Results 6,581-6,600 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: A range of options was discussed at the meeting at the end of October. The Deputy knows which one we arrived at. Beyond that, it remained a live possibility that a Secretary General might be asked to move across on an interim basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: No, but I would certainly have known that it was a possibility and Mr. Watt certainly knew too.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Secretary General to the Government or the Taoiseach could have had a direct conversation at some point. It was not a secret between us that it was a possibility but it was only that. There was no certainty around it. It then happened in early January.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: He would have known it was a possibility but he certainly did not know it would happen and that he would go across on an interim basis.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: A number of options were discussed, including that the acting Secretary General at the time would remain in place. Any one of a number of serving Secretaries General could be asked to transfer across. The view at that meeting was that there would not be great hope of that being successful. The Department of Health would not be seen as a great prize. The view at that meeting was that it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: My view from the beginning was that in filling the permanent role in the Department of Health, there should be an open, competitive process, which is what we now have. It is important to see who may have an interest in applying for the role, whether in Ireland or internationally. People all over the world have tremendous experience in leading public and private sector organisations. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: To return to the Deputy's earlier point, an appointment as interim Secretary General in the Department is a very different thing to a permanent appointment or, to be more accurate, an appointment for a fixed term under contract. It was important, and the right decision to make, to open this up to a competitive process. The Deputy is right that I do not know who has or has not applied and I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: The Deputy is asking me what that is.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I do not have that figure in front of me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I think very carefully about the way in which I discharge all my duties. I do so, I believe, in a very considered and responsible way. Some day Deputy Doherty may well be sitting in this chair and he will have to make decisions. As Minister, one does not always have a report on one's desk telling one to make the decision - one must use judement. Sometimes it is not easy but there is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: There is a very clear division of responsibilities. The role of Cabinet is to approve the appointment of Secretaries General, and that was done in the normal way, as it should be done. When it comes to setting specific salaries, that is a matter under legislation for the relevant Minister, which is myself. Having said that, what the Taoiseach did do was to set out in detail at Cabinet the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: Not the specific salary level. To answer the Deputy’s question directly-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I make the point that Ministers, myself included, make decisions every day on far larger sums that do not go before Cabinet, decisions that have implications in terms of public policy and decisions that have real-life implications. In my introductory remarks, I set out the review of the NDP at €116 billion and plans to spend €88 billion as an Exchequer this year. Every day of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I absolutely understand. My Department and I are available to assist the committee in its work in any way we can. I will ask Mr. Moloney to organise that we write to the committee immediately on the national recovery and resilience plan. The Government is required to submit a plan to the European Commission by the end of April. I would value the committee's input. We will ensure that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Salary Increase for Position of Secretary General at the Department of Health: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (2 Feb 2021)

Michael McGrath: I fully respect and will always uphold the right of the committee to do its work to hold me to account and ask all the questions it needs to ask. In return, I have sought to be as open as possible which is why we wanted to ensure that the documentation was compiled. I have provided everything I possibly could to the committee because I believe in an open process and open engagement and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Open Government Partnership Action Plan (28 Jan 2021)

Michael McGrath: I proposed to take Questions Nos. 66, 68 and 69 together. Commitment Four of Ireland's Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2016-2018 was to Enhance Citizen Engagement in Policy Making, to build capacity within public offices to engage citizens in policy making in a way that is accessible and meaningful, with the ultimate objective of leading to better outcomes and greater...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Community Employment Schemes (28 Jan 2021)

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

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Circulars (28 Jan 2021)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 71 and 72 together. Insofar as Section 17 of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 conferred powers on the Minister for Finance relating to the superannuation, remuneration, appointment and terms and conditions of service of civil servants, those powers were transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform by Section 9(1)(a)(i) of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (27 Jan 2021)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 246 to 249, inclusive, and 258 together. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has statutory responsibility for the remuneration of civil servants, as set out in Section 17 of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 (as amended by the Ministers and Secretaries Act 2011): Miscellaneous powers of the Minister in relation to the Civil Service. 17. (1) The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Staff (27 Jan 2021)

Michael McGrath: There are a range of options for the filling of Secretary General posts, either at the end of a term or when a vacancy arises. These include: (1) extension of the term of an incumbent in the post; (2) assignment of an existing Secretary General / equivalent post holder to the post; or (3) initiation of a competitive process including through the Top Level Appointments Committee (TLAC...