Written Answers Nos. 93-100
93. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the estimated time of the publication of the estimates for 2014 in view of the fact that the publication of the estimates and the Budget are to be brought forward; the implications for discussing the estimates in the Oireachtas prior to their approval by Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7623/13]
View answerOne of two draft economic and budgetary regulations, known as the “two-pack”, nearing finalisation in Europe, will introduce a common budgetary timeline for all euro area Member States. While this regulation would have implications for the existing budget and Estimates arrangements in Ireland, it is not yet possible to say when political agreement will be reached between the Commission, European Parliament and Council of the EU.
When this regulation is adopted and in force, all euro area Member States will be required to publish their draft budget for central government and the main parameters of all other General Government sub-sectors no later than 15 October each year. The common budgetary timeline also foresees that the final budget should be adopted or fixed upon annually by 31 December.
Accordingly, much of our existing budgetary process, which is currently completed in the first week of December, will have to be finalised earlier in the year. As the two-pack has not yet been adopted, this requirement has not yet come into force but I can assure the Deputy that we will take the necessary actions to ensure that Ireland will comply with the new requirements once they have been agreed.
As regards the implications for discussion by Oireachtas Committees of the Estimates prior to the Budget, my Department will continue to work with Oireachtas officials to ensure the ‘whole of year budgeting’, announced in the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2012-2014, continues under any revised timetabling arrangements. This reform is an important new dimension of accountability and enhances the role and the policy relevance of the Oireachtas, in particular with regard to the role of Committees in ex ante consideration of resource allocation priorities in each area. It is important that this be maintained and, indeed, improved upon.
94. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide an update on the negotiations (details supplied) with the Irish Insurance Federation on the viability of a State insurance system for persons who are unable to obtain home related insurance from the private insurance market. [7628/13]
View answerI wish to clarify that the contacts I have had with the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) solely concern the difficulty some people are experiencing in obtaining flood cover insurance in areas in which the OPW has carried out flood defence works. These discussions are centred on the establishment of a sustainable system of information exchange with the insurance industry identifying flood alleviation schemes and works completed where the standard of protection afforded by these works can be verified. The discussions have not dealt with any other aspect of household insurance nor have they addressed the matter of a State backed insurance system. There are no plans to introduce any such system.
A working group has been established between the OPW, the IIF and representatives of several insurance companies to progress the work in order that the insurance industry can be more fully informed as to the extent of OPW funded investment in flood protection measures and to ensure that investment is taken into account by the insurance industry in assessing flood risk for insurance purposes. The first meeting of this working group took place in January and both sides are committed to working constructively to progress the matter.
95. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the names of current members of the Government Construction Contracts Committee, along with their titles; the Departments they represent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7701/13]
View answerThe Government Construction Contracts Committee (GCCC) was set up under Section 11 of Circular 40/02 ‘Public Procurement Guidelines - revision of existing procedures for approval of certain contracts in the Central Government sector’, which reconfigured the existing arrangements for the Government Contracts Committee. The GCCC deals with public works procurement and related issues.
The GCCC has key representatives from the main construction-related departments and agencies including civil, building and administrative representation. Representatives on GCCC change from time to time. The current details of the GCCC at 13 February 2013 as requested by the Deputy are set out in the following table.
|
Department/Agency |
Members |
Title |
|
Dept. of Public Expenditure & Reform |
David O’Brien |
Architect (Chairman) |
|
Dept. of Public Expenditure & Reform |
Ronnie Downes |
Principal Officer |
|
Dept. of Public Expenditure & Reform |
Eileen Dalton |
Assistant Principal (Secretariat to GCCC) |
|
Dept. of Agriculture |
John McHale |
Assistant Chief Engineer |
|
Dept. of Defence |
Neil Murphy |
Head of QS Services |
|
Dept. of Defence |
Tadhg O’Doherty |
Assistant Principal |
|
Dept. of Education & Skills |
Jonathan Bliss |
Technical Manager |
|
Dept. of Education & Skills |
Larry McEvoy |
Technical Manager |
|
Dept. of the Environment, Community & Local Government |
Gerry Galvin |
Principal Adviser (Water) |
|
Dept. of the Environment, Community & Local Government |
Barry Lenihan |
Senior Adviser |
|
Dept. of Transport |
John McCarthy |
Senior Adviser |
|
Health Service Executive |
Eleanor Masterson |
Deputy Chief Architectural Adviser |
|
Health Service Executive |
Peter Finnegan |
Principal Quantity Surveying Adviser |
|
Higher Education Authority |
Damien Kilgannon |
Technical Adviser Capital Programmes |
|
National Roads Authority |
Richella Mulvihill |
Project Manager |
|
National Roads Authority |
Gerry O’Brien |
Regional Manager |
|
National Development Finance Agency |
Gerard Cahillane |
Deputy Director, Head of Finance & Operations |
|
National Development Finance Agency |
Steven Burgess |
Head of Project Management. |
|
Office of Public Works |
Georgina Keeley |
Higher Executive Officer |
|
Office of Public Works |
Ciaran O’Connor |
Principal Architect (State Architect) |
|
Office of Public Works |
Gerard Kennedy |
Assistant Principal Officer |
|
Rail Procurement Agency |
Fergal Ruane |
Head of the Legal Team and Secretary to the Agency |
96. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if applicants from the Department of Social Protection early retirement scheme will be considered under the next retirement package programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7708/13]
View answerThere are no plans for an early retirement scheme in the Civil Service. As the Deputy may be aware I recently announced that arrangements are being drawn up for targeted voluntary redundancy in specific areas of the public service where staff surpluses have been identified by management. At present there are no plans for a Voluntary Redundancy Scheme in the Department of Social Protection.
97. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of certification officers who have retired in the past five years from the National Standards Authority of Ireland; and the number who have been re-engaged on a contractual basis or on a consultancy basis to carry out certification duties from NSAI clients, for new clients and or for the authority. [7664/13]
View answerOver the past five years a total of 13 staff members, who were qualified Certification Officers, have retired from NSAI. Five of these Certification Officers were subsequently appointed, through an open tendering process, to the panel of 28 subcontractors NSAI use to carry out Certification duties. These persons are drawn down, as required, on a subcontract basis. This outsourcing arrangement is in line with the Principles set down in the Appendix to Chapter 1 of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (Croke Park Agreement) relating to Service Delivery Options. All matters in relation to Public Service Pension Abatement rules are also adhered to.
98. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when he will fill the four vacancies on the board of Shannon Development; the number of applications to fill the vacancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7687/13]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that in summer 2011 my Department had, through the Public Appointments Service sought expressions of interests for what were then two vacancies on the Board of Shannon Development. There were a total of 71 expressions of interest in joining the Board of Shannon Development as a result of this exercise; however, I did not proceed with any appointments to the Board of Shannon Development in 2011.
Subsequently, as is the case with Shannon Development, the two longest serving Board Members resigned at the Shannon Development AGM in April 2012. This meant that there were a total of four vacancies on the Board of Shannon Development. However as the Deputy will be aware an announcement was made in 2012 to set up two Task Forces (Change Management and Aviation Business Development Task Forces) and a Steering Group to make recommendations to Government on the future of Shannon Airport and Shannon Development. Given this work, the only appointment made by me to the Board of Shannon Development in 2012 was the appointment of Stephen Curran of my Department to replace his predecessor, Mr Bob Keane.
The Deputy will be aware that the Groups mentioned earlier assisted the Government in making its decision to separate Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority in December 2012 last and in the on-going work of merging Shannon Development with Shannon Airport. As part of this process the Government also agreed to ensure commonality in appointments to the boards of both Shannon Development and Shannon Airport in preparation for the establishment of the new entity. In this regard, my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport appointed Rose Hynes as Chair of the Shannon Airport Authority in December 2012 and I wish to inform the Deputy that I have recently appointed Ms Hynes to the Board of Shannon Development. I intend to make further appointments to the Board of Shannon Development on the basis of commonality in due course.
99. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will outline the way the figure of 12,000 jobs created in the private sector as stated in the Action Plan for Jobs progress report was arrived at; and the number of these jobs that are part-time, full-time and temporary-casual. [7741/13]
View answerThe most recent Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) published by the CSO, which covers Quarter 3 2012, shows that there were approximately 4,300 fewer people in employment overall in the economy in that Quarter compared to Quarter 3 2011.
However, within those figures, the number of employees in the public sector reduced year-on-year by 16,200 (Table A3 of the QNHS refers). Implicitly, therefore, there were approximately 12,000 more people employed in the private sector in that period. This conclusion is supported by the job creation figures of IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for 2012. In 2012, Enterprise Ireland client companies created more than 3,300 net new jobs, while IDA Ireland companies created over 6,500 net new jobs. QNHS data also shows that there was a net increase of 2,000 jobs in tourism in Q3 2012 – a sector which does not overlap with IDA or Enterprise Ireland activity.
While overall in the economy, there has been a trend towards a reduction in full-time employment and an increase in part-time employment, the IDA and Enterprise Ireland figures for 2012 relate to full-time jobs. Although job losses continue to be experienced in declining sectors such as construction, the positive results from the enterprise development agencies in 2012 underscores the merits of the Government’s focus on innovation and export-driven sectors under the Action Plan for Jobs to create employment.
100. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number and value of applications made to the international start-up fund; and the value of investments made to date. [7743/13]
View answerThe International Start-up Fund was approved by the Enterprise Ireland Board on 13th July 2011, and has received several hundred enquiries since that date. These enquiries are developed on a continuous basis, and form a healthy pipeline of potential projects for the coming year. To date, 17 applications have been submitted to the Enterprise Ireland Investment Committee for consideration. All of these were approved with a combined approval of €3.86m.
