Results 4,661-4,680 of 9,550 for speaker:Jack Chambers

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: I thank the cathaoirleach and I thank everyone for the opportunity to appear before the select committee as it continues its consideration of the Revised Estimates for 2021 for Votes 1 to 6, inclusive. The committee has been supplied with a detailed briefing document for Vote 4, the Central Statistics Office, in advance of this meeting. A briefing for the other Votes was provided prior to...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: I apologise. I will use headphones. The WiFi in the convention centre does not always work 100%. Will I start again or continue?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: The Central Statistics Office is Ireland’s national statistical institute and is responsible of the production and oversight of the production of all official statistics for Ireland. The CSO is an independent office of the Civil Service under the aegis of the Taoiseach. The role of the director general of the CSO, as prescribed by the Statistics Act 1993, provides that the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: There is provision in its Vote. Given the multi-annual cycle of statistics, demand arises in certain years because of particular surveys, for example, the national census. If the Deputy looks through the Vote's various elements, he will see there can be a fluctuation in spending between years. With the National Statistics Board, NSB, the Government is strategically supporting our national...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: It will have an expanded role. Through the NSB, we have set out a new strategy for 2021 to 2026. It has been authorised. At its launch in recent weeks, I spoke about having trusted and independent sources of data. I am trying to embed some of the key priorities that the CSO has set out. We will support those priorities, for example, monitoring transformations in the environment, economy...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: As the Deputy is aware, e-health activity is led by the Department of Health specifically. As part of our engagement with Europe, e-health is referenced in the recovery and resilience facility. The national recovery plan was launched this week. We all recognise we need to strengthen the provision of e-health, but I do not know whether it is a direct competence of the CSO. The combined...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: The CSO was not subjected to the recent cyberattack that impacted the health service. It monitors its data and systems constantly and tries to follow best practice in that regard.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: No specific shortcoming in either office has been brought to my attention. If there is any, we can communicate that to the committee. The Estimates set out their respective Votes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: I can go into some detail on that. The census is a large-scale field operation that involves more than 5,000 staff and a number of visits to every household over a ten-week period. The success of the census requires the co-operation of every household. The decision to postpone it was not taken lightly. As the Deputy will appreciate, foremost in that decision was the safety of the public...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: It is a very good suggestion. The questions and follow-on questions have already been set. My understanding is that much of the paperwork around the census has already been printed in preparation for what would have gone ahead this year. I will ask my officials to take the Deputy's suggestion back as part of considerations for the 2026 census. We obviously want to get an in-depth picture...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: I will ask officials in the Department and the CSO to communicate to the Deputy the options that will be available to people when they are asked that particular question. I do not have that information to hand, but I will try to get it to the Deputy.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: Which office did the Chair reference?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: On Vote 2, which is the Department of the Taoiseach, the Chair will see there are currently no plans to engage consultancy services in 2021 but provision is made for them. No expenditure was incurred in the provision for 2020, for example. On the CSO-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: The provisional outturn for 2020 was zero.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: To be clear, provision was made for that last year but nothing was spent on that last year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: It is a provision. There are currently no plans to engage consultancy services in 2021, but a provision is made in case the need arises.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021 (Resumed)
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (3 Jun 2021)

Jack Chambers: On the Office of the Attorney General, the subhead includes provision for information technology-related consultancy fees and for other consultancies. The savings in 2020 arose from fewer than anticipated audits as the office outsources its internal audit function. The 2021 allocation reflects the fact that the office expects a full list of a series of internal audits to be undertaken...