Results 9,541-9,560 of 35,567 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Correspondence (28 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: 1104. To ask the Minister for Health the steps that were taken to retrieve information and correspondence that was shared by the then Minister for Health regarding the GMS general practitioner contract through private messaging services in the conduct of official Department business in response to a request (details supplied); the efforts made to retrieve the records requested such as...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Minister for coming before the committee and my apologies if any of my questions are repetitive. We have had a clash with the finance committee which the Taoiseach was appearing before. I want to talk to the Minister about the Covid-related expenditure. The SPU points out that of the €12 billion Covid-related expenditure available in 2021, only €2.5 billion will...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: The €4 billion the Minister talks about is €2 billion Covid-related expenditure and €1.5 billion for the increased unemployment payments because he has planned that the PUP will not continue into 2022. Is that correct?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: If it based on a no policy change basis what is the €2.5 billion of Covid-related expenditure for? Where is the policy regarding that?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: We expect that the extra €1.9 billion for health is gone. The extra money for transport and for education, the €400 million, is gone and all the supports for employment are also gone. Is that the right interpretation of what we are reading in terms of the SPU?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Late last year, the Minister planned to cut the PUP. He set out a plan to cut it in January and again in subsequent months. We disagreed with that plan but regardless of the political decision the plan was abandoned as we saw how Covid got a grip on society. It appears now that the plan is about to be refloated in the second half of the year. Is that the case or is it scaremongering?...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: At the end of this year, how many people are projected to be unemployed as a result of Covid-related unemployment, not including those who are traditionally unemployed?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: An unemployment rate of 11% at the end of the year would equate to 260,000 people unemployed. Taking the traditionally unemployed total of 128,000 out of it, it will leave approximately 130,000 Covid-related unemployed. Some of those sectors potentially will still not be able to return to work because of public health guidelines. I am thinking of those who worked in areas such as tourism,...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: The SPU projects the deficit falling by 0.2% by 2025. Is that a Government target?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: When will that be decided?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Will we have a summer economic statement this year? We did not have one last year.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Draft Stability Programme Update: Engagement with Minister for Finance (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: The SPU shows a year-on-year core spending increase of 3.5%. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council says this only covers wage inflation, inflation and demographic pressures and does not deal with Government priorities. I take that as an acceptance that it will be beyond 3.5%. The Minister has said in the media that 3.5% is prudent and in line with the growth trajectory of the economy. Given...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach go dtí an coiste. Maybe this is his first time. I will add to what the Chairperson has just said. I do not believe those are the views of the Chairperson alone. They are shared by many members of the committee. My first question relates to Government leaks. It does not concern the investigation by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: More than three months have passed since the Taoiseach asked his Secretary General to investigate the leaking of this document. In that time, has the Taoiseach received an update from him on the progress of that investigation?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Has the Taoiseach sought an update in over three months on this matter?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Has the Taoiseach been given any indication as to when this matter will be brought to a conclusion given the limited number of people who would have had access to the report?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Will the Taoiseach undertake to seek an update on the progress of this investigation and to provide it to this committee as soon as he can? The reason I ask is that the Estimates obviously cover the Secretary General of his Department and that is where the authority falls for this committee.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach. I turn now to Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General, regarding an issue on which the Taoiseach has also made commitments. It concerns the Stardust inquiry. Budget 2021 allocated funding for an inquest into the Stardust fire after years and years of campaigning by the families. I commend those families who have never let this issue go. A...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate the Taoiseach’s response. He is correct in saying that legal issues are sometimes more complex. At the heart of this is the financial test to legal aid. Given the scenario we are dealing with, the fact that it is an inquest and the provision in the 1995 Act to waive that test, surely that should be done in this case so that all of the families who have been impacted...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (27 Apr 2021)

Pearse Doherty: I thank the Taoiseach for that. I turn now to the stability programme update and the upcoming budget. The Taoiseach’s Department is responsible for the implementation of the programme for Government. While the Department of Finance will obviously have responsibility for the budget, for public expenditure and for the 2021 stability programme update, it nonetheless falls within the...