Results 25,281-25,300 of 32,924 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Staff Remuneration (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In respect of recruitment in the United Kingdom I understand 420 applications have been received for posts. That work is under way. In response to the Deputy’s first question about standing over this, I did not do this. This decision was taken in December 2010 when our country was facing gigantic economic difficulty. Now, because of the change in our circumstances, it has been...

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Staff Remuneration (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Deputy Shortall for raising this matter, which I know to be of interest to many within the House. The issue, as the Deputy described, relates to the campaign by the INMO and other nursing unions, including the Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland and SIPTU nursing unions, aimed at restoring incremental credit for the 36-week clinical placement undertaken in the fourth and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Government Economic and Evaluation Service (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: In January 2016, it was agreed that the Department for Public Expenditure and Reform, in its remit as the lead Department for the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES), would take the policy lead in bringing a more coherent, planned and informed approach to the application of Behavioural Insights/Economics in the Irish public service.  My Department is...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Semi-State Bodies Remuneration (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Guidelines on Contracts, Remuneration and Other Conditions of Chief Executives and Senior Management of Commercial State Bodies issued in 2006 and recently updated in 2016 provide general guidance on remuneration and related terms and conditions of employment for newly appointed Chief Executives of commercial state bodies.  In this regard the position of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff Data (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The table outlines the number of retired public sector employees who are in receipt of a public sector pension that have been re-employed either part time or full time, temporary or otherwise by my Department or by bodies under its aegis. Organisation Number Department of Public Expenditure and Reform 1 Public Appointments Service 94 The Office of Public Works 0 Institute of Public...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Nursing Staff Remuneration (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Incremental credit for the 36 week clinical placement undertaken by 4th Year Student Nurses was abolished by the then Government in December 2010 as part of a range of measures aimed at reducing the public service pay bill. In the context of the Lansdowne Road Agreement it was agreed between management and unions that the issue of the 36 week incremental credit would be examined in relation...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Nursing Staff Remuneration (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Incremental credit for the 36 week clinical placement undertaken by 4th Year Student Nurses was abolished by the then Government in December 2010 as part of a range of measures aimed at reducing the public service pay bill. In the context of the Lansdowne Road Agreement it was agreed between management and unions that the issue of the 36 week incremental credit would be examined in relation...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Contracts (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has not awarded any contracts to taxi companies since the formation of this Government.  The Office of Government Procurement, which is a division of the Department, puts frameworks agreements in place for use by other public service bodies but does not award contracts on behalf of any other body and can therefore only comment on its own...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Strategy Statements (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The development of a three-year Statement of Strategy is a requirement of every Government Department under the Public Service Management Act, 1997. Under this legislation, a new Statement of Strategy must be submitted to a Minister within six months of their appointment. Therefore, the process to develop a new Statement of Strategy is well underway in my Department.  This work...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Lansdowne Road Agreement (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I refer to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 891 of 16 September 2016. The position remains unchanged.  Those unions/associations who hold representation rights for public service grades who subscribe to collective agreements such as the Lansdowne Road Agreement attract the benefits of such agreements as do members of such grades who are not members of those...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Notwithstanding that my direct responsibility is for pensions in the civil service rather than the wider public service, I am not aware of any public service pension payment at the level referred to by the Deputy.  In 2016 to date, there have been 2 lump sums paid to retiring senior civil servants with a value in the range of €250,000 to €270,000. These are the highest...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff Data (4 Oct 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: As requested, please find information on the number of staff employed in my Department and the number of those who are on secondment into my Department in the table. My Department is also responsible for the National Shared Services Office "NSSO" and the Office of Government Procurement "OGP", and I have provided the information requested in the table following.  The use of secondment...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Chairman. When I appeared before the committee earlier in the year, I agreed to return for a discussion following the publication of the mid-year expenditure report. Members will recall that my Department’s group of Votes comprises a significant number of Votes, as follows:(i) The Vote for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Vote for the Office of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: No. What we have always been conscious of, and the Government and I have articulated this on a number of occasions, is that we need greater recognition of the difference between current and capital expenditure when they are being accounted for within national accounts. Where progress has been made is in how capital expenditure is treated differently within the fiscal space measurement...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: No, we are dealing with the Commission on how capital expenditure is recognised. With an economy and a country like our own that has such growing capital needs in the future and, clearly, a high level of social need now, we believe that capital expenditure needs to be evaluated in a different manner. That is why we are dealing with the matter of how capital expenditure is dealt with on our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: The other dimension of the fiscal rules is management of the fiscal space in the way the Government is committed to. One should see a decline in the debt and the deficit begin to reduce, to converge on becoming a surplus as the Government is committed to balancing its books. The flexibility that one gains in the health of one's key metrics, like debt and deficit levels, is what then gives...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: No. We are allowed to spend it, clearly, but it must be treated in a particular way. To directly answer the Deputy's question on how can these rules and guidelines help during a period of economic contraction, where they are meant to help is when one is in a period of either growth or stability. One uses that period to get the deficit down and get debt under control so that when one is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: No. The measure of the expenditure rules, and where they put their focus on, is on the structural deficit. Recognition is taken of that in the expenditure benchmarks. As the Deputy well knows, the purpose of the structural deficit is try to strip out the volatility that happens in the revenues of a Government at any point in time. The expenditure benchmark is also calculated so that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: It is €600 million in current expenditure, €250 million in capital expenditure and the Minister for Finance has said it is around €300 million for tax measures.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2016: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29 Sep 2016)

Paschal Donohoe: Of course, I cannot.