Results 21,801-21,820 of 34,135 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I agree with what the Deputy said. It was good of him to acknowledge the fact that we have managed in recent years to make better use of digital technology in the number of different ways we provide public services. I take his point that it is not working as well as would want in a number of other areas. From my experience of representing a constituency that relies a great deal on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I appreciate that. I know from talking to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, that in dealing with legislation as important and as sensitive as this Bill, we appreciate the support of any party for it. We are eager to see if we can get to a place where we have the support of the majority of parties and politicians in the House. It is a Bill that is all about our profession, how it is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will put the Senator's points into different groups. With regard to his concerns about the obligations the legislation will impose on local authority members, I know the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, met a number of Senators about the matter and has also met the local authority representative bodies. He is listening to what they have said and we are going to see whether there is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We will formally report at least once a year. We will publish a paper to state how we are doing versus the indicators in the paper. Within the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, there will be a small team whose job will be to pull this together each year and publish it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We do not have a formal policy on that currently. In the context of the work we are doing, it is a matter at which we could have a look. The one watch-out we need to have is that if one moves beyond a certain level in the public services, one could well acquire knowledge and a skill set that would be of greater value to an employer on the other side of the table. That private value could...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, there is a balance. That said, what I have seen happen at assistant principal, principal officer and Secretary General level is that a number of individuals leave the public service, go through whatever cooling-off period they need to - if they need to but most do not- then go to work in the private sector and come back again. I have seen that happen most in the areas of international...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The flow going in the direction of the public service is a significant help to us. I am eager to look at how we can deepen that. Getting private sector people, who are at a point in their careers where they want to work in a different environment, is helpful to us in the context of certain specialised roles.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: No, not in the terms of the provision of public services. Where it has come up is in the duplication of providing information. While it is not the key issue, it is up there near the top in terms of citizens asking why they have to provide all their information, for example, for a SUSI application when the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has it already. That is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not bring my phone in with me anymore.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: On procurement, first, I believe anybody who wins a contract through the public procurement process should do so according to terms and conditions that enable people who work for them, either directly or indirectly, to be paid, and to be paid in accordance with the law in terms of the minimum wage and protecting people in the workplace. For any contract that is awarded on that basis I would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not intend that anyone would be a permanent member of TLAC. As with any appointment I make, it is for a specific period of time. If we have made any appointment that creates the impression that somebody has been a permanent member of TLAC I will follow up on that because that is not my intention. I believe the membership should change. I will see if we can get the information for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a great project. It is funded mainly by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I launch its annual report each year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I cannot say. I will find out for the Deputy. I do not have that information now, but I imagine that my Department is a significant funder of it. Benefacts pulls together into a single dataset all of the information available about how public bodies and charities are funded. I have looked at its website. If one wants to find out form where an organisation receives State funding, it will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I have just been told that Benefacts was previously funded by Atlantic Philanthropies, but my Department is now the main funder.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Our Public Service 2020: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I imagine it is for 2017.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The average tax wedge is used by the OECD to measure the extent to which taxes on labour income discourage employment. The tax wedge is defined as the ratio between the amount of taxes paid by an average single worker without children (i.e. a worker on 100% of average earnings) and the corresponding total labour costs for the employer including employer social insurance costs. Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Disabled Drivers and Passengers Scheme (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: To qualify for the Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers Scheme an applicant must be in possession of a primary medical certificate (PMC). I have no function in relation to the issuing of PMCs. A Senior Medical Officer for the relevant local Health Service Executive administrative area makes a professional clinical determination as to whether an applicant satisfies the medical...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Code (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Proposals for tax harmonisation at EU level are not new. The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base has been discussed for a number of years and was first formally proposed in 2011. In line with the Programme for Partnership Government, Ireland is constructively engaging in the debate on the CCCTB proposal while critically analysing the extent to which the proposal impacts Ireland's...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Coverage (13 Feb 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I am conscious of the difficulties that the absence or withdrawal of flood insurance cover can cause to homeowners and businesses, and that is one of the reasons the Government has been prioritising investment in flood defences over the last number of years. However, you should be aware that the provision of insurance is a commercial matter for insurance companies, which has to be based...