I thank all the Senators for their contributions to the debate. I will be back in the Chamber tomorrow on Committee Stage. I look forward to discussing the issues in some more detail then. I have heard what everyone has had to say about staff generally in the Oireachtas. I fully concur with all those sentiments. We are very fortunate in the way we are looked after and served by all members of staff. I have heard, in particular, what has been said about SAs. My officials observed the proceedings last week during the…

I move the following Supplementary Estimates: Vote 6 — Chief State Solicitor's Office (Supplementary Estimate) That a supplementary sum not exceeding €3,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2021, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. Vote 12 — Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary Estimate) That a supplementary sum not exceeding €1,000 be granted to defray the charge which w…

I thank all of my colleagues for their contributions on this amendment and on Second Stage. I acknowledge the points they have all made about the role of our secretarial assistants. They do extraordinary work. In the 30 or 35 minutes we have been in the Chamber we can be sure that the phones in our offices have rung more than once, many e-mails have arrived into our inboxes, messages have been left on our social media platforms and our staff are working incredibly hard. I absolutely agree with what has been said by…

Hopefully not, a Cheann Comhairle. I assure Deputy Smith that I am not going anywhere. I am never going to be far away from the House or Members. I can be held to account at any time and am happy to be held to account and to attend committees and plenary sessions as well. The Deputy should not underestimate the value of this debate. My officials are here while other officials are watching the debate remotely.

They are listening very carefully to all the contributions being made. There is an process ongoing at the moment. The amendment I am being asked to accept includes a report covering engagement the Minister has had with union representatives of political staff in respect of their pay claim. In fairness, that is not my role. It is not my role to engage directly with the unions. The commission is doing that work directly with SIPTU. The commission then, following that engagement and through the WRC, will make a propos…

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this issue and I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me the opportunity to address it in the House. As a Member of the Oireachtas for more than 14 years, I am deeply conscious and appreciative of the extraordinary work carried out by all of our support staff. I see this work up close day in, day out, and know that I, for one, could not do the job I do without the selfless dedication and commitment I get from my own staff. I have no doubt the same is true for every Member of thi…

I thank the Senator. I also acknowledge the Cathaoirleach's comments. I should have said that this issue has been raised with me by him and many of his colleagues from across the floor of the Seanad in recent times. My understanding is that both parties, that is, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission and SIPTU, have written to the WRC and want to go back to the WRC for negotiations. That is what now needs to happen. I welcome that and look forward to that happening. The Senator mentioned the Houses of the Oireach…

I do not need to make any concluding remarks.

I appreciate the opportunity to come before the House to say a few words on the national development plan, NDP. I will have to leave the House at about 5.45 p.m. to go to Dáil Éireann as I must introduce a Bill. The Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, will deputise for me at that point. I am grateful to have this opportunity to speak with the House about the revised national development plan which I launched last month along with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communic…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission came into existence on 1 January 2004 under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003. This founding commission legislation then led, in summary, to two consequences; one, that the commission became the sanctioning authority for expenditure and for deciding on staff numbers up to the grade of principal officer and the provision of services and related matters to the Oireachtas; and, two, that the system for the allocat…

None of that is true.

We can talk about it during the week.

Get off the high horse.

The Opposition does not want them to be built. The Opposition does not want the problem to be solved.

I move: That leave be given by the Dáil to introduce the following Supplementary Estimates for the service of the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2021: Vote 6 — Office of the Chief State Solicitor ( Supplementary Estimate ). Vote 29 — Environment, Climate and Communications ( Supplementary Estimate ). Vote 33 — Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media ( Supplementary Estimate ). Vote 37 — Social Protection ( Supplementary Estimate ).

I move: That, subject to leave being given to introduce the following Supplementary Estimates for the service of the year ending on 31st December, 2021, the Supplementary Estimates be referred to the following Select Committees, as appropriate, pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)( b ) and 215(3), which shall report back to the Dáil by no later than 7th December, 2021: Vote 6 — Office of the Chief State Solicitor ( Supplementary Estimate ) — Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. Vo…

The public spending code is the tool the Government uses to evaluate the consequences of capital investment decisions. Every public investment project with a value above €20 million must conduct an analysis of the potential costs and benefits associated with that project, using rules set out by my Department. It is critical, therefore, that the public spending code provides a realistic assessment of the likely climate and environmental consequences of these decisions. My Department has a full programme of works for…

It is important to say that the recently published national development plan, NDP, contains a comprehensive set of climate methodologies, against which all major capital investment projects will be assessed. My Department and that of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, worked very closely and collaboratively in the preparation of the NDP in that regard. As I set out in the original reply to this question, we have now considerably strengthened the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to 51% by 2030. As the Deputy …

I reassure the Deputy that this matter is a priority for my Department. Work on this is ongoing and I anticipate that it will be completed shortly. As the Deputy is aware, a shadow price of carbon is the value that we place on these projected future emissions from projects. I reassure the Deputy as well that when he looks at the national development plan, he will see that we have given an envelope of funding of €35 billion, for example, to the Department of Transport. The Deputy is aware of the overall emphasis in …

Open government is a culture of governance that promotes the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation in support of democracy and inclusive growth. Ireland is fully committed to upholding the Open Government Partnership principles of open and transparent government. Significant progress has been made in progressing the programme for Government commitment to "Continue and reinvigorate participation by the public sector in Open Government Partnership". Milestones achieved to…