Results 7,641-7,660 of 32,643 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Contracts (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has not awarded any contracts to taxi companies since the formation of this Government.  The Office of Government Procurement, which is a division of the Department, puts frameworks agreements in place for use by other public service bodies but does not award contracts on behalf of any other body and can therefore only comment on its own...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Strategy Statements (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The development of a three-year Statement of Strategy is a requirement of every Government Department under the Public Service Management Act, 1997. Under this legislation, a new Statement of Strategy must be submitted to a Minister within six months of their appointment. Therefore, the process to develop a new Statement of Strategy is well underway in my Department.  This work...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Lansdowne Road Agreement (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 891 of 16 September 2016. The position remains unchanged.  Those unions/associations who hold representation rights for public service grades who subscribe to collective agreements such as the Lansdowne Road Agreement attract the benefits of such agreements as do members of such grades who are not members of those...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Notwithstanding that my direct responsibility is for pensions in the civil service rather than the wider public service, I am not aware of any public service pension payment at the level referred to by the Deputy.  In 2016 to date, there have been 2 lump sums paid to retiring senior civil servants with a value in the range of €250,000 to €270,000. These are the highest...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Data (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: As requested, please find information on the number of staff employed in my Department and the number of those who are on secondment into my Department in the table. My Department is also responsible for the National Shared Services Office "NSSO" and the Office of Government Procurement "OGP", and I have provided the information requested in the table following.  The use of secondment...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures (5 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware that the legal framework in some countries, notably the United States, provides monetary rewards in certain circumstances for whistle-blowers. In so far as this is intended to compensate for the likely financial losses that whistle-blowers face because of their disclosures, our legislation has a different emphasis. In the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, we have provided a range...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Retirements (5 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In my response to question 27235/16 answered on 27 September, 2016, I provided the Deputy with the number of lump sums paid centrally to civil servants on retirement in 2013, 2014 and 2015, broken down by the bands requested by the Deputy, and the corresponding total value of lump sums paid centrally in each of those years. The details of lump sums which were not paid centrally are...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pensions Data (5 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Because of the manner in which data was recorded, I am not in a position to provide the information sought with respect to 2015 retirements. However, as a consequence of the transition of pension payrolls to the Payroll Shared Services Centre at the end of 2015, data with respect to 2016 retirements can be more readily interrogated. Accordingly, I can tell the Deputy that the average lump...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions Levy (6 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The public service Pension-Related Deduction (PRD) is a key part of the set of reductions to public service pay and pensions provided for under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Acts. I as Minister am required to review and report on the FEMPI legislation annually, and my most recent review was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on 29...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Funding (6 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Funding for bodies from the Vote of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is voted by the Dáil through the annual estimates process. In accordance with the provisions of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 13/2014 - Management of and Accountability for Grants from Exchequer Funds, any amounts unexpended at year end are to be surrendered to the...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In making my first Estimates Statement to the Dáil, I am aware that my responsibility differs from that of my predecessor in his first year in office. In 2011, the then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, was faced with announcing a very significant reduction in spending for 2012. Making decisions during this time of crisis was tough but toughest of all...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: We are here because my colleagues have rooted our approach within the framework of our agreed Government programme. We, of course, cannot implement all the measures in our supply and confidence agreement or the programme for Government in a single year or a single budget, but today represents a substantial beginning. Key spending areas for 2017 We are aware of the continued difficulty facing...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In framing the budget, my Government colleagues and I were conscious of this and of the need to ensure that the benefits of this recovery were felt by all. For this reason, as part of an overall package worth an additional €301 million, all weekly social welfare payments, including the carer's allowance, disability allowance and jobseeker's benefit and allowance, will rise by...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: These payments will rise in March, subject to the passage of the social welfare Bill.

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In addition, I am pleased to announce the payment of an 85% Christmas bonus for social welfare recipients in 2016. Many of those in receipt of these payments were our most vulnerable citizens. We cannot have a just society if we leave them behind. There will also be improvements in other schemes, including farm assist, as well as 500 new places on the rural social scheme.

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Further details will be announced by my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, today. Justice In the justice area, the safety and security of our citizens is fundamental. We have committed to increasing the number of gardaí in the force to 15,000. Today’s Estimates support this through an allocation of an additional €28 million for An Garda Síochána, as...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am happy to announce there will be a new round of the sports capital programme in 2017 and the Ministers at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will announce the details of the programme in due course. Defence I turn to defence. There are 498 Defence Forces personnel participating in 11 missions around the world and doing the country proud, including in vital search and rescue...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: For this reason, among others, there is an increased allocation to the new Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. In terms of capital funding in particular, the Department will see an increase of almost €50 million, or 41%. This will contribute towards our carbon reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy targets through measures such as the renewable...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Public pay constraint has been the cornerstone of our strategy to repair our public finances. Without such restraint, we would not now be in a position to provide additional funding to health, education and child care as we are now doing. Of course, I am aware of the demands that exist in the area of public pay. Public pay restoration, however, must be managed in a way that is affordable...

Financial Resolutions 2017 - Budget Statement 2017 (11 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: These values underpin the reality of the substantial investment in public services which this Government has delivered in this budget. The improvements in our public services that this investment will make possible have the simple, basic and most important goal of endeavouring to make life better for all, but especially for our most vulnerable. Some on the Opposition benches claim that...