Results 15,281-15,300 of 21,499 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Tell me where do they go? Were any of them offered further work with the Department? Are they in permanent employment now?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I can tell the Minister I am philosophically and politically opposed to the misuse, and I view it as an exploitation of the very people to whom the Minister referred to carry out work on behalf of the State for such a paltry payment. There are other ways internships can be offered and give this level of experience to people. The Minister conceded that downsizing and headcount reduction to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: We will agree to disagree.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: No, my assertion is quite simple, that people should be paid properly for the work they do.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is not complicated.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Far from it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Far from it but-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: My next point relates to something which interests me which the Minister had to say in respect of the Office of Government Procurement. Towards the end of his comments the Minister stated the office will work within EU regulations to support the Irish small and medium enterprise sector to identify challenges for them when transacting business with the public service and, most importantly, to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister stated that he envisaged money from the sale of State assets being used to finance such a scheme.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Is that not ironic? His big claim for the virtue of selling State assets was the deal he had hatched with the troika to invest in job creation. It would be something of a turnaround were he to access the money for a voluntary redundancy scheme. I raise the issue because it is a marked departure from what he has been saying about the use of proceeds from the sale of State assets. Has the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I did not actually ask that broader question but I thank the Minister for his comments none the less. In regard to Vote 17, on the Public Appointments Service and the moratorium on recruitment, I ask about the use of the JobBridge scheme. I refer specifically to the statute law revision programme, which is led and managed by two legal professionals as project director and manager, who are...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: First, I am assuming the figures for the reductions of staff numbers and the €3.4 billion in payroll savings, 17.7%, are not net of pension payments, lumps sums, gratuities and so on but gross. If they are net, when one does the maths, the savings do not seem as spectacular. Will the Minister be advancing a programme through the Civil Service and public service which will see the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is all very good but that is not my point. It is important the Minister gives the committee more detail of his intentions with this public service reform programme. He said himself his policy will be specific rather than a crude and simple head count reduction.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Yes, but it is crude in the context that these reductions have not just created pressure points in some parts of front-line services but have resulted in chaos and difficulties for people accessing the very services. All Oireachtas Members know about this.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: If the Minister is changing his approach to a more specific policy, it is important we know when we will have the revised targets and plans.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is as clear as mud. I do not know if the Minister has visited many of our hospitals or spoken to people who have applied for various social welfare payments and await a response. That represents a significant level of chaos for those concerned. An example of a chaotic situation, which fortunately was resolved, is the mess created by the centralisation of the medical card service to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 11 - Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (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 41 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised) (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Can we turn to Vote 12, on superannuation and retired allowances? It is the Minister's intention to remove an additional 10,000 workers from the public service between now and 2015. I wish to know the manner in which that adjustment, consolidation or haemorrhage – I am trying to avoid loaded language – is accommodated or accounted for in these figures.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Public Sector Pensions Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 62. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide in tabular form year on year the occasions on which he has signed off on the awarding of added years to public sector workers between March 2011 and December 2013; the grade of the persons awarded the added years; and the number of added years awarded in each instance. [1361/14]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Appointments to State Boards (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 63. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide in tabular form year on year the number of commercial and non-commercial State agency board positions, under the aegis of his Department that have been filled since March 2011 to December 2013; the number of these positions that were publically advertised; and the number of female appointments. [1377/14]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: National Internship Scheme Data (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 64. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide in tabular form year on year the number of JobBridge interns taken on in his Department in 2013. [1393/14]