Results 6,041-6,060 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Directives (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: Directive (EU) 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law ("the Whistleblowing Directive") was adopted in October 2019 and Ireland has until 17 December 2021 to transpose it into Irish law. Ireland already has comprehensive whistleblower protection legislation in place in the form of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. Transposition of the Directive will require...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Defective Building Materials (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The remediation schemes arising from the use of defective concrete blocks come under the remit of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The management and administration of the schemes are therefore a matter for that Department.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Northern Ireland (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Irish Government has advocated strongly for a new EU-funded cooperation programme between Ireland and Northern Ireland for the 2021-2027 EU programming period. I am very pleased that such a programme has been secured. The new PEACE PLUS programme will combine and build on the current North South cross border cooperation programmes, PEACE IV and INTERREG VA., and will aim to build peace...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Circulars (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: In 2019, my Department published Circular 20/2019: Promoting the use of Environmental and Social Considerations in Public Procurement. The Circular instructs Departments to consider including green criteria in public procurement processes where: - Clearly defined, quantifiable, verifiable, and measurable criteria have been developed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Policy (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: Since its establishment in 2011, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council carries out an important independent role in assessing Government’s fiscal strategy. In its recent Fiscal Assessment Report (FAR) the Council has produced a detailed analysis on the fiscal projections in the Stability Programme Update (SPU) and also on the fiscal response to the Covid crisis. In this regard, it is...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Funding (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: As part of the budgetary process each year, my Department sets overall expenditure ceilings for each Ministerial Vote Group. These are laid out at Budget time in the Expenditure Report with further detail then provided in the Revised Estimates for Public Services. Following allocation of each Ministerial Expenditure Ceiling, it is a matter for each Minister to assign funding as appropriate at...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Government, has committed, in the Programme for Government, to mandating public sector employers to move to 20% home and remote working in 2021. In this context, My Department is, as a matter of priority, working with employers across the Civil Service to develop the longer term approach to remote working in the sector. My Department is also working closely with the wider public sector...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Development Plan (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The appropriateness of including social considerations needs to be examined on a contract-by-contract basis and there needs to be sufficient flexibility to allow each individual contracting authority to decide what, how, and when social considerations can be used. It is not intended to include social clauses incorporating employment activation measures in public works contracts generally...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Development Plan (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 165 together. The review of the National Development Plan is currently ongoing. As part of the Programme for Government the review was brought forward to 2021 in order to assess the resourcing requirements for the most important challenges facing us as a nation including climate action, infrastructural challenges, housing, balanced regional...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The additional hours introduced on foot of the Haddington Road Agreement are of significant value to the State and critical to supporting the delivery of public services, including in front line services in health, education, Revenue and Social Protection, where they are deeply embedded in their delivery structures. This increased capacity was evident over the last year with the agility,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Programme for Government makes a number of commitments in relation to more balanced regional development. This includes, where possible, the commitment to prioritise the siting of new State Agencies and Government Offices in towns and cities outside of Dublin. While many Departments may traditionally have been headquartered in Dublin, over half of all civil servants are now located...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: Officials from my Department engage on an ongoing basis with colleagues in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) on multiple policy and operational issues, including consideration of principles for a Higher Education Staffing Agreement. The purpose of a Higher Education Staffing Agreement, once...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Broadband Plan (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 141 and 159 together. The National Broadband Plan (NBP) contract was signed in November 2019, and is being delivered by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) under a contract to roll out a high-speed and future-proofed broadband network within the intervention area, which covers 1.1 million people living and working in over 544,000 premises, including almost...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 167 together. In the period from 2014, prior to the impact of Covid-19, the overall fiscal strategy adopted by the Government greatly improved the monetary position of the State with the deficit at the end of 2014 of €7.1 billion or 3.6% of GDP moving to a surplus of 0.5% of GDP at the end of 2019. The position regarding gross general...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Government, has committed, in the Programme for Government, to mandating public sector employers to move to 20% home and remote working in 2021. In this context, My Department is, as a matter of priority, working with employers across the Civil Service to develop the longer term approach to remote working in the sector. My Department is also working closely with the wider public sector...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The matter of a four day working week has been raised by the Four Day Week Ireland campaign led by Forsa, ICTU and other civil society groups. Correspondence on this issue has been received in my Department and I note that the campaign has engaged with the Tanáiste on their proposals. In the context of the civil and public service, there are two main concerns in considering a move to...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Children's Hospital (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Minister for Health and his Department have oversight responsibility in relation to the National Children’s Hospital. I understand that the Minister for Health is in the process of preparing an update on this matter for Government.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Supports (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Brexit Adjustment Reserve represents an important response by the European Union to the challenges posed by the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU. Ireland played a leading role in securing support for the Reserve at the marathon European Council meeting last July. The purpose of the Reserve is to help counter the adverse economic and social consequences of Brexit in the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: State Bodies (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: Data from the State Boards website indicates that the average gender breakdown of the 2,120 board members is now 45% (954) female and 55% (1,166) male. There are 208 non-vacant boards (a vacant board is an established board with no board members currently in place). In 2021, 34% of applicants to State Boards were female, and 52% of those appointed to State Boards were female. 108...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: Workers across the economy, including of course our public servants, have made an extraordinary contribution during the COVID pandemic and I would like to pay tribute to them. Notwithstanding the sacrifices and efforts of the last year or more and the progress we have made in recent months to roll out vaccines, this pandemic remains an ongoing challenge for us all and it continues, for now,...