Results 5,421-5,440 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Broadband Plan (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Implementation of the National Broadband Plan (NBP) is solely the responsibility of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC). Neither  I, nor my Department receive any monitoring reports with regard to the project, nor do we make recommendations or findings with regard to its delivery.  As part of standard expenditure management processes, my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) 2022 was published on 15 December 2021, presented to the Dáil on the same date and has been referred by the Dáil to the Select Committees for consideration. Just under €83 billion in gross expenditure is allocated across Departments in the REV, with a further €4.6 billion being held in reserve primarily to allow...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Industry (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Construction Sector Group (CSG) was established by my Department in 2018. The CSG ensures regular and open dialogue between government and industry on how best to achieve and maintain a sustainable and innovative construction sector positioned to successfully deliver on the commitments in Project Ireland 2040. Among the cross-cutting issues which the CSG has focused on in recent...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: An amount of €7 billion was made available in Budget 2022 to provide for measures to mitigate the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of this amount, €3.1 billion has already been allocated at Departmental level in the 2022 Revised Estimates, including €0.2 billion for projects funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This allocation includes provision...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Staff (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Section 483 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, provides for a gift on an annual basis to be made to the Minister for Finance to be applied for any purpose for or towards the cost of which public moneys are provided.  Gifts are accepted by the Minister for Finance.  Gifting of salary is a personal matter for individual taxpayers.  If an official wishes to gift part of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (the “Commission”) has the power to regulate the provision of “secretarial facilities” to Members. “Secretarial facilities” is a term encompassing the staff employed under the Scheme for Secretarial Assistance. The Act requires the Commission to obtain the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Programme for Government commits to use the opportunity of EU consideration of reforms to European-wide whistleblowing provisions to review, update and reform our whistleblowing legislation and ensure it remains as effective as possible. Transposition of the EU Whistleblowing Directive (Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law) will require...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Protected Disclosures (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Legislation to amend the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 to provide for the transposition of EU Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law ("the Whistleblowing Directive") is at an advanced stage of preparation and will be published shortly. The Pre-legislative Scrutiny Report on the draft general scheme of the Bill, prepared by the Joint Committee on...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Chapter 4 of Building Momentum - A new public service agreement, 2021-2022 provides that the parties to the Agreement recognise and accept that certain measures introduced under the Public Service Stability Agreements, including the “Haddington Road Agreement” are considered outstanding matters to be resolved as part of this Agreement. In this context Section 4.2 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Freedom of Information (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The availability of an appeal to the High Court on a point of law is an important safeguard in the Freedom of Information (FOI) process.  While the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) has developed great expertise over the years, there will inevitably arise instances where a person affected by the outcome of a review process may believe that the OIC’s decision is...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Economic Policy (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) 2022, published by my Department in December set out allocations at Departmental level of almost €83 billion to Departments, with a further €4.6 billion held in reserve, primarily to address the continued challenges posed by Covid-19 and Brexit, to be allocated during 2022. This funding provision is in line with the agreed...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The gross capital underspend of €580 million, as published in the Fiscal Monitor on 5 January 2022, represents the provisional underspend for 2021.  The Comptroller and Auditor General, following his detailed audit of each Departments’ accounts, will formally endorse the expenditure outturn for 2021 later this year. The €580 million variance as published does not...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Public service pay has been governed by a system of collective agreements since the Croke Park Agreement was negotiated in 2010. These collective agreements have helped to ensure that public pay is managed in a sustainable, affordable and orderly manner. These agreements have also enabled significant reform of public services and changes to work practices. The current public...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Revised Estimates for Public  Services (Rev 2022), published on 15 December 2021, sets out for each Vote the numbers of civil  and public service employees at end-year in full-time equivalent terms (FTE). The aggregate amount included in the REV in respect of 2022 is a total of 380,492 (FTE) with a total of 366,264 (FTE) for 2021. The 2022 position represents an increase of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Ensuring appropriate funding of supports for our people, the economy and public services has been a key priority for Government over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over €16½ billion in funding was made available for measures to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic during 2020, which provided for essential economic and societal supports. This provided...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Programme for Government (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: In Programme for Government – Our Shared Future, the Government set out a commitment to developing a set of well-being indices to create a well-rounded, holistic view of how Irish society is fairing.  In July 2021, the Government published the First Report on a Well-being Framework for Ireland.  This initial Framework has set out an overarching vision of “enabling...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: The Civil Service Renewal 2030 Strategy - 'Building on our Strengths' - commits to developing and implementing flexible working models, including the acceleration of online systems, virtual teams and blended working options.  In July, 2021 the Government approved a Policy Statement on Blended Working in the Civil Service.  The Policy Statement commits the Civil...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy will be aware, this Government has approved the allocation of record levels of capital expenditure to Departments over the last number of years and will continue to do so as demonstrated by the publication of multi-annual capital allocations out to 2025.  The Public Spending Code (PSC) sets the value for money requirements and guidance for evaluating, planning and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: Chapter 4 of Building Momentum - A new public service agreement, 2021-2022 provides that the parties to the Agreement recognise and accept that certain measures introduced under the Public Service Stability Agreements, including the “Haddington Road Agreement” are considered outstanding matters to be resolved as part of this Agreement. In this context Section 4.2 of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Ethics in Public Office (20 Jan 2022)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy may be aware, the current statutory provisions (the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 and the Standards in Public Office Act 2001, cited together as ‘the Ethics Acts’) oblige the Attorney General to disclose interests (including those of family members) which may materially influence the performance of his or her functions to both the Taoiseach and to the Standards...