Results 6,061-6,080 of 14,554 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: This is probably a continuation of the discussion the Minister had with Deputy Burton. More importantly, it focuses on the 10% rule in public private partnerships. The Minister's colleagues, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Leo Varadkar, have been promising infrastructure projects like...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: Yes, there is a cost and these moneys must be repaid. We all accept that. However, consider the opportunity costs of not having proceeded with some of the projects that PPPs are currently funding. The costs we repay include maintenance of roads and so forth, so we must do something. I share Deputy Burton's concerns about the Minister's remark on whether we have capacity to deliver and...

Other Questions: Public Private Partnerships (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: I do not want that outcome either, but I am anxious to see a pathway to deal with the serious infrastructure bottleneck facing our country in so many areas such as housing, roads, ports and airports, which is being discussed at every hearing of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. We all want the country to develop economically, but our current infrastructure is pulling down our chances of...

Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 7. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress made under the public service information and communications technology strategy; the amount of money spent on the strategy; the Departments to which it has been rolled out; if he is satisfied that the investment to date in 2017 has represented value for money; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26202/17]

Other Questions: Information and Communications Technology (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: The number of very serious IT outages, which affected people's information in recent weeks and months, has highlighted the importance of a proper public service technology strategy, particularly given the amount of data and information it controls. I want to discuss with the Minister the progress of the strategy, what the Government is prioritising in terms of investment in the strategy and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: I welcome the confirmation of the figure of €209 million. The Minister quoted from the Public Service Pay Commission report, but it also stated there may be an issue of equality regarding the different pay scales. Our public service is different. When we send two gardaí out on the streets this evening, one of them will be on one pay rate, the other on another one. They are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: I accept that pay is one issue and there are others, and that has been highlighted by the Public Service Pay Commission, but it is the Minister's Department that is effectively the human resources, HR, agent for Government. He and his Department need to take the lead in concentrating on these issues. He needs to pull the HSE in and ask why we are losing the best graduates we have to offer...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 1. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has compiled data from other European countries on the different ways public sector and civil servant pensions are administered, the amount they pay on average per employee and the rules they have for public pensions and in total; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26201/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: I seek some information from the Minister on the background to pensions and the data his Department is using. I tabled this question in anticipation that we might have some sort of resolution to the current pay talks, so I would appreciate it if the Minister could give the House an update on the status of the talks and when he envisages they will be competed. I understand they will not be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: On the pension issue, can the Minister clarify if any work was done specifically in advance of this round of talks? Has the Government made proposals in this round of talks around pensions and pension contributions? With regard to the talks, does the Minister have a new timescale in mind? Can he confirm the reports that even though we are ten days into the process, a pay offer has yet to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pensions Data (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: With regard to pensions, changes were made to pensions and all the people involved suffered deductions as part of the financial emergency measures in the public interest legislation. I am aware the Minister has an ongoing engagement with the Alliance of Retired Public Servants, but what status will its members have in terms of the pay talks? This affects them. I know they have a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 3. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to provide for equal pay for new entrants into the public service; the timeframe he expects this to become a reality; the cost of implementing same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26408/17]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Regulations (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 20. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to support the passage of the Public Services and Procurement (Social Value) Bill 2017 which passed Second Stage, and was referred to select committee on 22 February 2017; the measures he is taking to ensure that contracts are structured in a way that enables SMEs to compete; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Relief Schemes Status (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 34. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the flood prevention programme; the key projects that will be carried out in 2017; the key projects that have been completed in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26200/17]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Staff Data (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 180. To ask the Minister for Health the number of trips taken by each hospital in 2015 and in 2016 to recruit nurses; the amount spent on each trip and on expenses associated with the trip; the number of nurses recruited on each trip; the number of nurses that subsequently commenced employment in the relevant hospital; the number of nurses still in employment at each hospital to 30 April 2017...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Staff Recruitment (1 Jun 2017)

Dara Calleary: 181. To ask the Minister for Health the amount spent by his Department, by agencies of his Department or by the HSE in recruiting nurses from abroad in 2015 and in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26456/17]

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Submissions (Resumed): The Environmental Pillar (31 May 2017)

Dara Calleary: I welcome representatives from the Environmental Pillar. Unfortunately they are here on a day when it seems that President Trump is about to declare environmental war on the world by pulling out of the Paris Agreement.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Submissions (Resumed): The Environmental Pillar (31 May 2017)

Dara Calleary: It actually makes our discussion more relevant. I have a number of questions on the aggregates levy. At present there is a serious issue with pyrite around the country. It was confined to Dublin for some time but is beginning to emerge all over the country. Would the proposed levy assist in dealing with that and in ensuring that it does not happen again?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Submissions (Resumed): The Environmental Pillar (31 May 2017)

Dara Calleary: Obviously the diesel equalisation policy will have the biggest impact on our agricultural sector, which is already facing enormous challenges as a result of Brexit. What would that equalisation cost the agricultural sector? What effect would it have on jobs in that sector?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Pre-Budget Submissions (Resumed): The Environmental Pillar (31 May 2017)

Dara Calleary: The representatives are benign on green diesel, even as an anti-smuggling measure. Is that correct?