Results 15,461-15,480 of 33,392 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, it was on work done by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment as well as my Department.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I guess the key part is the insights used in the entire procurement process informed the options that were put to me. Anyway, I know from the fact that my Department was involved in this that we formed independent views regarding the pros and cons of the different options.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, that is not correct. What happened is that the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and then my Department were involved in this at three different points. We looked at the policy options available that were different from the course of action we were on.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Those policy options and our ability to implement them were informed by our experience of the procurement process, as Deputy Cowen has acknowledged. It was not the case that the bidder was able to influence the other options. What would have been the benefit to the bidder in doing that?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: We examined all the different policies that could have been alternatively pursued. Are they as detailed as the final proposition in front of us?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, they are not, because this has followed a tendering process. However, they are sufficiently detailed to form a view on whether they would work.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: No, I disagree with that. They are all options laid out in the document I referred to earlier.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I guess the answer to that unfolds if we look at the document we published. It goes through the alternative options available. I do not believe we could describe those options as high level. We went through the different options open to the Government, including using the ESB and purchasing other companies. On the basis of that, an evaluation has been made.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I categorically reject the idea that a Government or Department would allow alternative options to be generated by someone involved in the bidding process. That is wrong. As the Deputy said, why would that be in the interests of the other bidders? Why would an entire Department overseeing the process, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, require a bidder to...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is certainly a consideration in state aid rules.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I said it was a consideration.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I ask the Deputy to, please, allow me to answer the question. The other factor is we are pre-eminent. To ensure compatibility with State and EU rules, we would have to go through an entire procurement process again. We would have to debate again the same cost issues we are discussing in the context of a State agency.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not aware of the Croatian model.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I can certainly make myself aware of it, I am sure the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment would be aware of such a model.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The role of the Secretary General of my Department is to provide advice for the Government on decisions made. It is up to me to make decisions and be politically accountable for them. That is what I am doing and what I will do in the future. That is the way our system of government and our representative democracy works. In the publication of documents there is engagement pretty much on...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: National Broadband Plan: Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (28 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The flip side of what the Deputy has just said is that by the time the point to which she referred is reached, some 500,000 homes will have been connected to broadband. In addition, it is a 25-year contract, to be followed by a further period of ten years. The majority of the money to which the Deputy referred will be used to pay for the entirety of the contract and the availability of the...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: NAMA Operations (22 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, under Sections 99 and 202 of  the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA is legally prohibited from disclosing confidential information relating to debtors or their associated assets. Therefore NAMA is not in a position to comment on the information requested. The Deputy will also be aware that I, as Minister for Finance, have no role in respect of NAMA’s commercial...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Corporation Tax Regime (22 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: There are ongoing discussions at the OECD on further reforms to the international corporate tax system.  Some countries have raised the issue of minimum effective corporate tax rates in that context.  I recently had the opportunity to discuss the OECD work with some of my EU counterparts on the margins of last week’s Eurogroup, and there was a more in depth discussion at...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Insurance Industry (22 May 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Setanta Insurance was placed into liquidation by the Malta Financial Services Authority on 30 April 2014. As it was a Maltese incorporated company, the liquidation is being carried out under Maltese law.   I am very conscious of the effect of the delays in the payment of compensation to Setanta claimants, and this is one of the reasons why I brought forward the Insurance (Amendment) Act...