Results 15,561-15,580 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Expenditure (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The reality is that the expenditure ceilings the Deputy is referring to are both negotiated ceilings and budgetary ceilings. Budgetary ceilings, and the figures we set for 2019 and beyond, are a consequence of Government making decisions regarding where resources need to be allocated, overlaid with the inevitable political negotiation that happens, particularly in late September and early...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Expenditure (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The controls we have work for nearly all Departments most of the time. The key issue we have had has been in respect of the Department of Health. I have outlined the way I am looking to handle the matter differently in 2019. I make the point, however, that myself and the Minister, Deputy Harris, were successful last year in significantly reducing the need for a Supplementary Estimate. We...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Public capital investment has a critical role to play in ensuring a whole of Government implementation of the new national planning framework. This is why the new national development plan was fully aligned with the national planning framework, all of which combined to deliver Project Ireland 2040. Project Ireland 2040 moves beyond the approach of the past, which saw public...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: There was a change of €33 million in the total capital allocation for 2019. The overall capital allocation for Project Ireland 2040 rose by that amount, which is a change of 0.5%. Over the period 2019 to 2022, the period for which we have the clearest budgetary ceilings, there was an overall change of €290 million, which is a 0.3% change in an upward direction. On the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The main reason for those changes is what is happening in the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Of the total amount of increased allocation in that period, that Department accounts for well over €200 million and, therefore, it is the main reason for the increase in the figure over the next three year period. No other adjustments will be made in other Departments...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Gender Equality (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We have made significant progress on gender equality in the Civil Service, which is my area of direct responsibility. The overall number of civil servants at the end of the third quarter of 2018 was 38,736, of whom 21,954 were female and 16,782 were male. I have provided a breakdown by grade within the Civil Service for the Deputy. The proportion of females at the levels of Secretary...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Gender Equality (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I take the Deputy's point. We can point to progress but I am equally clear that we must make more progress. I am encouraged that, whether it is the Department of Finance or of Public Expenditure and Reform, I can see the changes to which I referred happening at assistant principal or principal officer level. At budget time in the Revenue Commissioners, for example, I could see how young...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Gender Equality (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I accept the Deputy's point about the need for diversity at political and senior business levels in Ireland. However, I wish that the appreciation for the role played by then-Tánaiste, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, had been more evident during the period when many people were calling for her to go. It would have been nice to hear the kind of appreciation for diversity offered by the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Gender Equality (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Burton may be aware that gender equality and the gender pay gap in Ireland have been examined by the European Commission, particularly in 2014 when it compared our figures with those of the EU 27. We then stood at a 13.9% pay gap compared with the EU 27 average of 16.7%. It is no comfort that we were lower than the EU average. It is a pay gap that should be got rid of and the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Funding (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 61 and 191 together. As I am sure Deputies will agree, the EU-funded INTERREG and PEACE programmes continue to act as important drivers of regional development for the Border region of Ireland and for Northern Ireland.  INTERREG programmes funded by the EU exist to address the challenges encountered by border regions.  In the case of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Funding (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Some 83% of the PEACE IV programme, of €270 million, is committed with 88 projects approved for funding. These include groups of projects under the local authority PEACE action plans, and projects in the area of shared education and giving additional support to children and young people. I have visited some of these projects and am aware of how valuable they are. Under the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: EU Funding (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is in recognition of the vulnerability of our Border counties and the north west to the great challenge of Brexit that, for example, in Project Ireland 2040 we have put particular focus on key projects, such as the N2 and N3, that will be of particular benefit to the communities and counties the Deputy represents. It is why we are also committed to the A5 project and why, for example, we...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Remuneration (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the Public Service Pay Commission has been asked by Government to examine the issue of recruitment and retention in the public service and to establish, in the first instance, whether and to what extent a difficulty may exist in terms of recruitment and retention in respect of specific groups, grades and sectors of the public service. Where a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Remuneration (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As Deputy Burton will be aware, and Deputy Daly also has a lot of experience in this area, the way in which we manage public sector wage and allowance policy is via a collective agreement. Any change that is made or considered for the Defence Forces, therefore, has immediate consequences for the rest of those who work in the public and civil services, as noted in the debate a short time ago...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Remuneration (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I feel I have to correct the record slightly to say that a new tank or vessel is anything but a toy. It is meeting an equipment need that has been raised with me by the Department of Defence, originating in the armed forces. It is anything but that and at the very least it contributes to ensuring the safety of the personnel who Deputy Daly is referring to. The Deputy was very clear about...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 73 together. As Deputies will be aware this issue relates to a claim by community employment supervisors and assistant supervisorswho have been seeking, through their union representatives, the allocation of Exchequer funding to implement a 2008 Labour Court recommendation relating to the provision of a pension scheme. This matter was the subject of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will provide a running total of the cost of the different demands and needs being articulated to me this afternoon. We are now at approximately €918 million. The one-off payment for the CE schemes would cost €318 million, with an additional one year cost of a minimum of €180 million; there is €300 million that I updated Deputy O'Brien on in respect of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Retirements (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66 and 69 together. The Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018, which provides for an increase in the compulsory retirement age to 70 for public servants recruited prior to 1 April 2004, was published on Monday, 9 July 2018. It passed all Stages in the Seanad on Tuesday, 17 July, and completed Second Stage in the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Retirements (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I recognise the strong interest that Deputies Cowen and Heydon have had in this matter. As this Bill was first introduced, some of the ideas first came from Deputy Moran in some meetings that I had with him well over 18 months ago. I am not planning on changing the legislation to make it in any way retrospective. We brought in interim measures and this is a Bill that many are hoping...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Retirements (27 Nov 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is not often that I deal with enthusiastic claims to get a Bill passed quickly but we are in this case because it could make a difference to the lives of many. On the question that the Deputy put to me that I did not answer on whether there are any employees who are outside of the terms of this Bill, the answer is those who because of the physical nature of their work might not be able...