Results 6,141-6,160 of 14,554 for speaker:Dara Calleary

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: The Government will meet the medium term objective next year in terms of the structural budget. That will then free up resources for capital expenditure in budget 2019. The Minister is currently in the middle of a capital plan review, but in terms of that pipleline, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has told us there are not enough projects to go into that pipeline. In terms of...

Other Questions: Shared Services (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: 19. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the progress of the National Shared Services Office; the progress of the Bill; the preparations in place for an expansion of the National Shared Services Office; the mechanisms in place to assess whether savings are actually made; his views on whether there will be resistance from the Departments to the expansion of the National Shared...

Other Questions: Shared Services (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: We discussed the shared services Bill here in December. I believe it was on the last day of the previous session. First, what is the status of the Bill? Will it come to committee soon? Second, will the Minister outline any further progress since that discussion on the roll-out of shared services as a function within the public service?

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: 16. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount spent of the €3.8 billion provided for 2016 under the capital plan; if he is satisfied that the money allocated has been spent efficiently; the way in which he is satisfied that the money has been spent efficiently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18708/17]

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: This is almost a continuation of the earlier discussion in terms of allocating capital budgets on the one hand but, on the other, monitoring how they are being spent and ensuring they are spent.

Other Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: In terms of the Committee on Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, the outturn for 2016 of €467 million is under the €539 million projection. That comes back to my first question in terms of what is happening in housing. The Minister leaves it to every line Department and tries to keep it within the budget, but how much of the €4.1 billion was actually...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is quite critical of expenditure ceilings. It states they have not worked effectively owing to continual upward revisions in spending. It quoted every expenditure report since 2012. To give an example, the Minister did some public service pay deals on the hoof, including the Garda pay deal and bringing forward increases under the Landsdowne Road agreement....

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: We always welcome extra expenditure as long as it is sustainable. If the expenditure ceilings were right in the first place, the Minster would not need to change them. Again, I challenge him, as the Minister in charge of ensuring discipline on expenditure, to state whether that is a good way of doing business. How does it reflect on other Ministers? We can have this debate again. The...

Other Questions: Flood Prevention Measures (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: On the same issue, I absolutely agree with Deputy Daly. When one engages with councils on erosion they say they do not have the money. When one puts a parliamentary question in to the Minister, one is told that the Department has allocated the money. I think we should call in every council around the country and ask how they have spent their money or why they have not spent it. If they...

Other Questions: Garda Stations (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: Nothing in Stepaside.

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: 12. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which his Department calculates departmental expenditure ceilings; if he has satisfied himself that these methodologies are fit for purpose; the way in which his Department reviews departmental expenditure; the penalties that exist for Departments that breach their ceilings; if there no penalties, his plans to bring in such...

Other Questions: Departmental Expenditure (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: I am seeking the Minister's opinion on the robustness of the Government's expenditure ceilings. I note from recent Exchequer returns that all Government Departments are more or less within profile in terms of expenditure. Is the Minister satisfied with the robustness of the system, or does it need to be reviewed? What are the penalties for Departments that breach those ceilings?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: The draft version of the stability programme update published yesterday contains positive figures for growth in the economy. What is the Minister's view on the impact of those growth figures on that €550 million figure? The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has just told the Committee on Budgetary Oversight of which I am a member that he will not be in a position to look at that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: 3. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the progress of the Public Service Pay Commission; if its report will take account of the fiscal space published; if it will have consideration for new entrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19014/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: The work of the Public Service Pay Commission should be coming to an end and it will probably precipitate talks. I want to get a sense of the timeline and the work under way in the Minister's Department on those talks and the commission.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: Quarter 2 is long. I am trying to get a sense of the timing. Does the Minister expect to receive the report early in quarter 2? Does he have any sense of the month in which it can be expected based on the engagement of his officials? We have to have the public service pay talks completed ahead of the budget. Does the Minister envisage them taking place throughout the summer? On new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: 1. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the details of the discussions and correspondence between EUROSTAT and his Department in relation to the use of proceeds from the sale of Bord Gáis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19013/17]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: This is a follow-up question to a parliamentary question I put to the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney. The Government had the ability to spend €400 million from the sale of Bord Gáis on housing and it was not able to spend it. I want to know why.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: What I am trying to get a sense of is where this money is being spent. In budget 2015 the then Government announced that €400 million of the proceeds of the sale of Bord Gáis Energy was to be made available to establish an off-balance sheet financial vehicle to provide financing to approved housing bodies. In the words of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, "However, despite a high...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Sale of State Assets (13 Apr 2017)

Dara Calleary: I have just left a budgetary oversight committee meeting with the Minister, Deputy Noonan, who was describing the French housing model that is being used to get over the EUROSTAT rules, yet we have thrown back €400 million. What is actually being spent on housing of the money from Bord Gáis Energy is €10 million per annum. To spend €10 million is very different to...