Results 2,941-2,960 of 35,540 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Who sets the investment strategy for ISIF? Is it the Minister? Is it Government?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Is there anything to preclude ISIF from divesting from anything, whether nuclear weapons companies, environmentally-damaging companies or companies operating in illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine? Is there anything to stop ISIF's strategy dealing with that, or does it need a law to be passed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: That is the point. The bombs are raining down on children, women and innocent civilians right across Palestine. It does not require a change in the law. We have put this forward. The Government has delayed this by nine months but it does not require a law to be changed for ISIF, in my view, to do the right thing. I do not understand it. A change in the law is not needed. ISIF's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Mr. Gilvarry is speaking from a departmental point of view but it is not the Department that sets the ISIF strategy. ISIF itself can do this. Does Mr. Gilvarry accept that? I know the Department is dealing with the Attorney General on legislation and all the rest, and I am going to leave it at that. I have not gone into the meat and bones of this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Okay. I ask the Chair to give me a few minutes. The National Reserve Fund has €6 billion in it. How many years did we miss the legislative requirement to put money into that fund? There was a legal requirement to put money into the fund, and the Minister brought a resolution every year to say it would not be done this year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that, and this legislation allows for it as well. I just want to know how many times it was done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: On the investment strategy, it can be invested inside or outside the State. That is common to both funds. What is the NTMA's thinking with regard to the proportion of investment, if any, that would be State-wide? I know there are risks when one invests in the State. What is the thinking at this point in time?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: I hear that. The point is well made. According to the general scheme, "The Agency shall publicly disclose the investment strategy determined from time to time". Do the witnesses have any sense of whether that will be on an annual basis?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Perfect. I wanted to clarify that in terms of the heads of Bill. The issue of 8% of GDP was dealt with. On the balance standing to the credit of the National Reserve Fund, €4 billion is going into the future Ireland fund and €2 billion is going into the ICNF in 2024. Is that being liquidated at the minute?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: In terms of the Minister doing what he did with the future Ireland fund, namely, bringing a resolution before the House to say that he, or perhaps she in the case of a future holder of the office, is not putting the money in, the general scheme refers to an evaluation to determine whether "a significant deterioration in the public finances has occurred each year or where that deterioration...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: The serious deterioration could be looked at. Is it a serious deterioration based on the projections in respect of the public finances, which is one thing, or a serious deterioration in the public finances, which is another? We could be in a situation where we are in surplus but we actually do not want to put this money into the fund because legislatively it is locked away until 2040, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: I have two final questions on the ICNF. Each year, €2 billion is being invested, and the total contributions will be no more than €14 billion. The general scheme allows the Government to increase those contributions following a resolution passed by the Dáil, but they can never go above €14 billion. The Government is not going to meet its climate targets, so the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: From my reading of head 12.3, it allows for additional contributions to be made. Perhaps the committee can get a note on that or somebody else can pick up on it. With the indulgence of the Chair, I have one last question. Roughly €4 billion is going into the future Ireland fund and €2 billion is going into the ICNF each year, which amounts to €6 billion going into...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Debt reduction?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Paying off debt?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: Is that wise, if the return on these investments is actually higher than the cost of the debt, especially if we are doing it on a fund that can be liquidated?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: General Scheme of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill 2023: Discussion (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: They could be higher. The point is that we may get a higher return. If you talk to anybody at home, and I know there are issues in terms of the reputational damage, the funders are looking at the funds and whether the money can be accessed. If we are talking about debt of 2.5% and a return of 3%, why would we be using our money to pay down debt when we can get a 3% return that will becomes...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Service Executive (22 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: 207. To ask the Minister for Health if there are properties in the Pettigo area of County Donegal that are owned by the HSE but not currently being used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51421/23]

Health Service Recruitment Freeze: Motion [Private Members] (21 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: It is the Minister who mismanaged it.

Health Service Recruitment Freeze: Motion [Private Members] (21 Nov 2023)

Pearse Doherty: We want the Minister to fund them.