Results 8,521-8,540 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I very much welcome any move in respect of lifting or easing the recruitment embargo. We have all seen at first hand the negative effect of under-staffing, including the stress on staff themselves, and the consequences for service users. Can we tease things out a little bit? The Minister says that the function of recruitment will be delegated to Departments which will have to operate...

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I take it that when the Minister commences discussions with the unions in the spring, it will not simply be a matter of dealing with pay levels and that he is open to negotiating in respect of the set of issues to which I refer. Two things must happen. First, there is a need for greater capacity within the sector. I do not know if the Minister would go further by acknowledging that the...

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I wish to raise the issue of the Constitutional Convention again. I have done so several times. As the Taoiseach knows, the convention agreed a position on gender equality by removing from the Constitution its clause relating to women in the home and by extending the right to vote in presidential elections to citizens resident outside the State. When I asked the Taoiseach about these...

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Government was supposed to respond within four months of the convention's report.

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: When will we debate these issues? In setting up the Constitutional Convention, the Government-----

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----made a commitment to give an official response and facilitate a debate within four months, but that has not happened. The delay is disgraceful.

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that a "No"?

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Bodies (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: 13. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to create a new interim procurement board. [5784/15]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: 18. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on the operation of the amended Freedom of Information Act 2014; and if his attention has been drawn to the problems arising from the new fees regime. [5783/15]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Disposal of Assets (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: 25. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on his latest plans for the retention or sale of State assets, including State shares in commercial companies. [5781/15]

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I have a number of questions. I wish to raise with the Minister of State the issue of flooding. There is an ongoing issue that many householders have in respect of getting insurance for their homes. I know that the predecessor of the Minister of State, Brian Hayes, had entered into discussions with the insurance industry. Will the Minister of State bring us up to date on the position? ...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is in a state of dereliction. There has been ongoing toing and froing between Dublin City Council, the Department and the developer. The thing is a fiasco, quite frankly. With a little over a year to go to the moment of commemoration, it is quite disgraceful that it has come to this pass. I realise the Minister of State may be limited in the nature of his commentary overall. However,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Thank goodness for that. My faith in the Minister of State remains steadfast. I note there has been an increase in spending on Government publications under subhead B12. I gather it is in the region of one third, if I am not mistaken. This is substantial. I had assumed that e-publishing would yield cost savings, with an eye on the environment and efficiency. Will the Minister of State...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I would like to make a comment for the record in respect of the unitary payments ongoing to the convention centre in Dublin. I appreciate the Minister of State's point that his Administration inherited this but it is a colossal drain in terms of public moneys and has been critiqued by the Comptroller and Auditor General. I appreciate he is bound by the contractual arrangement but wish to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister's documentation echoes the objective of controlling public service pay and sticking with the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI. Given that the Minister has set out his stall, that he intends to carry out what he described this morning as a scoping exercise with the public sector unions, I presume he envisages a deal in time for the budget. He is...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Correct.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Minister very much for this. I am conscious of time. In April the Minister will commence the scoping exercise with a view to having something on paper, if not balloted, by September. He used very particular language with regard to rolling back, phasing out or scaling down FEMPI but in his opening statement he made it clear that public service pay rates will continue to be...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am aware of the year we are in, thank you Minister. When we spoke this morning in the Chamber, the Minister envisaged a scenario where there might be a pay claim in advance of the April meeting. The Government has created an expectation that there will be some move on pay in 2015 with all of its talk about recovery, the Minister's rhetoric around opening discussions with the public sector...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister has also extended the pension deadline for public service workers. Am I right in saying this is the third deadline? The original one was August 2014, which was then extended to June 2015. The Minister has now extended that further out to June 2016. What was the rationale for that?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is it coincidental that 2016 is possibly the election year?