Results 2,761-2,780 of 32,527 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I think the eight to which the Deputy referred are under the financial management shared services programme. The aim is to bring in another eight this year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: From my understanding, the vast majority of civil servants are paid either weekly or biweekly. We think very few are paid monthly. Would it be possible to change the frequency of payment? I would imagine that would be a tough thing to do because it is part of the employment contract. I imagine that the State, as an employer, would also have to consider the cash flow consequences involved...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: What expenses is the Deputy referring to?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: This is all due to IT costs. It is administration non-pay. The NSSO, understandably, is a heavy user of IT. A significant investment incurred in the renewal of annual licences. There was also an increased IT allocation to allow the upgrading of an important IT system for the NSSO.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I have asked that I am recused from legislation in that area for the time ahead. I believe that is the appropriate step to take. The Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath, will be dealing with that matter. I understand the FOI legislation will come in front of the Dáil for Report Stage shortly. I will ask my officials to pass on to the Minister, Deputy McGrath, the issue the Deputy...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I will have to check that for the Deputy. I am pretty sure that she is correct in saying that it is a recommendation. I am reasonably sure that is the case. However, I will have to double-check for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Could I interrupt the Deputy briefly? While she is raising some matters about the OGP with the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, I will step outside for one moment.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I will be right back for any further questions the Deputy has.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: In answering a question from Deputy Farrell, I mistakenly believed that she had referred to the protected disclosures legislation. I said I had recused myself from that but my officials told me she was actually referring to freedom of information legislation.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I misunderstood her and obviously misheard what she was raising. The freedom of information legislation process is still under way. I will be involved in that and where it stands at the moment is that there will be a final review report presented to Government for consideration in the first quarter of 2023.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I am happy to have a look at that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I imagine the number of FEMPI changes still in place, from a pay point of view, are very few given that the wage restoration process under way is more than complete for the vast majority of public servants. What that query may refer to is the requirement that those in the pension scheme make greater contributions to their pensions in the future. That is a long-standing feature of the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I believe the majority of those payments have been made but I will ask the Department of Health for a further update on the matter.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Revised) (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I want to be of help to the committee in pointing out that Oireachtas pensions are not paid for from Vote 12; they come from the Central Fund. What will be paid for here are the pensions of civil servants. On the two questions the Deputy put to me, I am not aware of the matter having been given consideration for many years and I have not considered it. Since I have not considered the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Social Media (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I wish to advise the Deputy that a deferred reply will be issued to her in respect of this Parliamentary Question, in line with Standing Order 51(1)(b).

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ukraine War (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 122 together. Welcoming and providing humanitarian supports to refugees from Ukraine has been a key priority for Government. A range of supports have been put in place for those arriving in Ireland. Budget 2023 made provision for up to €2 billion in voted non-core expenditure to continue this response. In Budget 2023 initial Ukraine related...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy may be aware, I have overall policy responsibility in relation to public service occupational pension schemes payable to retired public servants. Since 6 April 1995, all newly-appointed public servants became fully insured under the Social Insurance System.  They pay Class A PRSI, which would entitle them to Social Insurance Benefits such as, maternity benefit, illness...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: European Union (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: 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 fulfilment of agreed milestones and targets.  Ireland’s Plan sets out sixteen investment...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Legislative Measures (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill 2021 is a Private Members Bill introduced by Deputy Mairéad Farrell and Deputy Sorcha Clarke on 28th September 2021.  I understand that it was considered at Second Stage in the Dáil on 3rd February 2022 and that a motion was passed on 9th February 2022 resolving that the Bill be deemed to be read nine months from that day. In relation...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Policies (8 Feb 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (DPENDPDR) sets overall capital expenditure ceilings for all spending Departments. Once these have been agreed by Government, it is a matter for individual Departments to prioritise projects within these ceilings. In this context, the Department of Health is responsible for the...