Results 461-480 of 6,622 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Civil Service (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I would like the Minister to put on the record of the House the programme for Government commitment on the context around the planned review of the Civil Service blended working policy framework. As I mentioned in another context earlier, in recent weeks the Department of Social Protection, for example, went on what I might describe as a solo run and requested that staff return to the office...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Civil Service (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: It seems to me that the Department of Social Protection jumped the gun with its solo run on this. It jumped the gun on the programme for Government commitment. Nobody has any difficulty with a review. The existing policy, though, has been in place only since 2022, and I would not advise the Civil Service and public service or the Minister to take any example from the code of practice of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Civil Service (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: If I am reading correctly what the Minister is saying, he is comfortable with what the Department of Social Protection did in recent weeks, essentially instructing staff to come back to the office without agreement two days a week. By the way, that may seem reasonable to some, and I am not saying it is unreasonable. What is unreasonable is the lack of consultation and the unilateral nature...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Functions (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: 70. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide details on the full number of staff who will be assigned to the proposed dedicated infrastructure division in his Department; if he will provide details on the range of skill sets that will be available within the division; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5127/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Functions (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: This question is on the commitment made in the programme for Government to create a dedicated infrastructure division in the Department. Will the Minister put on the record the range of skill sets that will be available, the number of staff to be employed and the overall complexion of that particular division, which will be critical to the development of crucial infrastructure in our country?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Functions (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Minister very much. The creation of this division seems to be a halfway house between Fine Gael's manifesto commitment to a Department of infrastructure and Fianna Fáil's own ambitions in this area, as reflected in its general election manifesto. The division will be headed by a deputy Secretary General. That is also the case in some other Departments. I believe the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Functions (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I will put the Minister behind the 8-ball, if I may. I have no doubt from speaking to his Government colleagues that Government has one, two or maybe even three principal objectives in respect of the expeditious delivery of critical infrastructure in the early part of the term of this Government. What are the most important infrastructure development projects that could be supported by this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Programme for Government (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: 66. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when he will conclude the process of workforce planning referred to in the programme for Government for the public sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5124/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Programme for Government (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: Will the Minister put on the record the position relating to the programme for Government commitment on the process of workforce planning? It is referred to in the document adopted by the House. Will he elaborate on precisely what that means, what the process involves and when he expects to complete that initiative?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Programme for Government (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I am glad the Minister made the point that the public sector ought to be the employer of choice. It needs to be the exemplar and best practice needs to be shown. A degree of workforce planning in the ranks of junior Ministers has taken place this week. The Minister claimed that because of an expanded population we require additional Ministers of State. We had that debate yesterday. He is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Programme for Government (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: IBEC has even made an assessment in recent years and has caught up with the position of the Labour Party and others that our State is not only too small to service current economic and social needs, but future economic and social needs and ambitions. I will make two points. The first is that when we talk about agility, the public sector and the private sector need to be agile. There is now...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I thank the Minister of State. We know, and I will not recount, the different overspends around OPW projects that have been interrogated by the media, and indeed in this House, during the last period. The OPW is a very proud organisation with a long track record of achievement throughout the entirety of the history of the State. I do not want to see the OPW, its staff and the work it...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I look forward to seeing that guidance. I assume it will be published and made available to Members of the House because it is important in respect of accountability and transparency in State organisations, and governance, more generally. This morning, and during the past 24 hours, there was a separate matter to do with the public spending code - the outrageous overspend on an IT project...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: It has a brand issue, there is an issue with the OPW brand. The Minister of State said in an article in the Mail on Sunday he wants to rebuild the brand. What does he mean by that?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: It is complicated.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: 62. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform how he plans to ensure that the OPW and its structures deliver best value for money outcomes on all projects; the timeline for the completion of any proposed reforms in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5404/25]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Projects (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, back to the Dáil and congratulate him on his appointment. I look forward to working with the Minister of State in order to hold him to account but also to ensure progress in his Department in the context of what is an important role. There is reference in the programme for Government to ensuring that "the Office of Public Works (OPW)...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Relations (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: There is more than a grain of truth in what some colleagues said earlier but I would not put it in the way they have. There is an imbalance in the Irish economic and enterprise model and we are all aware of that, notwithstanding that we have to recognise the incredible work being done by Enterprise Ireland. I remind Deputy Tóibín to look at the Enterprise Ireland job statistics...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Relations (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: 7. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide details of any assessments made by his Department on the impact on the Irish economy of the possible introduction of certain tariffs by the US Government that will act as a barrier to trade between the United States and the EU; the preparations his Department is making to deal with this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5148/25]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Relations (13 Feb 2025)

Gerald Nash: My question relates to a matter which has been raised on two separate occasions in the House this morning, that is, the impact of potential tariffs being considered by the US on Ireland and the EU's trade with the US and any assessments the Department may have undertaken at this stage on that impact. The Minister addressed the matter earlier but I have a couple of related questions in the...