Results 26,161-26,180 of 35,894 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: Is the Minister referring to Oral Questions?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: They are still down by-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: There are 1,800 fewer parliamentary questions than the previous year.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: It is still a major dip in regard to parliamentary questions. The area I am most interested in is freedom of information requests. We have seen a steady decline in the number of freedom of information requests, from 265 in 2012 to 220 in 2013 and 148 to the end of November 2014. Unless there was a massive surge in December, we are going to see quite a substantial fall for 2014. I ask...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: Does the Minister have information as to the largest fee the Department charged under FOI last year?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: That might be a parliamentary question I will table.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: I have two issues. This Vote is not best suited to be under the Department of Finance and should be under the Department of Public Expenditure. Will the Minister explain the reason that the Vote of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General is under the Department of Finance, as opposed to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: Has the Minister considered the designation?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: It is more an expenditure issue than savings. The only other issue I had has been dealt with in great detail - Deputy McGrath raised the decrease in the number of published reports. Staff are being recruited, which is to welcomed. How many additional personnel did the office seek? We know that 14 staff are being provided.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: Has it indicated targets for the output of reports? Are we likely to see how we will measure the work of the additional staff?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: There should be no issue in terms of lack of resources or at least there has been no request for additional resources that have been denied to the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: I welcome the Minister's comments as former Chair of the PAC. There is a 19% increase for training and development. Where has that taken place? Revenue's submission was that the 125 additional staff that would be employed within Revenue and would result in the recoupment of approximately €100 million to the tax payer. Can the Minister clarify, in terms of the training and...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: What are the overall numbers of Revenue staff in 2014 and 2015?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: It appears that there has been a substantial increase from 5,714 in 2014 to 5,874 in 2015.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: Can the Minister explain why Revenue is operating at 227 staff below its allowance and has fewer staff than last year?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: With regard to 2014, does the figure of 5,745 only account for permanent staff?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: So at the end of 2014 there were 5,745 permanent staff and 140 temporary staff. Does the estimate of 5,874 staff in 2015 comprise of temporary and permanent staff or only permanent staff?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: It is confusing. The Minister has said that at the end of 2014 there were 5,745 permanent staff and approximately 140 temporary staff; that means there were 5,885 staff. However, the Minister has suggested that at the start of 2015 there were 5,647 staff. Did everybody leave after Christmas?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: I will ask the Minister about policy instead of the numbers and he can provide the numbers to the committee at a later stage.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Finance: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised) (18 Feb 2015)

Pearse Doherty: It appears that there has been a significant decrease in staff. With regard to the local property tax, has the Minister identified whether the cost of administering it has increased or decreased? I understand that the Revenue Commissioners have initiated court proceedings against 500 individuals; is there an estimation of the cost of administering the local property tax?