Results 12,961-12,980 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: This is always €1 million, is it not?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Have they, whoever they are because it is a secret, spent the €1 million? Why is it €1 million? Is there rhyme or reason to the figure or is just tradition at this stage?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I notice that the administration non-pay costs in subhead A2 are up 20%. Under travel and subsistence, there is a reference to the revaluation project being moved to Limerick. Perhaps this explains it. The figure under subhead A2(iii) dealing with training and development is up very substantially as well.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not making necessarily an issue of this. In percentage terms, the increase is substantial.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: On A2(vii), the figure for the consultancy and value for money and policy reviews is up 614%.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The sum of €50,000 is a lot of money.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I ask the Minister not to say to me that it is only €50,000.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 16 - Valuation Office (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - Shared Services (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: So I see.

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I wish to raise the issue of the Constitutional Convention again. I have done so several times. As the Taoiseach knows, the convention agreed a position on gender equality by removing from the Constitution its clause relating to women in the home and by extending the right to vote in presidential elections to citizens resident outside the State. When I asked the Taoiseach about these...

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Government was supposed to respond within four months of the convention's report.

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: When will we debate these issues? In setting up the Constitutional Convention, the Government-----

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: -----made a commitment to give an official response and facilitate a debate within four months, but that has not happened. The delay is disgraceful.

Order of Business (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that a "No"?

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I take it that when the Minister commences discussions with the unions in the spring, it will not simply be a matter of dealing with pay levels and that he is open to negotiating in respect of the set of issues to which I refer. Two things must happen. First, there is a need for greater capacity within the sector. I do not know if the Minister would go further by acknowledging that the...

Other Questions: Economic Policy (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: It does not suit me.

Other Questions: Economic Policy (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Far from it.

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: 9. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will report on the status of the lifting of the public sector recruitment embargo as announced in budget 2015. [5782/15]

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: As Deputy Daly has said, there is a serious outstanding issue in terms of "deferreds", as they are called, and their pension entitlements which many have seen literally decimated. Even if it is not the Minister's direct responsibility, I urge him to familiarise himself with it because a grave injustice has been done to people who have given massive service to Aer Lingus. One could not...

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: This question is about the lifting of the public sector recruitment embargo, as the Minister has announced.

Other Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (11 Feb 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I very much welcome any move in respect of lifting or easing the recruitment embargo. We have all seen at first hand the negative effect of under-staffing, including the stress on staff themselves, and the consequences for service users. Can we tease things out a little bit? The Minister says that the function of recruitment will be delegated to Departments which will have to operate...