Results 25,181-25,200 of 32,924 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am responding to the question the Deputy put to me in respect of wage restoration. What is absent in any part of the view she has put forward today is a recognition that large numbers of civil and public servants are inside the Lansdowne Road agreement.

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Remuneration (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course the Deputy has no interest in acknowledging any kind of progress, just as she has no interest in recognising the huge amount of engagement that has taken place with the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. That engagement will continue as we seek to put in place an agreement that is...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: With regard to current levels of investment, we are looking to do more than just keep up with demographics, particularly in education and health. One of the benefits of the new approach that has been adopted in how we class government expenditure is that we set aside the portion due for demographics. I have always acknowledged that we must hire a certain number of teachers just to maintain...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: This has happened in the past according to submissions that Departments made to my Department. For example, the Department of Education and Skills would highlight what it believes to be the main educational priorities, and the same would happen for other Departments. We are looking to operate differently with this capital review process. My Department will outline our long-term...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I have. In the Estimates process that we went through for the 2017 budget, I asked Departments to specify, where possible, over a three-year timeframe what would be their particular capital needs. Not all Departments were able to do it but most were and the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, put forward a view on the capital needs required for the third and fourth level...

Other Questions: Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes. In trying to respond to the kind of issues referred to by the Deputy, we have already decided and made it clear to the relevant Minister, Deputy Coveney, that from the additional resources that we believe will be available to the country for the coming years, we will allocate a large portion to the Department dealing with housing. From the €5.3 billion that should be available...

Other Questions: Institutes of Technology Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I agree with the Deputy. I hope we can reach a classification of the borrowing levels that will ensure this can be done in an affordable and sustainable way. I agree with the sentiments the Deputy has concluded with.

Other Questions: Brexit Issues (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am a member of the Taoiseach's committee and attended a further meeting of it this morning along with the Minister of State in my Department, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. I anticipate that the committee will meet even more frequently in the coming weeks and months. At meetings of the committee, I am obliged to update the Taoiseach and other Ministers on work I am undertaking in respect of...

Other Questions: Brexit Issues (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, they have in the context of discussions we had on the recent budget. In particular, I was approached by the Departments of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There was also a particular focus on Brexit by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton. Much of his focus was on the development of the third-level education sector here in the...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Responsibility for the delivery of public services and meeting targets on front-line services is a matter for each Minister and his or her Department. We are in constant communication with them on this, in particular as we approach the end of 2016. There is very regular reporting to Government on these matters and information is published monthly and made available to me as part of the...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not expecting an overrun in any Department. I have made it very clear to all of my colleagues, in particular in the higher spending Departments, that we must deliver against the commitment we have for budget 2016. In fact, many plans for 2017 are predicated on commitments colleagues have to deliver within budget this year. My answer to the Deputy's supplementary question is the same...

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: As to where we are for this year and next year, following the recent revision to our national income, or GDP, figures, the Department of Finance expects Ireland's nominal gross domestic product for 2017 to be approximately €275 billion. Therefore, the current State-backed investment plans for next year will stand at 2.5% of nominal gross domestic product and 3.1% of nominal gross...

Other Questions: Community Employment Schemes Supervisors (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I will put in place a chairman to get that work under way again. This relates to the debate I had with Deputies Murphy and Broughan earlier as one of the issues I face is the knock-on effects of such an arrangement across other sectors. For example, there are more than 3,000 section 39 bodies in the health sector. They are in receipt of State funding and they have their own employees....

Other Questions: Institutes of Technology Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 30 together. A key consideration in relation to the scope for independent borrowing by institutions in the higher education sector is whether the subsequent expenditure funded by the borrowings is classified as falling inside the general government sector and, therefore, whether it impacts on the general government balance.  A...

Other Questions: Institutes of Technology Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I hoped the Deputy would acknowledge that we are trying to create the legal provision to deal with this matter. I acknowledge the case he is making, which has been made to me by the Minister for Education and Skills. This is the reason an enabling provision has been included in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016. We still have to resolve the matter of who would be able to...

Other Questions: Institutes of Technology Funding (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016, which has just been published. I will then need to deal with the issue of IOTs being able to access that borrowing because they do not all have the same financial health and cannot borrow in the same way. Great strides have been made in delivering more student accommodation around DIT and elsewhere but in recognition of the challenge this...

Other Questions: Expenditure Reviews (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In my statement on the expenditure Estimates on budget day, I announced that a spending review will take place in advance of budget 2018. The exact review will be determined over the coming months but will be informed by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service paper, Spending Reviews in Ireland: Lessons for the Future. This was published within the expenditure report for 2017....

Other Questions: Expenditure Reviews (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The main way we will deal with the consultation needs within the Oireachtas that the Deputy outlined will be through engagement with the relevant Oireachtas committee. It would appear to me at this stage that the best committee for engaging with this process would be the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. I am open to feedback from colleagues on that. There will be a savings figure that we...

Other Questions: Expenditure Reviews (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I have not yet set a budget for this work. My anticipation would be that nearly all of it would be done in-house because I am confident that I have the expertise within my own Department to do this work in the way it needs to be done. If there are any particular areas of focus that require external support, I am happy to look at them. However, I believe we will be able to do nearly all of...

Other Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (19 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Based on data sets that are available to my Department in respect of public service pensioners across all sectors, it is estimated that savings of the order of €85 million per year would be generated for the public finances if pensions were capped at €50,000. I should point out, however, that the payment rates and award levels of higher value public...