Results 24,841-24,860 of 32,961 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not need any encouragement to wake up. I am well aware of the capital needs of our country. I am also well aware of the difficulties that families are facing in regard to accessing our health services and the stress and anxiety families have faced across December and January. However, in any analysis of what we do to make progress, it is relevant to make the point that expenditure and...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I said, "in some sectors of our health service".

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is in recognition of the fact it is an important qualification that I made the point. I understand what is going on in different sectors of our health service but, cumulatively, as I said, what we have seen is an increase of just over 10% compared with where we were a number of years ago. It is due to an understanding of the sectoral challenges that are faced, particularly within our...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Chambers for her points. I make a broad point that this illustrates the contradiction and challenge I face as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Everywhere I go I face demands for more public expenditure and frequently, in the same analysis, people then go on to accuse me of breaching fiscal rules and expanding fiscal space. I must try to reconcile both...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Did I miss a question from the Deputy on capital expenditure?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I accept the Deputy's point. However, there is a broader issue. The Oireachtas is not a benevolent bystander in all of this. I had to manage a political process that had many participants, including the Deputy's party. We have an agreement with her party which it wants me to honour, and I had to deliver that. It was an exceptionally difficult process. While I take the Deputy's point...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: My God, that is news to me.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I was not expecting that charge today.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will begin with health expenditure and then deal with the Deputy's points on pay policy. I will fully answer the question on staffing because it is important to put this on the record. In December 2013 there were 8,353 people working in the medical and dental sectors of our health service. That figure was 9,692 in November 2016, an increase of 16%. There were 34,169 nurses, there are...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Before we assess a policy, we should allow it to be announced. I understand that will happen very soon. I know the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, will make an announcement regarding an action plan for rural Ireland. My understanding is that the challenges rural Ireland faces, which I know well and have experienced, regarding depopulation and the availability of public services are a concern...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I cannot for the life of me extrapolate from the statement I made to the Deputy how I confirmed her view on the policy.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I said we should await the announcement of a policy before we make our minds up about it. How the Deputy can deduce from that statement the content of the policy is a matter for her. There is nothing at all short-sighted in what I have said. I can only assume that her opposition to this scheme is shared by Deputies Kelly and Penrose and I look forward to hearing them confirm that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I will not give a quick answer to any of the Deputy's questions because if I do so, he will be back here holding me to account on it. I have said that I will work across 2017 to identify how we might fund the sum out of public expenditure and savings within public expenditure overall in the same way the same approach last year yielded €168 million-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: No-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: If the Deputy is going to let me put a point to him, he should let me finish it off.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I have answered the Deputy's question-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: -----but I will not get into a binary approach because the Deputy will have me back before the committee holding me accountable for the answers I give him.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: It is normally when people assure me that matters will not be confrontational that they end up being confrontational. This is like AOB in a party meeting.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Estimates for Public Services 2017 (Revised): Discussion (17 Jan 2017)

Paschal Donohoe: I did not in budget 2017 identify an efficiency figure and I did not at that point identify the savings we had delivered across the entirety of 2016.