Results 16,261-16,280 of 32,864 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The role my Department plays in these matters is entirely consistent with the one I have outlined for Deputy Shortall. My Department has responsibility for overseeing total pay policy and acting on behalf of the State as employer. My Department plays a role in making submissions to the commission that then looks at pay. Deputy Jack Chambers should join together the two strands of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: Despite the Deputy not being clear on my role, the lack of clarity does not stop him from making the charge that we are contaminating or muzzling - to use his language - another part of government.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I said in response to the questions I have dealt with, it is simply our role, as the Department that represents the State as the employer, to ensure there is consistency of approach in how applications are made to the pay commission.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: What the Deputy does not acknowledge is that our submission is only one of many. Others will be made by groups that have views on the matter. It will then be up to the pay commission to reach an assessment of the matter.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: We are involved in the drafting of submissions, about which I have been perfectly clear.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: We are involved, whether with the Department of Health, the Department of Defence or any other Department. At the end of the day, it has always been the case that the Department representing the State as the employer has a view on submissions. My colleagues in the Department of Defence and the Department of Health also look to have their views represented in the submission. That is what...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: First, I wish to clarify that the HSE submission was not to the Public Service Pay Commission but instead came to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform through the Department of Health to assist with preparation of a joint employer submission. I also wish to clarify that, when requested by the pay commission, my Department made the HSE internal submission available to it in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: If the Deputy reads the conclusion of the submission to which the Deputy is referring, it says: "Equipping the public health service with the required nursing and midwifery workforce is undoubtedly a substantial challenge". The text to which the Deputy refers, which went to the Public Service Pay Commission on behalf of the employer, acknowledged the challenges we face. It went on to state...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I repeat that across the entirety of this document, there are repeated references to specific difficulties that occur. I want to see another round of genuine and constructive engagement to try to deal with this issue. The only condition I have - I maintain it is vital - is that any engagement happens inside the context of the existing agreement. That agreement says that strike action...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Public Service Pay Commission Reports (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy will be aware that the Public Service Pay Commission was established by the Government in 2016 and tasked with examining pay levels across the public service. The commission made its first report to the Government in May 2017; we are debating that report today. In respect of the Defence Forces, in its first report the pay commission noted that the force was experiencing a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: The minutes that have been released for the meeting of the steering group in May outline all of the options that body was considering in moving the national children's hospital project forward. Because the capital expenditure figures for this year had already been determined as part of Ireland 2040, the vast majority of the engagement I had with all colleagues o n budget 2019 was on the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is the sponsoring agency for the national broadband plan, NBP. The Government is the final sanctioning authority. A procurement process was launched to engage a company to build, operate and maintain the State intervention network. A final tender from the remaining bidder was received by the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To be clear, these are completely different processes. Where we are with the national broadband plan is that any decision to be made on it will be made on the basis of a price now tendered. In working with me the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment has completed a tendering process that is yielding figures. These figures, a consequence of the completed tendering...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I appreciate that. The Taoiseach was repeating again, in the context of the current debate, the decision the Government had made on this matter in December. I will be able to clarify the consequences of where we are with the national children's hospital project, but I also want to emphasise the long-term consequences when the hospital is delivered. I fully acknowledge the difficulties we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: To answer the Deputy's two questions, I did not deal with the issue of whether a supplementary budget was required for capital expenditure at that point. There were two reasons for this. First, a supplementary budget would have dealt with last year, 2018, rather than with any additional costs for 2019. The second reason is that in all of my experience of engaging on this issue in previous...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: It is very important to be clear around the timings. The so-called black hole to which the Deputy is referring, which ultimately resulted in a supplementary budget of €645 million for the Department of Health, referred to 2018. It was a supplementary budget for last year. A discussion about additional funding for last year cannot be conflated with funding for this year and the years...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: As I have said, I have to take, and do take, responsibility for the framing of any budget. Ultimately, while line Departments have responsibility for specific projects, I hold myself accountable for overall decisions on how the country's money is used and I understand why the House is putting these questions to me. The majority of the discussions we had with the Department of Health were...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. With regard to the overruns associated with the build of the hospital, the full assessment of the cost overrun and the reasons for it were received by my Department in the form of a report from the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board submitted by the Department of Health on 19 November. My Department reviewed the report and...

Nurses and Midwives Industrial Action: Statements (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: We also went through a period in which we saw how they did not work and we had to deal with the consequences. Again, Fianna Fáil used collective wage agreements to respond to them. There will be a bitter legacy if it emerges that in the future Governments will be unable to negotiate a collective wage agreement for over 300,000 public servants.

Nurses and Midwives Industrial Action: Statements (7 Feb 2019)

Paschal Donohoe: That is why this is such a difficult matter. I understand fully and appreciate the great support nurses and nursing unions have received, but it is because of the value of the agreements that this is proving to be such a formidable issue. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and I will continue to work at the Workplace Relations Commission and in the Labour Court to see if we can find a...