Results 8,141-8,160 of 32,726 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Lansdowne Road Agreement Implementation (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The additional cost arising from the Government Decision in relation to the Lansdowne Road Agreement is €120 million. The required funds will need to be met from available public resources taking into account the scope for reallocation of expenditure while also ensuring that core public services are not adversely impacted as a result of this decision. The extent to which...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service Management (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The matter of the amalgamation of the Civil Service Staff Officer grade with the Executive Officer grade is currently under deliberation between the management and union side parties concerned. As this deliberative process has yet to be concluded it is considered that it would not be appropriate in the circumstances to comment on any issues that may arise between the parties...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the centralised recruiter for the Civil Service. It is an independent, statutory body which provides professional recruitment and selection services. I am informed by the PAS that the closing date and time for the competition in question, i.e. Conservation Ranger, was 3pm on Thursday 1 December, 2016. This was...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: EU Directives and national regulations impose legal obligations on public bodies in regard to advertising and the use of objective tendering procedures for awarding contracts above certain value thresholds. The basic principle is that competitive tendering should be used other than in justifiably exceptional circumstances. Even in the case of procurement which might not be subject to the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Lansdowne Road Agreement Implementation (24 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: A circular setting out the revised salary rates applicable from 1 April 2017 to general Civil Service grades, including Secretaries General, is currently in preparation and will be issued by my Department in due course.  As the Deputy may be aware, under the provisions of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015 (FEMPI Act 2015), those on salaries...

National Shared Services Office Bill 2016: Order for Second Stage (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

National Shared Services Office Bill 2016: Second Stage (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." This Bill is somewhat detailed and technical, but it is extremely important as it lays out the legislative basis for the establishment of the national shared services office, NSSO, as a separate Civil Service office under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I will give the background to the Bill and to the...

National Shared Services Office Bill 2016: Second Stage (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank all Deputies for the contributions they have made. I thank Deputies Calleary, Fleming, Cullinane and Nolan for their contributions. In the time that is open to me, I will touch on some of the main themes that were raised.

National Shared Services Office Bill 2016: Second Stage (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Perhaps I will cover all the points that have been raised. Committee Stage is coming up and I will be able to do it in a little more detail then. I will touch on some of the broad points made by Deputies and give a response to them. We can work through each of these points in more detail on Committee Stage. I thank colleagues for the support offered to the Bill. That support is qualified...

National Shared Services Office Bill 2016: Referral to Select Committee (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3) and 149(1).

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Pay reductions effected by the FEMPI legislation have played and continue to play a vital role in securing stability for the public finances. These pay reductions are now being partially reversed or restored by way of the provisions of the Lansdowne Road Agreement and FEMPI 2015.  The pay increases thereby arising benefit affected public servants from the due dates, and on that...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Data Collection (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service ICT Strategy, prepared by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer in my Department, and published in 2015, recognises data as a critical enabler, and that improved data management on a whole-of-government basis is crucial to supporting better decision making, increasing simplicity of engagement, driving efficiency and delivering a range of new...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Superannuation Schemes (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: A revised scheme for spouses and children was introduced for the Civil Service in 1982 and membership was made mandatory for all new entrants after 1 September 1984. A scheme which mirrors this was introduced for the wider Public Service on a sector by sector basis in the following years. Anyone recruited to the Public Service since the introduction of the revised scheme automatically...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ministerial Meetings (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In the context of the Labour Court Recommendations on Garda pay, and the potential wider implications for the Lansdowne Road Agreement, I met with representatives from ICTU on the 7th of November to listen to their views and inform considerations on these matters by Government.  Officials from my Department met with the Public Service Committee of ICTU under the framework provided by...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: UN Sustainable Development Goals (25 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Responsibility for overseas development aid rests with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in the first instance. The Government is strongly committed to Ireland's overseas aid programme and to its place at the heart of our foreign policy. Our policy for international development, "One World, One Future", clearly articulates our commitment to the UN target of providing 0.7% of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (26 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The requisite funding in respect of the recent Government decision for an additional payment to public servants with annualised salaries of up to €65,000, as provided for under section 6 of the Lansdowne Road agreement, will be met from available public resources, taking into account the scope for the reallocation of expenditure while ensuring that core public...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (26 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will begin with the matter on which the Deputy concluded. I will not comment on the details of the two individual cases that were agreed overnight. However, I want to be very clear to the House that the Government will vigorously defend our case regarding consultant contracts over the coming period. As we move into the period of defending our case in this regard, the Department of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (26 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been very clear about what we will do in this regard. I have commented on two individual cases that reached agreement over the past 24 hours, but my comments refer to those cases that are to come, of which there are a significant number. The Government will make very clear that we will robustly defend our views regarding consultant contracts, which date back to 2009. This is an...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships (26 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As I announced in my speech on budget day last year, this spending review will be carried out in advance of budget 2018. The economic and political landscape in Ireland has changed very considerably since this work was last done in 2014. There are now increasing and competing public service demands across a period in which expenditure growth is planned at a moderate pace. The approach...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Private Partnerships (26 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: In the comprehensive spending review, we want to focus on the role of PPPs and to examine the benefits and costs relating to them. I am well aware of their operation from their extensive use in the provision of public transport. The Deputy continually presses me on the need for increased capital investment. He points to the projects that need to be delivered. Surely, therefore, it is...