Results 661-680 of 31,211 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Estimates Publication (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Again, I believe it is important to put this budget in the context of recent spending decisions. Over the past eight years, we have seen an effective doubling of our spending within our health services. Over recent years, we have seen an increase in investment in our health services of between €6 billion and €7 billion. We have seen very significant and needed increases in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The question the Deputy put in written format is a little different from the questions she is putting to me now. I want to answer them all in the interests of transparency for the Dáil. I will first deal with the questions the Deputy has just put to me. Do I accept that it is very difficult for our hospitals and the HSE to influence the level of demand for health services in the short...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Absolutely.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: We will continue to find ways to make progress on Sláintecare.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: It is important to acknowledge that progress on Sláintecare falls under four different pillars, namely. affordability, accessibility, better outcomes for patients and reforming our health service. With regard to affordability, I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the progress that has been made in respect of inpatient hospital charges, the expansion of free GP care, what we have done in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Excuse me. We are now also making progress on assisted human reproduction. These are measures that are going to continue across this year. We will ensure the commitments we have made in these areas are delivered upon. We will find ways to continue the momentum on Sláintecare, for example, through the opening up of new hospital beds and the delivery of medical care professionals where...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Capital Expenditure Programme (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The NDP sets out an ambitious programme for public investment in Ireland of €165 billion. This expenditure will be pivotal in delivering the vital infrastructure we need to support our future climate, social and economic requirements. In 2023 and 2024, over €12 billion and €13 billion, respectively, will be made available from the Exchequer for investment in public...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As a division of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, the Office of Government Procurement, OGP, is responsible for national procurement policy, the national eTenders platform and for sourcing common goods and services. The OGP engages with stakeholders on an ongoing basis and has engaged with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Regarding the powers that are available to the CCPC, in 2022, the Competition Act 2002 was amended in 2022. The Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 transposed Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Union to create a specific new criminal offence of bid-rigging. That Act identified several practices that would be deemed to be criminal behaviour, some of which the Deputy just described. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: At this point, and the Deputy has acknowledged this by the information she is both sharing and not sharing here today, it is important to afford due process. If the Deputy has concerns she believes are worthy of investigation, it is important that the relevant bodies are contacted and the information is shared with them. I will simply assure the House that my view is that our procurement...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The operation of the health service budget for 2024 is, as is the case with every departmental budget, a matter for the Minister for Health and his Department. It is the responsibility of that Department to decide how it allocates funding of €22.5 billion to respond to the many legitimate demands and needs our health service faces at the moment. It is important to note that since...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for her question. The summer economic statement and the mid-year expenditure report published in July outlined an estimated amount of €2.3 billion in respect of the additional costs arising in 2024 to deliver ELS. This amount equated to approximately 3% of the core current expenditure base. This provision took into account the additional amount required for ELS in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I certainly acknowledge that there is a risk of a deficit for 2024. It would not be credible if we were to fail to acknowledge such a risk in light of the recent history of Supplementary Estimates being needed for the Department of Health over many years and those Supplementary Estimates being in the context of either deficits or new policy measures being taken by the Department with, of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: What the Deputy is referring to is the funding that was made available for ELS in the summer economic statement. That is a standard feature of the Estimates process. I would have indicated this when the summer economic statement was published - if not at the recent committee meeting - and certainly on many other occasions. A standard feature of the Estimates process is that the amount...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Evaluations of Government expenditure are a vital component of the public expenditure management framework, and are central to ensuring and demonstrating the appropriate use of public money. As with other business, evaluations are planned and conducted by individual Government Departments in relation to policies falling under their remit. One of the main initiatives by Department to support...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Budget 2024 (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 32 together. Budget 2024 outlines an overall tax and expenditure budgetary package of €14 billion, with total gross voted expenditure increasing to €96.6 billion next year. Inflation has fallen back from the average of 8.1 per cent seen in 2022, and the forecasts continue to predict further reductions, with the Budget day forecasts of the...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Expenditure Policy (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: Budgetary and expenditure reform is a key feature of public expenditure management and is progressed in a number of ways including through regular engagement across Departments on cross cutting issues and through the public service reform programme. The promotion of innovation may be seen within the overall context of budgetary reform through a range of initiatives including: •...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Tribunals of Inquiry (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: My Department has not been responsible for the setting up of any Tribunal of Inquiry, Commission of Inquiry or Commission of Investigation since its establishment. Government Departments/Offices are required where relevant and appropriate to publish details on their website of costs and estimates relative to original estimate for Tribunals of Inquiry and Commissions of Investigation on a...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Regional Development (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: As Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations across Departments and for monitoring monthly expenditure at Departmental level. The responsibility for the management and delivery of individual investment projects, within the allocations agreed under the National Development Plan (NDP), rests with the individual...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Civil Service (26 Oct 2023)

Paschal Donohoe: The current Civil Service Disciplinary Code applies to all civil servants. The Code sets out the arrangements for dealing with disciplinary matters in the Civil Service. It is ensures that all civil servants are aware that if there is a failure to adhere to the required standards of conduct, work performance and attendance, the disciplinary procedure set out in the Code will apply. ...