I apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, who had to step out of the Chamber. I propose to take Questions Nos. 21 and 28 together. As the Deputies will be aware, the current public sector pay agreement, the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020, will expire at the end of the year. The agreement was passed into law by the House in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 and we have committed to honouring the agreement in full. The final commitment under this agreement is to a 2% incr…

I draw the Deputy's attention to the second part of the sentence he quoted, where I stated proceeding with the payment was also a "demonstration of our commitment to collective agreements." We committed to that in the programme for Government and no timeframe has yet been laid out within which the Minister will enter into negotiations with unions. He has committed to the House that he intends to do it in the coming months. The next budget is only around the corner and we all know that when the recess finishes in Se…

I thank the Deputy. As he is aware, the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, was established to bring together representatives of employers and trade unions with Ministers to exchange views on economic and employment issues as they affect the labour market and which are of mutual concern. The Government has not been prescriptive about what organisations have a seat at the LEEF but has left the decision to the lead representative bodies in the respective areas. The labour delegation is organised by the Irish Congre…

I thank the Deputy. I will communicate his point to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath. I know it is a commitment by this Government, as it was with the previous Government, that SMEs would have access. I know the former Minister with responsibility for enterprise, Deputy Heather Humphreys, facilitated access and the current Tánaiste is doing so as well. My old role which involved dealing with procurement has been taken over by the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, and I wish him well in his portfolio. Repr…

I thank the Deputy for his question. As he states, the Office of Public Works is responsible for the maintenance and operation of a defined list of approximately 700 sites in the State. Some of these include properties like Newgrange, Kilmainham Gaol and Dublin Castle, which are well known and visited by significant numbers of international tourists every year. However, most of the locations managed by the OPW are not as prominent and are located across the country, many in rural locations. The sites managed by the…

The Deputy can forward to me any correspondence he has on this because it will be of help to us. If we have a role in this, we want to be clear with the Deputy and the Dáil, but the wider question he has raised is something I am already attuned to, which is the ownership of the monuments versus those who manage, protect and oversee them. There is an issue in that respect that I would like to see cleared up. The Deputy raises a very particular point that the transfer of responsibility for these areas, particularly t…

I thank the Deputy. I have a very short reply but if he asks a supplementary question it might improve matters. The provision of walkways and cycleways is a matter for local authorities and the OPW does not have any function in the role. The OPW is responsible for the maintenance of embankments that form part of arterial drainage schemes completed under the Arterial Drainage Acts. The embankments are not in State ownership but are on lands that are for the most part privately owned. Also, the embankments were not d…

I totally agree with Deputy Griffin. A commitment I will make is to explore this further. It is accepted that the existing and older defences, which would be the traditional ones we are all used to seeing throughout the country, might not have the capability to have any sort of walking or cycling infrastructure placed on top of them. However, in terms of some of the newer ones, this is something that could possibly go in at a very early stage in the design, and the public consultation element, with the Office of Pu…

As the Deputy knows, because an element of this is that we both have had the lashes on our backs on occasion in regard to the development of greenways, greenways and cycleways are often dependent on the goodwill and the permissive access of landowners. Any changes to the way the Office of Public Works would go about the design and roll-out of any kind of flood embankment would have to include the local community, particularly those on whose lands they are based because there would not only be a flood defence put in…

The Acting Chairman will have to forgive me. I have paper everywhere because of the venue.

I wish apologise to Deputy Doherty, the other Members of the House and the Acting Chairman. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is not available because he is at a Cabinet meeting. He sends his apologies. I was asked to take Committee and Remaining Stages of the Bill at the last minute. As the Deputy will appreciate, I only became aware of the size of the Bill late in the day. I am most familiar with the Committee Stage amendments. Deputy Doherty asked at what stage do the provisions of the Bill become effective. Is that…

I can inform the Deputy that we are at that stage now. The 60% threshold has been reached. The Deputy also asked about Ireland's maximum financial commitment. It is €164.7 million.

I have to apologise to the House about the mechanics. My officials are sitting quite far away. I ask Members to bear with me. The commitment refers to the proportion of the holding in the EIB. Deputy Doherty asked when the measure would be triggered in the event of a default on a loan. It will happen once there is a default and the calls on the member states are in proportion to their holding within the EIB.

With regard to the first part of the Deputy's question, I do not have difficulty with how it is proposed to take Committee Stage. If it is more helpful to Deputy Doherty that he hears directly from the Department of Finance officials, I do not have difficulty with that.

I have no difficulty agreeing to a short suspension of the House if there are specific questions on the remainder of the Bill that Deputy Doherty wants to raise with the officials. I do not have a difficulty with that. I appreciate the Acting Chairman's tolerance. I literally became aware of this as a result of what the Deputy alluded to earlier, that is, the changing of Ministers within the Department of Finance, of which I am not a Minister of State, and which resulted in my being here this evening. If it is help…

Unfortunately, I cannot-----

I can be led by the House. I have no difficulty with that.

A short suspension would be helpful to give me an opportunity to discuss it with my officials and I can talk to the Deputies as well. I apologise for the fact there is a Cabinet meeting and the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, could not be here. Deputy Doherty referred to the reconfiguration of the Department today. The timing could not be more unfortunate. We know and I recognise, having received a briefing on the Bill, that the timing of this is important. It is complex and it is a massive piece of legislation. The Gove…

I thank the Acting Chairman and the other Deputies for facilitating the brief interruption where we were able to discuss with officials some of the issues raised by Deputy Pearse Doherty. In relation to the issues Deputy Doherty raised, particularly around the start of the point, the Deputy is correct that the percentage of the fund that will be available to SMEs is not necessarily that which will be available to Ireland. It is available to the European Union as a whole. On Deputy Doherty's last point, before I get…

Unfortunately, the Deputy probably knows the answer before I give it. The legislation applies to those companies that are domiciled, registered and fulfil every other legal requirement in this jurisdiction. I do not disagree with anything he has said about people being taken out of the European Union against their will but, unfortunately, this is a European Union instrument. The instrument will not be available to those in jurisdictions outside the European Union, including the United Kingdom.