Results 3,241-3,260 of 5,933 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementation of Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Does Mr. McLoughlin have any comments on capacity?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementation of Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Mr. McLoughlin is right to broaden it out beyond land alone. That raises the question of resources, both budgetary, available through the Housing for All multi-annual budget, and staffing. Do the witnesses think both local authorities have the numbers of people and finances needed, using Ms Farrelly's phrase, " to exceed those targets"?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Implementation of Housing for All: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I might come back on the affordability issue as there a lot of questions on that area. What is the opinion on the broader issue of staffing and resources?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the witnesses for coming in. I want to turn to the Department's role in establishing remote policy across the Civil Service. Remarkable things were done during the Covid pandemic with regard to seeing what was possible to do through remote working. Thousands of social welfare payments were processed in a manner and from places which we would probably never have sanctioned or...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: In Mr. Moloney's experience, how is that embedding in each Department?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Is Mr. Moloney satisfied that each Department is putting in place blended working options for public servants?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Is there any data collection in terms of percentages?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Mr. Moloney is correct that there are trade-offs with it as well. If we are really to analyse its success, does he envisage a role for the Department, given its central role in public service and reform, in reviewing how those policies have been implemented? Does he have plans to do that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: One of the scenarios in the current sort of war-time situation is that large users of energy may be asked not to operate at peak times. Does Mr. Moloney have contingency plans in terms of civil servants being asked to work from home during potential high usage periods or any period where we are not able to match supply with demand?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I was not recommending it, but it is a suggestion that has been floated in media debate and so on. At this point, there are no contingency plans in that regard.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I will move on to the value for money elements that were touched on by Deputy Dillon. I specifically refer to the value for money process in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, particularly with regard to the value for money sought for the procurement of housing. Does Mr. Moloney believe that model is sufficiently broad to balance also the spending in the Department of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: An issue flagged many times when I was a member of Dublin City Council was that, in essence, the Department of Social Protection saved millions of euro when the rent supplement scheme started to be phased out, but that burden was transferred, often to the local authorities in many ways, which were doing long-term leasing and other schemes. That holistic approach to housing is important. In...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: Mr. Moloney accepts that the value for money is clear in terms of the provision of housing when it is considered that the alternative is the procurement of hotel beds. The value for money is evident regardless of what the house costs. I am not saying we should pay any amount, but the cost of it is dwarfed by comparison with the cost the State is incurring in the context of emergency...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: This may stray into housing policy and Mr. Moloney may not wish to comment, but has the Department examined the use of the HAP scheme? An issue that has come up many times at the committee is that the people who are procuring one of the largest amounts of spending, namely, HAP, are some of the most vulnerable people in Ireland. They are the procurement manager for their own rents, yet the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 3 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 4 - Reallocation of Voted Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank Mr. Moloney.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: I agree with Deputy Colm Burke on workforce planning. Under the Department's approach to section 56 and section 39 organisations, the national pay agreement does not automatically apply to staff in that sector. In the longer term, this poses challenges to recruitment and retention in those areas. Deputy Burke made a valid point that, beyond apprenticeships and such, it is about the broader...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Prevention (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: 51. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide the probation services the resources they need to expand the strive programme in the Ballymun sub-district as recommended in the "Ballymun a Brighter Future Report"; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52123/22]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Crime Prevention (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: 61. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when she intends to respond to the recommendations in the "Ballymun a Brighter Future Report" commissioned by Dublin City Council and presented to the Taoiseach at the Dublin North West area Joint Policing Committee in July 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52122/22]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: 167. To ask the Minister for Health the yearly spend on sepsis awareness in the past five years; his plans to raise awareness of sepsis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52371/22]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality: Recommendations of the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality: Discussion (Resumed) (20 Oct 2022)

Paul McAuliffe: It is fascinating to follow this discussion. This committee is starting to look at what beyond quotas will look like. The question of what happens when 50% or 50 plus one is reached needs to be considered. We are still a long way off that in many places but it is about that idea of sustainability. I was at the unveiling of a portrait of Kathleen Clarke, the first woman Lord Mayor of...