Results 13,281-13,300 of 32,610 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am happy to give the Deputy Cowen an answer now. I was apologising to him because the question on legal penalties had not been answered and I thought it had been answered. I will make sure he receives information tomorrow, insofar as it is available to me, to clarify where the Government stands on the national broadband plan. Any delay in the Minister, Deputy Bruton, bringing a...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As part of the ongoing reform of the public investment management systems, we are updating our public spending code. The purpose of this update is to strengthen the existing guidance to better align with the realities of project delivery and with a particular focus on improved appraisal, cost estimation and management. Clearly, our experiences with the national children's hospital earlier...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am aware of the issue to which Deputy Cowen refers and it is one that we are evaluating. The challenge we have is that if a company submits a tender for a particular project, unless there are exceptional extenuating circumstances, we must evaluate that tender for the project. The Deputy has been understandably careful in referring to this issue. Some companies that experience...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Spending Code (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To use the Deputy's analogy, if the same player had a bad outing in the semi-final but played well in the quarter final and did very well in the group stage, how should we assess all of his performances? This is the calculus that we have. I understand the point the Deputy is making. If things do not go well in a project but the company in question had delivered many other projects very...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It would not be appropriate for me to comment on the rental or even the tax arrangements of any particular company or organisation in the State. However, this is an issue which I did investigate in the context of the tax strategy group papers we published during the summer. In these, we assessed the contribution entities like this are making to housing and commercial property output in the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As a result of the debate I had with the Deputy on last year's Finance Bill regarding the level of tax associated with the organisations and companies in question, I put in place a process which led to the publication of the tax strategy group paper this summer. My strong view is that all companies, large and small, must pay a fair level of taxation. The Deputy knows I cannot comment on any...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is responsible for monitoring expenditure allocations on a monthly basis at departmental level. Responsibility for individual projects rests with the relevant Departments. Accordingly, managing the cost of both the national children’s hospital and the national broadband plan projects is a matter, in the first instance, for the...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: My recollection of what I said on “RTÉ News: Six One” is that it would be paid for from Government revenue. However, the Deputy is correct that if we move into a no-deal Brexit scenario, then the country is likely to be running a deficit for a period as we respond to the consequences of dealing with that shock. If that were the case, the Government has not made a final...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Managing expenditure within allocations is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister. A number of measures are in place to ensure that expenditure and budgetary targets are being achieved on an ongoing basis. There is regular reporting to Government on expenditure levels and expenditure profiles, which are published every month. The drawdown of funds from the Exchequer is...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I did not catch the last part of what the Deputy said.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It will be a combination of a number of different things. At this point in time, I am confident that our level of Supplementary Estimates will certainly be reduced versus where we were a year ago. They were at a very high level a year ago and I said at that time that the total volume of underspends and the way they materialised so quickly was not acceptable. In terms of how we will pay...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Process (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It could have an effect because it depends on how we treat those figures. What has happened in the past, for which I have been criticised, is the level of Supplementary Estimate that has been brought into debates, it was spent and then the budget day package came on top of that. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has been critical of two aspects. First, it has been critical of the level of...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Properties (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy's question asked me to make the levels of rent in those two properties available to the Dáil, which I have done. In terms of why we are making use of those properties and paying those rent levels, it is because the OPW has judged that this is the best way of securing property for the State offices using these properties and that the rent is at a level it believes offers best...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Brexit Supports (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Everyone is aware that the UK’s departure from the EU will pose significant challenges for Ireland. The challenges posed by a no-deal departure will be particularly acute. The Government has been putting in place the utmost Brexit preparations since even before the outcome of the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership became known. Since then, Budget 2017, Budget 2018 and Budget...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Estimates for Public Services 2019 set out total gross voted expenditure of €66.6 billion for this year. Of this, €59.3 billion is gross voted current expenditure, while €7.3 billion is gross voted capital expenditure. The effective and efficient delivery of public services within budgetary allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and Department. In...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand that other Ministers will also be answering this question in respect of their Departments. Due to the nature of its role, my Department does not have any capital projects funded from its own Vote as part of Project Ireland 2040. The main purpose of capital projects and associated investment undertaken by my Department is to support greater effectiveness and efficiency across...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Health Services Expenditure (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Mid-Year Expenditure Report, published in July of this year, set out baseline current expenditure ceilings on a Ministerial level to 2022. These ceilings are inclusive of pre-committed expenditure of €0.5 billion per annum for demographics in the areas of Health, Social Protection and Education. These are primary areas of current expenditure that are particularly impacted by...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government's Climate Action Plan puts Ireland on a pathway to the achievement of the country's 2030 climate and energy targets that are consistent with a net zero emissions target by 2050. The plan sets out ambitious emissions savings targets for sectors of the economy. The Departments responsible for the achievement of these targets will, over the coming months, be developing the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will recall, Further Revised Estimates were voted through the Dáil in February this year. The Further Revised Estimates were necessary as the Government recognised that the allocations set out in the Revised Estimates, published in December 2018, needed to be updated to reflect the materialising construction cost of the National Children’s Hospital. To that end,...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Fiscal Policy (1 Oct 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As outlined in the Mid-Year Expenditure Report, compared to the 2014 outturn, current expenditure on the delivery of public services and social supports in 2019 is set to have increased by 19% over this five year period. This level of increase in voted current expenditure is significantly below that seen in the period leading up to the fiscal and economic crisis. Over the period between the...