Results 24,541-24,560 of 33,392 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer the Deputy to my answer to Parliamentary Question No. 7 of 2 March 2017.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Teachers' Remuneration (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 670, 675 and 676 together. The Public Service Pay Commission has been tasked with providing an initial report to Government on public service remuneration in the context of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009 - 2015. The findings of the Commission will contribute to and inform Government's considerations in relation to Public...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: 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 public service employment since 2011 and those who entered...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has overarching responsibility for recruitment to the civil service only.  Persons recruited to direct entry positions in the Civil Service do not receive an allowance for holding a Level 8 qualification.  Any queries in respect of payment of allowances for educational qualifications in, for example the Education Sector or Health...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Community Sector High Level Forum (or Working Group) (previously the Informal Forum) was convened in 2015 and 2016 to examine certain issues pertaining to the Community Employment sector having regard to the implications for costs and precedent.  The Forum continues to meet, most recently on 7 April last, to give consideration to the issues to which the Deputy refers. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Pensions Reform (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware, an Interdepartmental Working Group, chaired by my Department, was established early in 2016 to examine the issues arising from prevailing retirement ages for workers in both the public and private sectors, in the context of the current age of entitlement to the State Pension and the scheduled increases to the State Pension age in 2021 and 2028.  The Group’s...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Submissions in relation to the mid-term review and the additional funding available, were sought from Departments in January and are currently being examined by officials in my Department. A public consultation process has also recently concluded to ascertain the views of the public and key stakeholders on what our national infrastructure priorities should be and to seek...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (2 May 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Public Service Pay Commission is due to report shortly in accordance with the general time frame envisaged when it was originally established. While pay matters generally are a matter for my Department it is the position that the issue of teachers’ terms and conditions of employment is a matter, in the first instance, for my colleague the Minister for Education and...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is my intention to make progress well before October on the process I have referred to. Before the summer, I aim to publish a paper that will provide an update to the House on the position with all capital commitments throughout the country and give an indication of the kind of capital investment we believe will be needed here in the next decade. I want to take stock of where we are now...

Other Questions: Economic Growth (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Sustainable public finances are essential for the continued progress of our country. The careful management of how we spend the taxpayers' money has played a vital role in stabilising our public finances, with the underlying Government deficit for 2016 estimated to come in below 1% of our national income. The Deputy will be aware that the economy continues to improve. The Central...

Other Questions: Economic Growth (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I am, but it is a continual area of real pressure that my colleagues, in responding to the different issues they face in their Departments, must do that within their expenditure ceilings. They and their Departments are fully committed to doing that but a real risk we face in light of the economic fork in the road at which we find ourselves is that each day different expenditure needs...

Other Questions: Shared Services (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: To answer the Deputy's question on the Bill, it is my objective to take that Bill to Committee Stage before the summer recess. The Deputy and Deputy Fleming raised a number of points regarding it, although I believe he is broadly supportive of it. The National Shared Services Office has been in operation since 2014. As the Deputy is aware, the Bill does not propose any change regarding...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the debate that the Deputy is referring to and have read literature on the matter. I will be careful in the commitments we make in this area. The Deputy referred to the 2013 study. What has changed since then is that, in some cases, due to the difference in the rate at which our country can afford to borrow, sourcing projects through public private partnerships so that...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government at the time believed the use of that road would not be at a level which would make it viable for the State to build the bridge. That was the risk. The assessment the then Government got did not match up to the level of traffic that materialised on the M50. The Deputy has pointed to PPPs that have not delivered, but we should also point to the PPPs that have, such as...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: The capital plan, when published in 2015, set out an Exchequer envelope of €27 billion for the period 2016 to 2021. The Government strongly recognised the need for increased investment in Ireland's public infrastructure and used economic growth at that point to increase capital expenditure. The provisional outturn of gross voted capital expenditure in 2016 was €4.1 billion....

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Overall levels of capital expenditure have been the subject of much debate in this House. The Irish Business Employers Confederation, IBEC, recently published a commentary and views on the matter. It is important that we are clear on what the figures are. In 2013, the State invested €3.4 billion in capital expenditure. For 2017, it is €4.5 billion. It is an increase of...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I have not yet heard any Deputy come into the House and criticise me for increasing expenditure ceilings to put more resources into the health service last year or make funding available to deal with flooding and the refurbishment of primary school buildings. If anything, every day I face criticism for not increasing them enough. There are continual demands for more expenditure in many...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I am confident that the expenditure ceilings for the health budget this year are robust. They need, however, to be tracked every single month, as they are. I engage in this matter with the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, who is as committed as I am. In respect of maintaining discipline on overall Government expenditure, it is evidenced by the fact that expenditure in the...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Aggregate information on the future cost of each PPP project is available on my Department's website, but I will take the Deputy through the figures she has requested.  My Department is updating the projections for the future cost of these projects, with the assistance of the various sponsoring agencies, as part of the regular annual updating of PPP...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Expenditure ceilings provide Departments with greater clarity regarding available resources. They also help underpin significant engagement on expenditure priorities throughout the year rebalancing the previous focus on one single budgetary event in October of each year. The Estimates process and the determination of expenditure ceilings now takes place as part of a whole-of-year budgetary...