Michael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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28. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the measures he plans to put it place to unwind the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015 as applied to contract holders that are not part of the public service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47152/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Public Service Pay and Pension Bill 2017 which the Government agreed on Tuesday, is designed to deliver an orderly exit from the financial emergency legislation and a return to normal industrial and business relationships.

As part of this, the Government has agreed to put the setting and varying of fees for contractors currently subject to the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation on an alternative statutory basis.

In future the relevant Government Minister, operating with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will have the statutory power to set and vary the fees paid to contractors for goods and services based on a range of considerations, including affordability and value for money.

Given that the state often engages in long term rolling contracts for the provision of services to citizens it is vital that the interests of the taxpayer are protected through fluctuations in the economic cycle.

Importantly this power to set and vary fees provides for consultation with the contractors in question.

In relation to primary care contractors whose fees were reduced during the crisis, the Bill provides a pathway for putting in place a new multi-annual approach to fees, commencing in 2019, in return for service improvement and contractual reform and in line with Government priorities for the health service. The Minister for Health intends to undertake a process of engagement with the relevant representative bodies in 2018.

Any contractual re-negotiation will be informed by the significant structural reforms and productivity improvements that have been delivered across the wider public service.