Results 19,121-19,140 of 34,135 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We have a vibrant health service. We have a health service that, despite many of the difficulties it faces every day in the accident and emergency units, through its front-line workers, by and large delivers better health outcomes for our citizens. Due to the efforts of our staff and the resourcing and support they get, when our citizens get into the system they get the care and focus they...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: It applies even across a two-year period. In fairness, Sinn Féin has outlined ways in which tax could be raised to do that. However, my contention is that the tax measures Sinn Féin has outlined involve multiple tax increases and dealing with those sectors of employment that create jobs. At a time of such potential uncertainly due to Brexit we need to ensure that policies are...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I will deal with the point made by Deputy O'Brien relating to the banks. There are consequences with regard to what Sinn Féin is looking for in terms of our banking system. I realise we will be dealing with this matter during the Finance Bill. I have published a paper that deals with the consequences of treating our banking sector differently. There are consequences, including...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ports Facilities (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government's contingency planning for Brexit is being overseen by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which is co-ordinating a whole-of-government response through several cross-departmental co-ordination structures. One focus of this contingency planning has been the adequacy of the current port and airport infrastructure and facilities post-Brexit. Physical infrastructure at...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ports Facilities (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I agree with Deputy Troy, and he is right to say, that in the context of what may happen with Brexit our port infrastructure, and especially Rosslare Europort, will acquire a new significance. Our port infrastructure will be even more important to how we maintain access to the Single Market. My assessment differs a little from that of Deputy Troy in the idea of Rosslare as a ghost town but...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy's response to this does not surprise me because all he is interested in is division, friction and turmoil.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: That is the clear agenda of the Deputy and is articulated as such by his views. Let us look at the facts. In 2019, if this agreement is accepted, 58% of those who entered during the new entrant period will benefit from this agreement, and this will increase to 78% by 2020. Underneath those percentage figures is the reality that this is an agreement which will offer benefits to 47,750 of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: We are unwinding FEMPI. I do not know if the Deputy has missed what we have been doing and what I have been looking to do in successive budgets. The last item of FEMPI legislation I brought in front of the House about a year ago lays out a path whereby the majority of our public servants on low and middle incomes will see the FEMPI measures that were applied to them gradually unwound, and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: That is why we have made this change. What the Deputy is not recognising in what he said is that austerity tends to be defined by reducing public expenditure and reducing pay. We are doing the opposite. We are increasing public expenditure and we are affordably increasing pay. Regarding what the Deputy said about retention and staffing difficulties, he is not acknowledging that, in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I accept fully the recommendations as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and I have answered Deputy Troy's questions. I accept the recommendations and analysis put forward by the Public Service Pay Commission. It stated we have challenges in particular areas. I accept the recommendations it has put forward on what needs to be done from a targeted allowance point of view. My answer...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 to 59, inclusive, together. After the passage of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 in the Oireachtas, I accepted an amendment to section 11 of that Bill that required the preparation of a report on new entrant pay. The report was furnished to the Oireachtas in March this year and provided the context within which negotiations on this issue...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: On the two points Deputy Jonathan O'Brien has made, first this does represent a genuine and comprehensive effort from the Government, and myself, to respond to the issue of new entrant pay. I am honouring the commitment I gave in the public service stability agreement. To give an example of what this means, we can look at the teaching profession. The move I am proposing to make with the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Pay (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: To respond to Deputy Troy, I understand the issues pay inequality has caused. I have engaged with the matter through my representatives and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform over the last year. We believe this is a comprehensive proposal that looks to address the issue, and it has been acknowledged as such by some unions. There is a process under way and, as it is under way,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: To date, the Public Service Pay Commission has completed two reports that address recruitment and retention issues in the public service. The first report, which was published on 9 May 2017, primarily focused on the unwinding of the financial emergency measures legislation. The Government asked the commission, in making its findings, to take account of evidence on recruitment and retention...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Sector Staff Recruitment (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: As I indicated in my Budget Statement earlier this month, I will be accepting the Public Service Pay Commission's recommendations on recruitment and retention in the health sector. Of course we are willing to engage with representatives of the health service, while making it very clear that our pay bill and our pay policy are determined through the PSSA. Our public pay figures for next...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: In my role as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at a Departmental level. Decisions on how and where those allocations are invested by Departments are a matter, in the first instance, for my ministerial colleagues. The ten-year National Development Plan (NDP) has...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Relief Schemes Status (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: This scheme is being progressed by Clare County Council (CCC) as the Contracting Authority with funding from the Office of Public Works (OPW). When completed the scheme will provide protection for 74 residential and 10 non-residential properties. The tender competition initiated last year had to be relaunched due to issues surrounding the costs submitted by the preferred tenderer which could...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Bord Gáis Privatisation (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I assume that the Deputy is referring to the €400m of proceeds from the sale of Bord Gais Energy that the Government announced, in Budget 2015, would be made available to support the Government's Social Housing Strategy. As the Deputy will be aware, the intention when Bord Gais Energy was sold was that €400m from the proceeds would be made available to establish an...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Relief Schemes Funding (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 67 and 77 together. In relation to the immediate short-term works for the town of Mountmellick, the Office of Public Works’ representatives on the steering group have advised Laois County Council that there is the option to apply for minor works funding for interim defences. As I have previously stated, Laois County Council have confirmed that...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Foireann Roinne (24 Oct 2018)

Paschal Donohoe: Mar fhreagra ar cheist an Teachta Dála, dearbhaím go bhfuil cúigear ball foirne i mo Roinn atá inniúil chun seirbhís a chur ar fáil trí Ghaeilge. Is é seo a haon fán gcéad (1%) d’fhoireann na Roinne. I mo Roinn, ag glacadh le cinéal dá fheidhmeanna agus a chuid oibre, níl léibhéal ard do...