Results 8,701-8,720 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will indeed reflect on it. I think it might be helpful to see this section in light of section 11, which lays out values and guidance in relation to a gift. It says a public official shall not accept a gift which exceeds the value of €600, except, I hasten to add, where the gift is unconnected with the performance of his or her functions. It lays out that a public official "shall...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I take the Deputy's point. It is worth being aware of the countervailing view that public officials should not accept gifts at all. Where this can become challenging is in the case of a person who is abroad performing Government business. Even though it is not a cultural norm or an expectation that if one is abroad representing the Government or the Oireachtas that one would give a gift to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 33In page 43, to delete line 5 and substitute the following:“(a) contravenes section 38(7)(a) or (b),”. Both SIPO and the Department of Justice and Equality raised concerns with my Department that there might be some provisions in the Bill which are not appropriate for inclusion in the context of Chapter 3, which deals with investigations, and which could...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Exactly, it is a long-held principle that a person accused of a crime who ends up in criminal proceedings has rights. One of those rights is that one cannot previously have been required to share information that could be self-incriminating. In what I hope would be a rare event of this happening, we are amending the section to ensure that the commissioner would not be required to do...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 34:In page 43, to delete lines 31 and 32.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 35:In page 43, line 36, after "A Person (" to insert "referred to in this Act as".

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 36:In line 43, line 36, after “another person (” to insert “referred to in this Act as”.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 37:In page 43, after line 38, to insert the following:“(2) The reference in subsection (1) to a person’s having contravened this Act shall be deemed to include a reference to his or her having contravened a provision of any other enactment referred to in section 12(4) or (5) and subsequent references in this Part and Part 6 to a contravention of this Act...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 34 provides that if the commissioner receives a complaint other than in relation to section 10, that is, the provision on standards of integrity, the commissioner shall make initial inquiries and will dismiss a complaint if he or she is of the opinion that it is frivolous, vexatious or repetitious, that it would be more appropriately dealt with by the Government, that it relates to a...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Let me bring that scenario to life. Deputy Sherlock asked me earlier about the period to which the law would apply to a member of a local authority who owned a piece of land and his or her interaction with the local authority development plan. What this means is that if somebody came into possession of a piece of land, for example four years after he or she was a member of a local...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 38:In page 44, line 34, to delete “Commissioner” and substitute “Deputy Commissioner”.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I move amendment No. 39:In page 45, to delete lines 16 to 19.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Section 36 provides for the referring of a matter to the deputy commissioner for investigation. This provides that where there has been a complaint made alleging that a contravention of the Act has occurred, and the complaint has not been dismissed or otherwise dealt with, the commissioner will refer the matter to the deputy commissioner for investigation. Subsection (2) provides that the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: That is correct Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The commissioner would have to be satisfied that sections of the Bill, when enacted, have been breached.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Chairman, the most likely way in which an issue might arise might be in terms of the returns that a member might make. As an example, it is entirely possible that somebody who is subject to this legislation could furnish a return that the standards commissioner believes is not compliant with the legislation. On the back of that, he or she would initiate the investigation in the matter....

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I guess that concern does apply to any official in which one invests a significant level of public power.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: That is how the matter will then be referred to.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Standards Bill 2015: Committee Stage (6 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.