for demographic pressures of approximate €0.36bn outlined in the following table. This funding, which does not form part of the additional fiscal space of €0.61bn available for current expenditure increases in Budget 2017, will help provide for State Pension payments to additional...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Page 8 of the Mid-Year Expenditure Report 2016 outlined the Pre-Budget position for 2017 including approximately €0.9bn worth of measures already committed for 2017. This is elaborated upon in Table 1. The total includes provision for demographic related pressures across Health, Social Protection and Education of c €0.4 billion in total. A saving arising from lower...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the Deputy's question, the total travel expenses and reimbursement costs incurred by my Department since 2011 are outlined in the following table. Year Amount 2011 €180,241 2012 €299,887* 2013 €426,953** 2014 €291,841 2015 €321,569 2016 €187,388 *The number of staff in my Department has increased significantly since 2012 with...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Data Protection (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In response to the Deputy's question, my Department has a specific Data Protection Officer.  As well as holding this position, the officer has other duties.  The Department is a "Data Controller" for the purposes of the Data Protection Acts.  The duties of a Data Controller are discharged within the Department through its procedures of control and systems of assurance...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Remuneration (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 503 and 504 together. The following tables outline the approximate annual costs of introducing a minimum wage at the rates specified in the questions for employees in my Department and the bodies under its aegis. - €12 per hour €13 per hour €14 per hour €15 per hour Department of Public Expenditure and Reform...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Labour Court Recommendations (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The question is in relation to the issue of pension entitlements for Community Employment Supervisors which was the subject of a Labour Court recommendation in 2008. The position in this regard is that although the employing bodies concerned are mainly funded by public expenditure programmes, the State does not have any role as an employer in this sector and the employees of such bodies...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Industrial Development (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department is aware of a proposed masterplan for Haulbowline Island in County Cork, including a proposal for investment in an innovation hub. Any specific proposals would have to be considered by the relevant Departments in the first instance. I understand that Enterprise Ireland, an agency of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, recently invited Expressions of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The response relates to lump sums paid to civil servants, as this is the area which falls within my responsibility. The payment of pensions has been largely centralised to the Payroll Shared Service Centre, which is part of my Department, over recent years. However, for the period covered by the question a number of Departments paid retirement lump sums at a local level. The following...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pensions Insolvency Payments Scheme (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is referring to the contract which was awarded to B&E Limited to administer the pension payments in respect of the Waterford Crystal PIPS Pension Payroll. These pensions are covered by the Pension Insolvency Payment Scheme (PIPS) which was introduced on 1st February, 2010 to assist the former employees of companies that became insolvent and where their defined benefit pension...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Local Authority Staff (27 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The issue of addressing the cost of restoring staffing levels in the Local Authorities is a matter, in the first instance. for the consideration of my colleague the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.