Results 20,021-20,040 of 34,135 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The short answer is yes, it remains a priority for me. Further engagement is taking place on the matter. As to whether it will be included in the budgetary package and budget 2019, there are many different competing demands on it but I am entering into discussions with the union leadership on this matter in good faith to see if we can find some way of dealing with it. We have published a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, we did meet in June. My Department has met the unions on the matter across June and before then. The Deputy asked me if I am committed to dealing with the matter in budget 2019 and he went on to ask if this would be irrespective of how it would be implemented or the costs involved. I cannot give that commitment irrespective of costs or implementation, as the Deputy knows, but as I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: That is a fair point. One of the reasons I announced the capital allocations for many years in advance as early as I did is experience has taught me, particularly when I was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, that telling a Department in October what capital expenditure it will have available the following year for constructing new projects inevitably means that such funding is not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In my time in both the previous Dáil and this Dáil, I have never heard anybody argue that we should have completed the deficit correction quicker. If Deputy Cowen is arguing that, it is a new departure.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: If Deputy Cowen is arguing it, then it is truly-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is truly a new departure in economic policy this afternoon if Deputy Cowen is arguing that we should have done the deficit reduction quicker.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course, I am aware of the political price that Fianna Fáil paid but, as the Deputy will be equally aware, that is paltry in comparison with the price the people of Ireland paid for the ruination we all went through across many years.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As I stated, I am happy to look to ensure that further detail is provided to the House as we move through the rest of the year.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Regardless of whether Deputy Cowen insists on it or not, I have already given a commitment to do it.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy Cowen asked a question and I stated that I will do it.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I would make the point that when I started off in this role I heard so many people say that what we need to do is increase capital expenditure. I have now increased capital expenditure, by €800 million this year and by €1.5 billion next year.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The signs of that are evident across the country-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: -----for example, in the new figures that have come out today that further point to the rate of unemployment in the country falling.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Gender Balance (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The gender breakdown of staff in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance is as follows. There is a tabular format for all this information being shared with Deputy Bruton separately but the following are the key points. The percentage of female staff in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform stands at just over 54%. In the Department of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It will depend on the reason for the overrun. If one looks at the structure of the summer economic statement, one of the major reasons for carry-over costs is the impact of costs generated in the previous year where there is a reasonable expectation that those costs will carry forward into the next year. We are now documenting that more publicly than has been the case in the past. If the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It will be later on in the year because we have to better understand all of the causes of the overspend versus the figures the HSE has published to date. We will have to know what those are in advance of the budget. As such, it will be known before that. I will be working closely with the Minister, Deputy Harris, on that. The director general of the HSE will no doubt put forward a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Summer Economic Statement (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In my role as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at a departmental level. I do not have a direct role in respect of project selection. Decisions on how departmental allocations are invested and what projects are selected are matters in the first...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I acknowledge the fact Deputy Cowen has raised this issue with me on a number of occasions. I want to inform both him and the House that I will be bringing a memorandum to the Government meeting on Thursday seeking approval for the publication of the relevant Bill, which is to be entitled the Public Service Superannuation (Age of Retirement) Bill 2018. Subject to Government approval, which...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I always said it would be my intention to publish this Bill and see it enacted this year, and we are going to deliver against that. If no interim measures were in place, I would understandably have been criticised for the lack of such interim measures, given the interest many public servants have in accessing the provisions of this scheme. To answer the Deputy's point, the interim...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Legislative Measures (3 Jul 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have honoured the commitments I gave recently in regard to publishing the legislation and bringing it forward. It has taken time to draft this Bill because of the complexity involved in evolving the terms and conditions of the many people who work within our public service and Civil Service. To answer the Deputy's question in regard to whether it is at the discretion of the employer,...