Results 2,641-2,660 of 32,527 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cost of Living Issues (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: We will work on this in the weeks and months ahead. I do not feel I can put a timeframe on when we expect bills to come down. It is not my role to do so. I re-emphasise the expectation we have that, given the vast amount of our country’s money the Government has spent - €9 billion since January 2022 - to help with the rising cost of living, which for much of its duration was...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this. As he will be aware, the NDP, published in October 2021 provides a detailed and positive vision for Ireland over a decade, involving total public investment of €165 billion. The urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, was established to deliver more compact and sustainable development, as envisaged under this project. It currently...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I will certainly work with the Deputy on that. I am very familiar with all of the issues in Swords that he mentioned. I am also very much aware of the impact that population growth has had on the existing infrastructure, such as schools, public transport and all the issues he touched on. The projects I have outlined in my answer, particularly from a transport point of view can make a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Development Plan (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Because some of these projects are so big, it takes a long time to do them. Even with that recognition, I know many commuters feel that we have been talking about projects such as the metro for a long time and they want to see reality. I fully take the Deputy's points regarding the different projects he has raised on behalf of his constituents. He can be assured that I will work with him...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Naval Service (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As I know the Deputy is aware given his involvement in these matters, we have already made three different pay actions following on from the high level action plan the Government agreed, as I said a moment ago, last summer. I am engaging with the Tánaiste on a number of these recommendations. It is difficult for me to give a timeline on that at this point because we have some further...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Naval Service (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: They are indeed two significant matters and I can understand why the Deputy is pressing them with me. He is 100% correct this is an earned allowance. Activity is taken, in return for which the allowance will be made available. However, the Deputy will be aware such allowances are not unique to the Defence Forces, despite the extraordinary work they do. We have similar allowances in place...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The public service Exchequer pay bill is estimated to be almost €24 billion in 2023, which accounts for almost one third of current expenditure for the year. Details of departmental allocations are set out in the 2023 Revised Estimates Volume. Departments are required to meet pay costs from within these approved allocations. Pay in the public service has been governed by a system of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I am very much aware of the importance of the work that adult education tutors perform across our society. There are 3,300 of them working to support the adult education sector and they work across 16 different education and training boards. However, the terms and conditions of adult education tutors are a matter, in the first instance, for both the Department of Education and the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department fundamentally has to be satisfied that any offer, any agreement that is made, is consistent with our overall approach to public pay. It is vital that we do this because we need to ensure that all public servants are treated equitably and fairly. My Department does have a role to play in ensuring this consistency is in place across all of our public servants. As I said to the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Naval Service (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, these are matters first and foremost for my colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, to be consistent with the answer I have just given to Deputy Mairéad Farrell. However, I will certainly address the Deputy's question from the perspective of my own Department. A series of enhancements to pay and terms have been introduced for the Defence...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP), rests with the...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Funding (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98 and 105 together. I thank the Deputy for his questions and for his ongoing interest in the PEACEPLUS programme. I am very pleased that this new cross-border EU programme is now on the cusp of opening. PEACEPLUS will succeed the outgoing INTERREG VA and PEACE IV EU programmes, supporting shared peace and prosperity across the programme area of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Funding (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 102 and 109 together. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan is funded under the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) with Ireland in line to receive €915 million in grants over the lifetime of the Facility.  The RRF is a performance-based instrument with payment contingent on the achievement of milestones and targets....

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Procurement Contracts (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Ireland’s National Action Plan on Green Public Procurement (GPP), ‘Green Tenders - An Action Plan on Green Public Procurement’, was published in 2012. ‘Green Tenders’ did not specifically outline targets for use of central purchasing arrangements, such as green framework agreements. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, as...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Development Plan (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery, and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments.  Management and delivery of individual investment projects within the allocations agreed under the NDP is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister.  In response to the changed mandate for my Department in terms of...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Funding (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Cohesion policy is the EU strategy to strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion of Member States, through measures to reduce disparities in development between regions.  The European Commission classifies regions as Less Developed, Regions in Transition, or More Developed, based on GDP per head of population.  The Northern and Western Region is a Region in Transition with...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: National Lottery (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The use of expired unclaimed prize money from National Lottery ticket sales is set out in the licence to operate the National Lottery, which was won, following an open competition, by Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) in 2013. The Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL) is an independent regulatory office established by statute. The role of the ORNL is set out in...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Procurement Contracts (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The focus of the Procurement Reform Programme is to further develop the potential of strategic procurement, with an emphasis on sustainability and social considerations, public works reform and innovation. A review of the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) commenced in March 2019 to improve the delivery of construction projects in terms of quality, timely delivery and cost...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Sector Staff (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The labour market has shown marked improvements in recent years, and this will continue with the Department of Finance forecasting employment growth of 1.2% this year. These tighter recruitment conditions have impacted on recruitment across all sectors of the economy. In parallel to these labour market developments, staff numbers in the public service have continued to grow over the last...

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Parliamentary Party Allowances (2 Mar 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware from her previous enquiries to officials in my Department, provision for the Parliamentary Activities Allowance is made under the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938 as amended, most recently by the Oireachtas (Ministerial & Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014.  The allowance is paid to the parliamentary leader of a qualifying...