Results 19,261-19,280 of 32,999 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I did not catch the last part of what the Deputy said.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It will be a combination of a number of different things. At this point in time, I am confident that our level of Supplementary Estimates will certainly be reduced versus where we were a year ago. They were at a very high level a year ago and I said at that time that the total volume of underspends and the way they materialised so quickly was not acceptable. In terms of how we will pay...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It could have an effect because it depends on how we treat those figures. What has happened in the past, for which I have been criticised, is the level of Supplementary Estimate that has been brought into debates, it was spent and then the budget day package came on top of that. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has been critical of two aspects. First, it has been critical of the level of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy's question asked me to make the levels of rent in those two properties available to the Dáil, which I have done. In terms of why we are making use of those properties and paying those rent levels, it is because the OPW has judged that this is the best way of securing property for the State offices using these properties and that the rent is at a level it believes offers best...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the rental or even the tax arrangements of any particular company or organisation in the State. However, this is an issue which I did investigate in the context of the tax strategy group papers we published during the summer. In these, we assessed the contribution entities like this are making to housing and commercial property output in the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As a result of the debate I had with the Deputy on last year's Finance Bill regarding the level of tax associated with the organisations and companies in question, I put in place a process which led to the publication of the tax strategy group paper this summer. My strong view is that all companies, large and small, must pay a fair level of taxation. The Deputy knows I cannot comment on any...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is responsible for monitoring expenditure allocations on a monthly basis at departmental level. Responsibility for individual projects rests with the relevant Departments. Accordingly, managing the cost of both the national children’s hospital and the national broadband plan projects is a matter, in the first instance, for the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My recollection of what I said on “RTÉ News: Six One” is that it would be paid for from Government revenue. However, the Deputy is correct that if we move into a no-deal Brexit scenario, then the country is likely to be running a deficit for a period as we respond to the consequences of dealing with that shock. If that were the case, the Government has not made a final...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am happy to give the Deputy Cowen an answer now. I was apologising to him because the question on legal penalties had not been answered and I thought it had been answered. I will make sure he receives information tomorrow, insofar as it is available to me, to clarify where the Government stands on the national broadband plan. Any delay in the Minister, Deputy Bruton, bringing a...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the ongoing reform of the public investment management systems, we are updating our public spending code. The purpose of this update is to strengthen the existing guidance to better align with the realities of project delivery and with a particular focus on improved appraisal, cost estimation and management. Clearly, our experiences with the national children's hospital earlier...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the issue to which Deputy Cowen refers and it is one that we are evaluating. The challenge we have is that if a company submits a tender for a particular project, unless there are exceptional extenuating circumstances, we must evaluate that tender for the project. The Deputy has been understandably careful in referring to this issue. Some companies that experience...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To use the Deputy's analogy, if the same player had a bad outing in the semi-final but played well in the quarter final and did very well in the group stage, how should we assess all of his performances? This is the calculus that we have. I understand the point the Deputy is making. If things do not go well in a project but the company in question had delivered many other projects very...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carbon Tax Implementation (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government's climate action plan sets out ambitious savings targets across all sectors of our economy. The Departments responsible for the achievement of those targets are incorporating and developing policies and measures required to reach them. As part of the work that is under way, we are evaluating what role carbon tax will play. In response to the particular questions the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carbon Tax Implementation (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: When the Deputy refers to the views of experts, I will quote back to him the Climate Change Advisory Council, which refers to a rise in carbon tax as an essential component of achieving decarbonisation. That was the recommendation and view of the panel whose job it is to advise all of us on the kind of change we need in responding to the challenge of climate change. The Citizens' Assembly...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carbon Tax Implementation (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Many of the issues that Deputy Pearse Doherty is raising can only be dealt with in the context of the decision that is made on budget day and in the finance Bill that will follow. I am confident that if the House does make a move on carbon taxation, we will be able to give clarity regarding how that is ring-fenced. That is what we would love to do. The Deputy made the point that taxes have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Carbon Tax Implementation (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: -----in the context of the role that carbon pricing can play.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Just to reiterate some of the points I made earlier, what we are doing is looking at changes that can be made in the public spending code that build on the experiences we have had in respect of the national children's hospital and the national broadband plan. The cost relating to the national children's hospital was got clearly wrong and the length of time involved in delivering a project of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I have already acknowledged and outlined to the House on many occasions how the costs in regard to the national children's hospital and the national broadband plan will not impact on the kind of issues the Deputy is referring to. Deputy Cowen earlier asked how we are going to pay for these projects and I pointed out that, in the period from 2021 onwards, when the costs of these projects...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Whatever the Oireachtas was across that period, it certainly was not an accountability-free zone.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not know where the Deputy was across that period. I spent a lot of time in this Chamber, answering questions about the national children's hospital and the national broadband plan, as I should, given I am accountable to the House. I spent a lot of time in front of various Oireachtas committees, at which my role in regard to these projects and the decisions that I made were amply...