Results 23,841-23,860 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Appointment of Taoiseach and Nomination of Members of Government (14 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is looking very beautiful.

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is going to be challenging, because we have many different competing demands. We are working hard to see how we can identify new funding. We have already made progress on this by the identification of a further €2 billion between now and 2021 and 2022 and we are engaged in other pieces of work, for example, with the European Investment Bank, to see if there are additional ways of...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 13 together. The 10% reductions in starting pay for certain new entrants were introduced in January 2011 as part of the national recovery plan in order to reduce the public service pay bill by the then Government.  The issue of addressing the difference in incremental salary scales between those public servants who entered...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Let us talk about some figures amidst the Deputy's comments. From 1 January 2017, under the measures I agreed alongside the Minister for Education and Skills for INTO and TUI members, a new entrant will be paid a salary of €35,837. By 1 January 2018, when the second half of new entrant restoration has occurred, it will be considerably ahead of that. Amidst all the claims the Deputy...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is because the principle of fairness I must respond to is different from the one the Deputy is concerned with. I must be able to make sure I am fair to people who need services and to people who need housing and make sure we have the money available to build housing. The Deputy comes in here and deals with each issue in isolation. I must be able to deal with each matter collectively...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am glad the Deputy acknowledged it there. If he can come up with a recipe for me as to how we can find €1.4 billion immediately while meeting all the other needs he raises with me on a regular basis, I look forward to hearing what that formula is. If he could also assure me it would not destroy the economy that produces all the tax to deliver the services we are talking about, I...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: There is a plan in place to respond to many of the different needs referred to by Deputy Durkan. As set out in the Estimates 2017, it is projected that capital expenditure will increase by almost 75% between 2016 and 2021 but as I have acknowledged in responses to earlier questions, we know there is a need to find new ways to invest in capital infrastructure in our schools, hospitals...

Other Questions: Flood Relief Schemes (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: With regard to the different questions the Deputy has put to me, due to the presence of the pearl mussel in some stretches of the river and its protected status, the scheme could not progress, which was the Deputy's point, until a proposal was submitted to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. This was submitted in June of last year. The NPWS responded by stating that it had no...

Other Questions: Flood Relief Schemes (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: There are two questions there. From a funding point of view, €74,000 has been expended on this project to date. The project budget will be finalised before exhibition, but we expect that the approximate cost of this will be around €3 million. I can confirm to Deputy Moynihan that this is included in the financial profile of the OPW up to 2020. Assuming that the cost is in...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Submissions in relation to the mid-term review and the additional funding available were sought by my Department in January and have now been received. Submissions were not sought at that time by my Department directly from local authorities as we do not allocate funding directly to local authorities nor was it envisaged that the review would seek to determine the...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not think the process we have put in place makes a lie of us. The way in which we handle expenditure is by making the funding available to Government Departments, as the Deputy has just said. Government Departments either allocate that funding to local authorities or instigate work on their behalf. The process we put in place was publicly advertised. If a local authority wanted to...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government will be the deciding body on how it handles funding between the local authorities for which it is responsible for. That being said, I always find it helpful to see submissions like this, and I will read them. It allows me to understand whether there are any particular projects out there or any particular needs that could...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: On understanding the cliff, before the summer I will publish an analysis of where we are with the stock of capital investment in the country and our view on changes that need to be made in the future. On the quality of existing infrastructure, of course, I understand our needs pertaining to housing and higher education. The Deputy gave some examples of what he believed to be infrastructural...

Other Questions: State Bodies Expenditure (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 24 and 41 together. The Commissioners of Public Works advise that the agreement in place with Caranua for its current accommodation in Frederick Court, Dublin 1, is an administrative arrangement by way of a simple exchange of letters between them and Caranua. It details a rent contribution of €106,000 per annum, with a commencement date of 1...

Other Questions: State Bodies Expenditure (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The one question I cannot answer for the Deputy concerns the arrangement involving the OPW for the current building. I do not have the information required but will find it for her. On the other question the Deputy asked me, the Department of Education and Skills replied to a parliamentary question on 9 May 2017 addressing the responsibilities of Caranua as an independent statutory body...

Other Questions: State Bodies Expenditure (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not ignoring the Deputy's question, nor am I attempting to do so. She asked me about the rental agreement between Caranua and the Commissioners of Public Works. I have provided for her all of the information available. On why Caranua is being asked to pay rent, this is a matter between the board of Caranua and the OPW. If the latter is providing accommodation for agencies that are...

Other Questions: Flood Relief Schemes (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am advised by the Commissioners of Public Works that the Baile Mhúirne and Ballymakeera scheme is at outline design stage, on which the preferred options for the scheme are being finalised. The River Sullane has a history of containing freshwater pearl mussels which have protected status as an Annex II listed species under the EU habitats directive. An environmental survey was...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As I said earlier, PPPs offer an alternative way for delivering infrastructure. The question refers to the 10% rule and whether we are seeking to review that. The current requirement is that, taken together, future costs in respect of PPPs should not pre-commit more than 10% of the overall aggregate capital funding projected to be made available to future Governments in an individual year....

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will provide guidance on the role of PPPs as part of the capital plan review that is under way to allow agencies, if I believe it is appropriate, to deliver projects via the PPP model. The Deputy said he was concerned about my view on prices going up and cost overruns. One of the roles of my Department is to ensure that taxpayers' money is being used in the right way and that we are...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (1 Jun 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Over the coming years, the Government intends to increase capital expenditure, as clearly outlined in our capital plan. When account is taken of the additional €5.14 billion now committed to capital investment over the period of the plan, capital expenditure will reach 11% of gross voted expenditure in 2021, or almost 75% higher than we were in 2016. We do need to be careful to avoid...