Results 6,721-6,740 of 27,945 for speaker:Michael McGrath

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: In Budget 2021 the overall Budget capital allocation  is €10,066 million. This represents an increase of €1,901 million (23.3%) over the original 2020 allocations of €8,165 million. Capital expenditure has been increased by a further €1,706 million in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing the overall capital investment to €9,872...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The process of unwinding the Financial Emergency (FEMPI) legislation commenced under the Lansdowne Road Agreement 2016 – 2018 and has been largely been completed under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018 – 2020 (PSSA). The PSSA, which was negotiated in 2017, and the provisions of which were statutorily provided for under the terms of the Public Service...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Strategy Statements (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy will be aware, there has been very significant reform and innovation in the Public Service since my Department was established in 2011 and published its first Public Service Reform Plan shortly thereafter.  These changes continue to deliver improved services and cost effectiveness across a range of themes such as digital government, public procurement, shared...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: Managing the delivery of public services within allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and Department. There are important measures in place at all times to ensure that our budgetary targets are being met. These measures continue to be in place for all public expenditure, including core expenditure as well as additional expenditure allocated as part of the response to Covid-19....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: Matters in relation to the sectoral specific issue raised by the Deputy are for consideration by the relevant Minster in the first instance. In the regard it is open to a Minister with responsibility for a particular sector to propose changes for my consideration. This is particularly so in relation to cost-increasing issues which fall to be considered within existing budgetary provisions....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Funding (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 131 together. Cross-border EU funding to Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland is currently being delivered through two 2014-20 programmes, PEACE IV and INTERREG VA. The two programmes have a combined value of €553m and support peace and reconciliation and economic and social cohesion across the eligible region.  The...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pensions (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The principle of abatement of a public service pension is longstanding within the rules of various public service pension schemes. The policy rationale is to avoid a situation where individuals benefit from both a valuable public service pension and also a public service salary. In that context, pension abatement represents a suitable and measured response to legitimate public concerns. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: EU Directives (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: Public Procurement is governed by EU and National rules. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money.  The EU Procurement Directives require tenderers to be compliant with relevant employment law in order to participate in a public procurement process. The Directives provide that...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Decentralisation Programme (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: As the Deputy will be aware, the 2003 Decentralisation Programme, which set out a goal of relocating over 10,000 civil and public service jobs to 53 locations in 25 counties, was deactivated by the Government in 2011. This was in light of the budgetary and staffing constraints affecting the public service at that time. Up to that date, about a third of the target numbers, over...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of Public Works (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The Land Development Agency (LDA) and its functions and responsibilities are policy matters for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the first instance. While I am not aware of any analysis undertaken by my Department in relation to any potential role for the Office of Public Works in relation to the remit of the LDA, I must highlight that the role and...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Pension Provisions (17 Nov 2020)

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: Public Sector Reform Review (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: I am pleased to inform the Deputy of significant reforms in the public sector that Government has brought about since the establishment of this Department. A core goal of this Department is to continue to deliver improved, cost-effective public services across a range of themes such as governance, accountability, procurement, shared services, organisational reform and property...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Employment Rights (17 Nov 2020)

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 now, 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 officials are also working closely with the wider...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: National Development Plan (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: In order to ensure that the Programme for Government priorities are achieved and in responding to the unprecedented impact of Covid-19, it is timely now for the Government to bring forward the previously planned review of the National Development Plan and consider the most important challenges facing us as a nation including climate action, housing, balanced regional development,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Criminal Assets Bureau (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: I refer to a similar Parliamentary Question from Deputy Richmond which I answered on the 21st October of this year [32060/20]. The position remains as I set out in that response. The Criminal Assets Bureau is a multi-agency statutory body established under the Criminal Assets Bureau Act 1996. The Criminal Assets Bureau’s remit is to target a person's assets, wherever situated,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The primary purpose of the recent Spending Review on Expenditure on Overseas Peace Support Missions carried out by my Department was to identify the direct and indirect costs of overseas operations by the Defence Forces. While the overall cost of the European Peace Facility was referenced by the paper as a likely source of increased spending in an international defence context, analysis of...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: In order to ensure that the Programme for Government priorities are achieved and in responding to the unprecedented impact of Covid-19, it is timely now for the Government to bring forward the previously planned review of the National Development Plan and consider the most important challenges facing us including climate action, housing, balanced regional development, healthcare,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Covid-19 Pandemic (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The broad arrangements for workplace attendance at national level are set out in the Framework for Restrictive Measures- Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19.  In the Framework home working is to continue, wherever possible, at all levels. This applies in the Civil Service as much as any other sector or workplace. Since last March, Civil...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Functions (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The Prevention and Early Intervention Unit (PEIU) was established by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in May 2017, following a commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government, to support the development of a sustainable and cross sectoral approach to prevention and early interventions (PEI) in public policy. The focus of the PEIU’s work is prevention and early...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (17 Nov 2020)

Michael McGrath: The reduced new entrant pay scales for civil and public servants introduced in 2011 were abolished in 2013 under the Haddington Road Agreement, where it was agreed to merge the new scales and existing scales - typically by adding the lower two points of the new scale to the existing scale. As such there are no separate reduced pay scales for civil and public servants. Under the...