By setting up this new Department the Government has underlined the importance it attaches to the research sector. Having a full Cabinet Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is making a difference and that can be seen in the record allocations of funding that have been made. In recent years, through Covid, we have seen a major expansion in the number of places that have been funded in third level and further education. We are seeing an increase in the number of staff in the se…

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. The fact that the Government is committing a record amount of public money for the public capital investment programme underlines the level of importance we attach to this issue. We want to achieve regional balance and we recognise that there is a need for continued investment in infrastructure across our country. That includes measures in housing through the Housing for All programme; transport, where we have allocated €35 billion out to 2030 for projects; climate acti…

While it is the direct responsibility of the individual line Minister to manage his or her capital budget, I acknowledge the need to make sure we have a pipeline of projects moving through the system. If it is the medium to long-term objective of Government that a particular project would be delivered then it makes sense for it to continue to move forward through the project lifecycle because various stages have to be passed through before a project goes to tender and on to the construction stage. One of the lesson…

Achieving regional balance requires us to invest in the regions and improve the infrastructure of the regions, be it necessary public transport links or road infrastructure. As the Deputy knows, we have an overarching programme for Government commitment that the ratio of new investment in transport will be 2:1 in favour of public transport, relative to road infrastructure. There is also, however, €360 million per annum that will be used for active travel measures. We see that being rolled out by my colleagues, the …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy is aware, Harnessing Digital - The Digital Ireland Framework document was deliberately written to align Ireland with Europe's Digital Decade: digital targets for 2030. While my Department is primarily responsible for co-ordinating the delivery of the digital Government element of the digital Ireland framework, we will, of course, work across all of government, including the Department of Health and the HSE, in the achievement of the specified targets. We have…

We all acknowledge that the pandemic accelerated many reforms throughout the system, including in the area of digitisation, especially in health. These reforms have been worked towards over a period of time, but the barriers were cut through and they were made to happen over the past couple of years. We now need to embrace them and build on them as a foundation for further reforms into the future. If one looks at the €75 million suite of projects for which we have secured funding from the European Union under our n…

I agree with the Deputy's sentiments. There is a fantastic opportunity here that we need to embrace. The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and I will, in the coming days, launch Connecting Government 2030, a digital and ICT strategy for Ireland's public service. That will lay out, in much more detail, many of the key reforms on which we are working towards which will involve building towards 90% online uptake of key public services, in line with the targets set by the EU's digital decade. However, the Deputy made a …

I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this important issue. I am pleased to have the opportunity to update the House on the progress of the review of the Freedom of Information Act. The opening public consultation on the review closed shortly before Christmas. This preliminary consultation was designed as an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to have their say in setting the direction of the review at an early stage of the process. Stakeholders in the public sector, journalism, academia, the political domain,…

To what is the Deputy referring?

Yes. I will follow up on Deputy Pringle's correspondence and make sure he gets a comprehensive reply. Without going into any individual case, it is important to point out that the Information Commissioner is fully independent in the performance of his functions and his office is currently the ultimate recourse for adjudicating on a complaint or appeal in relation to FOI. I believe the review, which is well advanced, is the most comprehensive and open review that has ever taken place. I am coming at this from the pe…

I can understand why some people would be sceptical when they hear a Government is carrying out a review of freedom of information. The assumption might be that its purpose is to restrict the operation of FOI in some way. That is not where I am coming from on this issue. I also assure the Deputy that it is certainly not a cost-cutting initiative either. The Deputy raised a point about freedom of information officers. I think the issue he is getting at is one of consistency. The feedback and role of FOI officers wil…

What is the next question the Leas-Cheann Comhairle has for which a Deputy is present?

As part of Project Ireland 2040, the National Development Plan 2021-2030, which was published on 4 October last year, sets out the Government's overarching investment framework and broad direction for investment priorities for this decade. 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. My Department is also responsible for maintaining the national frameworks within which De…

There is a lot of information available online. We published alongside the NDP, as I mentioned, the updated investment tracker. That sets out a composite update on the progress of all major investments, with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million. The NDP is also accompanied by the "My Project Ireland” mapping tool, which provides details on specific projects by county. This includes smaller investments such as schools and social housing projects. All of that information is on gov.ie/2040 . It shows the inve…

I thank the Deputy. We all have a role in raising the profile of those information sources. I am not sure if as many people as we would like are aware of the extent of the information available concerning individual projects. It is very user friendly. You go onto the mapping tool, you click on your county and you will see all of the significant projects that are being advanced under the national development plan. You can get an update on all of those. Now, every Minister and Department has certainty of their capita…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Brexit adjustment reserve aims to provide financial support to the most affected member states, regions and sectors to deal with the adverse consequences of Brexit. Ireland will be the largest beneficiary of the reserve, with an allocation of over €1 billion, the equivalent to just over 20% of the entire reserve. Approximately 80% of the funding will be paid to member states as pre-financing in three tranches of the period 2021 to 2023. I am pleased that on 6 December …

The key requirement here is to demonstrate the direct link between the project, or what we are seeking to fund, and the adverse consequences of Brexit. This is because this funding is governed by EU regulations and is subject to EU audit, as well as rules that go with that. That is the key test, as such. The link with Brexit cannot be general in nature. It has to be demonstrable and quite specific. It is really up to every Department to come up with individual proposals that they believe meet the criteria of the Br…

I will discuss the issue relating to the offshore islands with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. I expect to bring a memorandum to Cabinet in the coming weeks on the Brexit adjustment reserve to give an update to the Government as to where things stand. We have again engaged with line Departments on specific proposals they believe meet the criteria and qualify under the Brexit adjustment reserve. I reassure Deputy Carthy I have ongoing engagement with the Minister in respect of farm families and fishery and coastal…

The current framework for pay determination provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has statutory responsibility for the remuneration of civil servants, as set out in section 17 of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956, as amended. The statutory framework governing remuneration for posts in State-funded bodies is set out in the relevant legislation governing each post. The terms for these posts are determined in line with the relevant statutory framework. Additionally, the pay of public servant…

The Deputy touched on two broad areas. On civil servants, the legal position is clear. There is a statutory framework for the determination of pay. It is to be found, as I said, in section 17 of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956, as amended. Under that legislation, the power is vested in the Minister, who has statutory responsibility for the remuneration of civil servants. When it comes to State-funded bodies, there is separate legislation in respect of each governing sector, and the terms for the posts are det…