Results 20,221-20,240 of 33,392 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Sick Leave (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: This response sets out the position in relation to pregnancy related sick leave and antenatal leave. The full terms of the Public Service Sick Leave Scheme are set out in Appendix A. The need to protect women during pregnancy and ensure that they are not discriminated against is reflected in the design of the sick leave scheme. The following extra protections are given to a female worker...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Sick Leave (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have overarching responsibility for the Public Service. However, the arrangements for antenatal appointments in sectors other than the Civil Service are a matter for the relevant Minister. In the Civil Service, pregnant staff are entitled to such paid time off as is necessary for attendance at ante natal clinics. Such time off is not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Properties Data (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In relation to the properties held by the Commissioners of Public Works for which I have responsibility, I refer you to the recent PQ 55217/17 answered on 16th January 2018 for details of vacant properties and sites. In the case of other sectors, each State body is responsible for responding to requests for information on the property, they hold. I also refer the Deputy to the Question...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Contracts Data (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has no current contracts with the company in question. The following table sets out details of previous contracts the Department had with the company and details of a relevant Office of Government Procurement framework. Department Year Purpose of Contract Type of Contract Value of Contract Department of Public Expenditure and Reform...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Regulations (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The assessment of a tenderer's financial and economic standing is a key part of any procurement process. Establishing the appropriate suitability criteria that are relevant and appropriate to a particular contract is, of course, a matter for the contracting authority concerned. This is because the contracting authority is in the best position to gauge the appropriate levels of financial...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Private Partnerships Data (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112, 113 and 115 together. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) is an arrangement between the public and private sector for the purpose of delivering infrastructure or services which were traditionally provided by the public service. In effect, it is a form of procurement available to the public sector. There are a number of different PPP models which...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Private Partnerships Cost (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department's role in relation to Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) is to maintain and develop the general policy framework (including, where necessary, the legal framework) within which PPPs operate. It also provides central guidance to other Departments and State Authorities in that context.  My Department has no direct involvement in the procurement or delivery...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Disability Act Employment Targets (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the civil service is an equal opportunities employer and all recruitment campaigns, including the Temporary Clerical Officer campaign, are conducted in strict compliance with the Codes of Practice set out by the Commission for Public Service Appointments. Codes include the Code of Practice governing the External and Internal Appointments of Persons with...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Proposed Legislation (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, the Government agreed on 5 December 2017 that the compulsory retirement age of most public servants recruited before 1 April 2004 should be increased to age 70.  The Attorney General’s Office has been asked to prioritise the drafting of the necessary legislation so that the new compulsory retirement age will become effective as soon as...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (1 May 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The most recent meeting of the Community Sector Forum took place on 23 November 2017. Previous meetings took place on 24 February 2017 and 7 April 2017. It remains the position that the minutes of these meetings await formal approval by the parties to the Forum and will on such approval be publicly available on my Department's website.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Financial Services Regulation (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The decision to grant or refuse credit is a commercial decision on the part of a regulated entity and there is no legal or regulatory barrier that prevents a licensed credit institution from lending to a person or company that may have an issue with their credit history.  However, lenders are required to conduct thorough affordability or creditworthiness assessments.  There are...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Application (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The legislation governing the administration of Local Property Tax (LPT) provides for a limited number of exemptions from LPT. There is no specific exemption for properties affected in the way described in the Deputy’s question and there are no plans to introduce such an exemption. LPT operates on a self-assessment basis and it is a matter for the property owner in the first...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As you may be aware, the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme provides relief from VAT and VRT (up to a certain limit) on the purchase of an adapted car for transport of a person with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities, payment of a fuel grant, and an exemption from Motor Tax. To qualify for the Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Central Bank of Ireland Investigations (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 65 together. "Insider information" as referenced by the Deputy is a form of market abuse. The Central Bank of Ireland has been designated as the single administrative competent authority for the purpose of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on market abuse. Securities markets activity encompasses a high number of participants engaged in significant...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Property Tax Exemptions (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by Revenue that the number of properties exempt from Local Property Tax (LPT) up to Quarter 1 2018, by exemption category, is available in the LPT statistics on the Revenue website at:. A breakdown of the cost by individual exemption category is not available but the overall revenue foregone for all LPT exemption categories is estimated at €13m per year.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Data (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have received the following response from Ptsb: “The Bank’s forbearance information is set out on pages 204 to 206 of its 2017 Annual Report. At 2017 year-end, the Bank had 6,157 (€1,162m) Residential Split Mortgages accounts and 390 (€111m) Residential Buy-to-Let Split Mortgage accounts. As these loans are classified as impaired under Accounting convention,...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Data (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have been advised by the Central Bank of Ireland that while it does collect and publish information on mortgages held by non-bank entities which includes unregulated loan owners, it does not give a breakdown in terms of how many are split mortgage arrangements. The number of split mortgage arrangements are available for PDH and BTLs. At the end of Q4 2017, there were 27,475 PDH mortgage...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Credit Union Services (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Credit Union Act, 1997 (1997 Act) sets out the services that a credit union may provide to its members. In addition, the Credit Union Act 1997 (Regulatory Requirements) Regulations 2016 (2016 Regulations) provides for services exempt from additional services requirements. Where a credit union wishes to provide services to its members, other than those services that are provided for under...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 to 88, inclusive, 90, 91, 96 and 97 together. I would refer the Deputies to my responses to PQ 54985/17 of 16 January 2018 and PQ 13684/18 of 27 March 2018.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Data (26 Apr 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the implementation of Project Ireland 2040, a number of actions are underway by my Department. We have now established the high level Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board, jointly chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Secretary General of the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, to provide strategic...