I thank the Deputy for highlighting a practical example of how equality budgeting has to be part of the decision-making process. When the Government, for example, decides to increase carbon tax, how will it ensure that people who are the most impacted are protected from that? That is why the decision has been made, for example, to provide some of those resources to deal with fuel poverty, to support schemes provided for by the Department of Social Protection and to provide significant funding for retrofitting. An a…

We are publishing a great deal of material in respect of equality budgeting, as I have said, including in the Revised Estimates Volume and in the public service performance report. We have to embed thinking on equality budgeting right across Government. Work in that regard is ongoing. As the Deputy is aware, retrofitting as part of our submission to the EU under the national recovery and resilience facility, where we provide a first loss guarantee which will enable the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Comm…

I move the following Revised Estimates for Public Services 2021: Vote 1 — President’s Establishment (Revised Estimate) That a sum not exceeding €4,511,000 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 Secretary General to the President, for certain other expenses of the President’s Establishment and for certain grants. Vote 2 — Department of the Taoiseach (Revised Estimate) That a sum …

I move: That, notwithstanding Standing Order 215 of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business or the Resolution of the Dáil of 16th December, 2020, the following Further Revised Estimate for the Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2021, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members on 16th June, 2021, being a date later than that prescribed for the presentation of Estimates and be referred to the Select Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, pursuant to Standing Ord…

I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak today on the national recovery and resilience plan, which forms a key element of the Government’s response to the global pandemic. The overall objective of the national recovery and resilience plan is to contribute to a sustainable, equitable, green and digital transition in a manner that complements and supports the Government’s broader recovery efforts. It is important to acknowledge the scale of the Government’s response so far to the exceptional circumstances we ha…

The line Minister is awaited.

I thank all the Members who participated in the debate on this Bill on Second Stage and also on Committee Stage recently. I thank Deputies Bríd Smith and Michael Healy-Rae for their contributions as well. In essence, this Bill is a key enabler for the new public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, and allows for a range of reforming pay matters including implementation of aspects of Sláintecare. This public service pay deal, which has been voted on and ratified by the public service unions, recognises the val…

I move: That, notwithstanding Standing Order 215 of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business or the Resolution of the Dáil of 16th December, 2020, the following Further Revised Estimates for the Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2021, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members on 5th May, 2021, being a date later than that prescribed for the presentation of Estimates and that the Further Revised Estimates be referred to Select Committees, as appropriate, pursuant to S…

As the Deputy will be aware, the selection process for the appointment to the position of Secretary General in the Department of Health was undertaken by the Top Level Appointments Committee, TLAC, with the assistance of the Public Appointments Service, PAS. The Government is committed to ensuring a policy of open recruitment and the role of TLAC, as an independent body, is to support that and ensure that the recruitment and selection process for the vast majority of senior Civil Service posts is accessible to the …

The job was openly advertised; that is not in dispute. In my initial reply, I outlined the various platforms that were used for the open advertisement of this particular post. Regarding the background of the applicants, while it is true that 20 of the 23 applicants described themselves as being Irish nationals, that is not to say that they did not necessarily have international experience. Three of the 23 applicants identified themselves as being international. As the Deputy knows, a short-listing process was carri…

When it comes to an openly advertised competition, the truth is that one never knows who will apply. This post was advertised on a number of websites. The competition was open to any person around the world who had an interest in applying for this position. A number of international candidates applied. We should not discount the international experience of the 20 candidates who applied and who described themselves as Irish. Of the 23 applications received, 17 were from the private sector and six were from the publi…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The new Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill will, on enactment, require the Government to adopt a series of economy-wide carbon budgets on a rolling 15-year basis, starting in this year. These economy-wide budgets will then be translated into specific targets for each relevant sector. Ministers will be responsible for achieving the legally binding targets for their own sectoral area, with each Minister accounting for their performance towar…

I thank the Deputy. This is an issue on which I would be really happy to engage further with the Deputy because it is going to be at the heart of the new national development plan. I will outline what the climate and environmental assessment of the plan involves. As a first step in the climate and environmental review of the national development plan, Departments are required to perform a qualitative assessment of every measure they are putting forward for inclusion in the revised plan against each of seven climate…

I thank the Deputy. I am happy to provide as much information on this issue as the Deputy would like. Under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill, where a sector has not complied or is projected to not comply with the assigned sectoral emissions ceiling, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications will, following consultation with the Minister responsible for the relevant sector, set out sector specific actions in the annual update to the climate action plan to address the …

Over the course of 2020 and 2021, over €28 billion has been provided for additional expenditure to respond to Covid-19, with €12 billion of this amount included in the overall Government Expenditure ceiling of €87.8 billion for 2021.  This is, by any measure, a substantial additional allocation in addition to core public spending, and allows for measures to support our people and businesses and to sustain key public services during the pandemic. The expenditure report for 2021 outlines the expenditure amounts in re…

I thank the Deputy. In the current year, taking account of the carry forward from 2020, we have a capital budget of €10.8 billion, which is the highest amount in the history of the State. It is more than 5% of GNI* and it compares very favourably with other EU member states. The Government is committed to an ambitious public capital programme and we are currently reviewing the national development plan with a view to ensuring that its content is properly aligned with Government priorities and the national planning …

First, I disagree with the Deputy's assertion that Ireland's economic model, or projection of economic growth, is based on low corporate taxes. We are forecasting, in the stability programme update, a strong rebound in the domestic economy, with domestic demand starting to recover in the second half of this year, and strong underlying growth over the course of next year. That will be driven by consumer confidence, which will be rebuilt. It will also be based on the pent-up demand that currently exists because of th…

Public private partnerships are partnerships between the public and private sectors for the purpose of delivering a project or service. This is an internationally recognised model to design, build, finance, operate and maintain public infrastructure. Some of the advantages associated with PPPs include the fact that they allow the public sector to avail of private sector expertise and innovation and the private partner assumes responsibility for a considerable portion of the risk. The contracts tend to be long-term …

It is important to point out that from a public investment point of view PPPs are subject to the same robust and rigorous project appraisal process as traditionally procured projects. It is essential that projects are judged on their merits. In cases where PPPs can be demonstrated to give better value for money than traditional procurement, it is appropriate that they should be selected on that basis. The central point I am making is that PPPs are but one option. They are an option that should not be ruled out in a…

I can certainly commit that any proposal to proceed with a project using the PPP model will be subject to the highest standards of examination and rigorous analysis of assessment of value for money. In my area of Cork some of the major projects developed in recent decades, such as the Cork School of Music and the National Maritime College, are fantastic projects. This building, the national convention centre, was developed using a PPP model. Of course we need to ensure that when we are selecting the most appropriat…