Results 481-500 of 31,112 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Projects (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government has committed to €165 billion in capital investment through the National Development Plan (NDP) published in 2021. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the EU. In 2023, almost €12 billion will fund vital infrastructure in areas such as housing, transport, education, enterprise, sport and climate action....

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Budgets (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Over the last number of years, a range of reforms have been implemented in order to enhance Ireland’s budgetary framework and ensure that expenditure is managed in an efficient and effective way. The intention of these reforms is to increase transparency around the budgetary process and to facilitate meaningful dialogue around key elements of the Budget and on what is being achieved...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As the Deputy is aware my Department are now engaged in formal negotiations, under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, on the potential of a successor agreement to Building Momentum. A range of issues are being discussed as part of this and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specifics at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Pay (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The process of unwinding the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation commenced under the Lansdowne Road Agreement 2016-2018. This was underpinned by the FEMPI 2015 Act. The provisions of the 2015 Act also allowed for the amelioration of the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR). The remainder of the process continued under the Public Service Stability...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Public Procurement is governed by EU and national rules. The aim of these rules is to promote an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which governs the award of a public contract in a manner that is transparent and delivers value for money. Under EU law, public contracts above a certain value must be advertised EU-wide and awarded to the most competitive tender...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: State contracts govern the relationship between the entities who provide supplies or services or undertake works to public bodies following a competitive tender process. They are usually somewhat different to contracts that regulate the behaviours between solely private entities in that they must have regard to a variety of public policy imperatives, not least of which are the rules...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The Government’s approach to public expenditure policy is set out in the Medium Term Expenditure Strategy (MTES). The objectives of the MTES are twofold, to ensure that the level of core expenditure growth is sustainable long-term and that investment in expenditure protects and delivers improvements to public services. This framework must be responsive to the economic landscape and is...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Sector Reform Review (28 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department works to serve the country, its people and the Government by delivering well managed and well-targeted public spending, delivered through modernised, effective and accountable public services. My Department develops major initiatives in collaboration with Government Departments and public service sectors and works to enable the delivery of sectoral reform priorities. ...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service (23 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: In line with the terms of the C&A Scheme for the civil service, I brought a Memo to Government on 7th November and a Government Decision was made to appoint a new Arbitration Board with effect from that date. The board members have been notified of this decision by letter.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I am only too happy for my colleagues, the Ministers of State, to go first, if they wish, and I can come in afterwards.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I am glad to hear Deputy Tóibín affirm he is a left-of-centre politician and generally in favour of the State doing more. I hardly ever hear him say a good word about the State so it is refreshing to hear him acknowledge the State can occasionally play a positive role. On the allegations he has made regarding the delivery of capital works programmes and the progress that has...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I acknowledged that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: For a fair bit of that time, we had no money.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy is glad enough to interrupt other people.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: On the Deputy's question as to whether comparative analysis had been done, the answer is "Yes". I am happy to furnish the documentation to the committee. With regard to the delivery of general infrastructure projects, the IMF did an analysis of our ability to deliver such projects and where we are with the delivery of infrastructure in Ireland generally. The study was called the PIMA study...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the committee for the opportunity to be here this afternoon. I am presenting six Supplementary Estimates, so I am required to say a word on each of them. In summary, they are: a technical Supplementary Estimate of a token €1,000 for Vote 11, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform; a technical Supplementary Estimate of a net...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I do not have available to me the overall energy costs of the State Laboratory. If the Deputy bears with me, I will look at the material I have. I am sure we will be able to get that information for the Deputy and share it with her. What I do know is that we are all aware of what has happened in the price of electricity and gas. The way the State Laboratory estimated its electricity needs...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: It is not because this is the only Supplementary Estimate I am bringing forward for energy. In my experience of the Estimates process, Government Departments, through engagement with the agencies they are responsible for, receive from the agencies what their overall budget need is, and within all of that, the agencies themselves form a view as to what their energy costs will be across the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: What happens is that Departments will look at how successful they have been in the number of applications they receive for different posts, and that tends to be the main metric against which advertising campaigns are evaluated. If we look at where we are now in this regard, at the end of quarter 3, 90% of the campaigns that were run by the Public Appointments Service were delivered within...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 11 – Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 – Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 – State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 – Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 – National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 43 – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (Supplementary) (22 Nov 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Deputy English made a fair point about the analysis of the delivery of large capital projects within the private sector. Most of the work we do only examines the work of public projects. I am certain that the private sector is facing the same challenges we are in terms of inflation and the availability of talent to do the work. The private sector tells us this at every opportunity it can....