Results 6,061-6,080 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

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

Michael McGrath: I launched the COVID-19 Remote Working Report in December 2020 following the Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey which took place in September-October 2020. Over 20,000 civil servants engaged with the remote working module making it the largest workplace survey on remote working undertaken in Ireland during the pandemic. As a follow on to the Launch, on March 4th2021, my Department...

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

Michael McGrath: The Deputy will be aware that the matter of community employment schemes falls within the policy remit of the Minister for Social Protection. I have however a strong appreciation of the role of Community Employment Schemes in communities right across the country and I know that this role could not be fulfilled without the leadership of the Scheme Supervisors. In this context I have...

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

Michael McGrath: The National Lottery does not undertake any expenditure on Good Causes, however I am pleased that €254m was transferred from the National Lottery Fund to the Exchequer in 2020 to be utilised by Good Causes projects. This represents a 1.4% increase on 2019 levels. As per the terms of the National Lottery Licence, 65% of gross gaming revenue is made available for use by Good Causes. The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (17 Jun 2021)

Michael McGrath: To date over €28 billion has been provided in direct voted expenditure measures for Covid-19 related supports across 2020 and 2021. This substantial additional funding has been critical in supporting our citizens and businesses devastated by the impact of the pandemic and providing the necessary funding to our key public services to allow them to respond effectively to the crisis. ...

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

Michael McGrath: The pyrite grant scheme comes under the remit of my colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and is administered by the relevant local authorities. This scheme was informed by the work of an Expert Panel and finalised in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and my Department. Any changes to the scheme would require a whole of Government approach. I...

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

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 236 and 243 together. It is a key responsibility of each Minister and Government Department to manage expenditure within the agreed allocations. In order to provide enhanced scope for Departments and Offices to manage staffing levels and composition within their allocated financial resources, a policy of delegated sanction was introduced by Government in 2015...

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

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 237 and 247 together. I fully acknowledge and appreciate the very important work undertaken by barristers who prosecute criminal work on behalf of the State and my Department has engaged constructively with key stakeholders including the Bar Council of Ireland, the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions and the Department of Justice in relation to this...

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

Michael McGrath: Civil Service Renewal 2030, a new ten-year strategy for the Civil Service, was launched on 21st May. In addition to publishing the strategy, the launch provided an opportunity to highlight a number of projects undertaken across the Civil Service which show the important work carried out by civil servants up and down the country, particularly in responding to the challenges the country has...

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

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 239 and 240 together. 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. On 12 May 2021, following approval from Government, I published the General Scheme of a Bill to amend the Protected...

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

Michael McGrath: The number of Civil Servants recorded as being on COVID-19 special leave with pay at the end of 2020 was 139. As at the end of May 2021, this number was at 14. Special leave with pay applies in lieu of sick leave for COVID-19 when an employee is advised to self-isolate and is displaying symptoms of COVID-19 or had a positive test. The full details of the criteria for, and duration of,...

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

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that neither my Department nor the Office of Government Procurement, which is also part of my Department, have incurred any costs associated with social media advertising in the period specified. This is also the position for the bodies under the aegis of my Department, with the exception of the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Public Appointments Service...

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

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that my Department incurred social media content production costs of €593.00 in the specified period. The purpose of this spend was for the continuation of a public awareness video recording on a social media platform, which advised of the extension of the deadline for submissions to the public consultation phase of the National Development Plan Review.

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

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that neither my Department nor the Office of Government Procurement, which is also part of my Department, have incurred any costs associated with public relations consultancy in the period specified. This is also the position for the bodies under the aegis of my Department, with the exception of the Public Appointments Service (PAS) and the Office of the National...

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

Michael McGrath: The cost of gov.ie until the end of 2020 was €2,446,252. This includes all hosting, development and content migration. However, the cost-savings of the project have totalled €2.92 million with further savings yet to be realised. There are also many other benefits associated with having a central point of access for government departments. This has resulted in a cost per...

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

Michael McGrath: A review has been carried out. This identified a range of issues – the majority of which have been addressed by the gov.ie development team. A follow-on accessibility review is planned and a report on this will be published on gov.ie in the coming months.

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

Michael McGrath: gov.ie is currently partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines. The main areas in which it is not compliant are: Tables: Tables need a new line of header code to be accessible. (This will be available by the end of July). Images: Not all images have image or meta-descriptions. (This will be fixed by mid-July). PDFs: Not all PDFs are accessible. (staff are being trained in making...

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

Michael McGrath: gov.ie has been in beta since October 2018 and will come out of beta once all departments are live later in 2021.

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

Michael McGrath: Action 6a of the 'Interim Climate Actions 2021' called on my Department to "Develop a methodology for the analysis of departmental capital investment proposals from a climate perspective" as part of the larger action to "Publish a revised National Development Plan detailing Government capital expenditures planned over 2021 – 2030." This methodology was developed by officials in my...

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

Michael McGrath: The actions committed to in the Interim Annex of Climate Actions by my Department are broadly focused on ensuring that the tools and procedures in use across Government, such as the Public Spending Code and public procurement rules, take sufficient account of climate considerations. The specific actions assigned to my Department include activities such as the progressive implementation...

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

Michael McGrath: I wish to advise the Deputy that in line with the requirements of Section 4 of the Public Service Management Act, 1997 my Department prepares a progress report on the implementation of its strategy statement annually. The Annual Report for 2020 was published on 12 May, was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and is available on the gov.ie website at this link: The Executive Summary of...