Written Answers Nos. 84-90
84. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 67 of 2 July 2015, if he will provide a breakdown, by category, of the number of Facility Letters or Agreements issued for each of the days 19, 20 and 21 January 2009. [33588/15]
View answerI am advised by the Special Liquidators that, following a review of the analysis previously undertaken by them in response to Parliamentary Question No. 67 of 2 July 2015, they have identified that 14 Facility Letters or Agreements, all of which were amendments to the terms and conditions of existing lending relationships, were issued by Anglo Irish Bank during the period 19 January 2009 to 21 January 2009. These are broken down as follows:
|
- |
19 January 2009 |
20 January 2009 |
21 January 2009 |
|
Number of facility letters issued |
8 |
5 |
1 |
|
Type of facility update: |
|||
|
Facility extensions |
7 |
4 |
1 |
|
Interest roll up |
5 |
2 |
1 |
|
Capitalisation of Interest, arrangement fees or arrears |
4 |
||
|
Additional funding |
1 |
||
|
Restructured commitments in respect of repayment schedules, covenants, interest rate margin, currency option or limit reduction |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Please note that that some facility letters issued contained a number of the amendments above.
The Special Liquidators have confirmed that Facility Letters or Agreements issued in the period followed the governance processes and Group Credit Policy in place at that time in Anglo Irish Bank.
85. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance when legislation will be published to implement Council Directive 2014/86/EU of 8 July 2014, amending Directive 2011/96/EU, on the common system of taxation applicable in the case of parent companies and subsidiaries of different member states of the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33602/15]
View answerCouncil Directive 2011/96/EU (Parent-Subsidiary Directive) was adopted in order to facilitate the establishment and effective functioning of the common market. It aimed to prevent restrictions, disadvantages or distortions arising to EU group companies by removing double taxation in the case of profit distributions made by a subsidiary located in one Member State to its parent company located in another Member State.
The Parent-Subsidiary Directive (PSD) was amended by Council Directive 2014/86/EU to deal with, in the main, hybrid loan mismatches. This is where there is double non-taxation because one member state treats an instrument as debt and allows a payment to be treated as a tax deductible expense while the other Member State treats the instrument as equity and exempts the payment as a distribution qualifying for relief under the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (PSD). This aspect of the amendment, however, did not require transposition through legislative change in Ireland as we operate a system whereby relief is granted through a tax credit system rather than by way of an exemption from tax.
Council Directive 2014/86 EU also amended Annex 1 to Directive 2011/96/EU by amending the list of certain company types which come within the scope of the Directive. This change did not require an amendment to our legislation as the definition of 'the Directive' in section 831 Taxes Consolidation Act covered such an amendment.
As part of moves to tackle tax fraud and evasion, Member States agreed in January 2015 to further amend the PSD (Council Directive 2015/121) to include a General Anti-Avoidance Rule.
The amendment requires Member States to refrain from granting the benefits of the PSD to an arrangement, or a series of arrangements, that are not genuine and have been put in place to obtain a tax advantage which defeats the object or purpose of the PSD while not reflecting economic reality.
The deadline for Member States to transpose any amendments under Directive 2015/121 is 31 December 2015. It is my intention to bring forward the necessary amendments within the deadline set out in the Directive.
86. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to review local authority membership of the Commission for Public Service Appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33479/15]
View answerThe Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA) was established under Section 11 of the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments Act 2004. The CPSA establishes the standards of probity, merit, equity and fairness and other principles as they consider appropriate, to be followed, in the selection and recruitment of persons for positions in the Civil Service and other public bodies.
Sections 12 and 13 of the Act set out the membership and functions of the Commission.
The members of the Commission are:
- An Ceann Comhairle
- The Secretary General to the Government
- The Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
- The Chairperson of the Standards in Public Office Commission and
- The Ombudsman
I have no plans to review the membership of the Commission on the basis proposed by the Deputy in her question.
87. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if the Office of Public Works has received a report from a consulting engineering firm regarding minor flood relief works carried out at a location (details supplied) in County Cork; if additional funding will be provided for 2016 for further flood relief works at this location; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33478/15]
View answerThe Office of Public Works (OPW) has not received a report from a consulting engineering firm in relation to minor flood relief works carried out at Inchigeela, Co Cork. I can confirm however, that under the OPW Minor Flood Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection Scheme, Cork County Council received funding of €40,000 for flood relief works at Ballingeary/Inchigeela in 2011 and €45,000 for further works at Inchigeela in 2012. This funding is fully drawn down.
It is open to Cork Council to carry out further minor flood relief works at Inchigeela using its own resources. The Council may also apply for further funding for flood relief works under the OPW Minor Flood Mitigation and Coastal Protection Scheme. Any application received will be considered in accordance with the scheme eligibility criteria, which include a requirement that any measures are cost beneficial, and having regard to the overall availability of resources for flood risk management. Application forms and guidance material are available on the OPW's website under Flood Risk Management.
Inchigeela is one of 300 locations nationwide that is being assessed under the Office of Public Works' (OPW) Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme, the purpose of which is to implement the EU Floods Directive and national flood policy. The Programme involves the production of predictive flood risk and hazard mapping for each location, developing preliminary flood risk management options and producing flood risk management plans. Under the South Western CFRAM Study, draft predictive flood maps for Inchigeela have been produced and were the subject of a Public Consultation Day in Inchigeela on 27 January 2015. The flood maps will be finalised following a national public consultation scheduled to be held later in 2015. Work on the development of preliminary flood risk management options for Inchigeela, including further local public consultation, are scheduled for early 2016.
Further information is available on the South Western CFRAM Study website www.southwestcframstudy.ie.
88. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide information indicating the performance of each Department in responding to freedom of information, FOI, requests in each of the years 2011 to 2014 and in 2015 to date; if he has identified any area where additional resources may be required; if he is satisfied that the spirit of openness sought by the introduction of FOI legislation has been achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33507/15]
View answerThe Deputy may wish to note that information on the performance of all FOI bodies under the Freedom of Information Act is collated and analysed by the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) and published every year in the OIC Annual Reports which are available at www.oic.gov.ie.
An overview of the numbers of FOI requests received by Government Departments for the years referred to in the Deputy's question is set out in the table below. The OIC Annual Reports for each of the years in question provide more extensive detail in relation to FOI, broken down by individual Department, along with further analysis of the FOI data.
FOI requests received by Government Departments
|
Year |
Personal |
Non personal |
Mixed |
Total |
|
2011 |
3,093 |
1,490 |
16 |
4,599 |
|
2012 |
3,134 |
2,572 |
23 |
5,729 |
|
2013 |
3,266 |
1,724 |
26 |
5,016 |
|
2014 |
3,780 |
2,002 |
27 |
5,809 |
|
2015 (to June)* |
1,858 |
3,390 |
134 |
5,382 |
* The figures for 2015 (to June) have been collected by my Department in respect of all Government Departments and are provisional figures
In terms of the resources allocated to dealing with FOI requests, under the FOI legislation the responsibility for the operation of FOI in each individual FOI body rests with the head of that body which, in the case of a Government Department is the relevant Minister. Under the Act, each Minister is responsible for ensuring that appropriate measures are taken by public bodies under his or her aegis with regard to the organisational arrangements and the training of staff necessary to facilitate the efficient processing of FOI requests.
To provide support and assistance to FOI bodies in the performance of their duties under the Act, I published a Code of Practice for FOI Bodies in tandem with the enactment of the FOI Act 2014, to promote best practice in the operation of FOI. My Department has also put in place a single FOI Training Framework which provides a panel of trainers from which all FOI bodies can procure quality-assured training in a consistent and cost-effective manner and which covers all aspects of processing requests. This is in addition to the support provided to FOI bodies on my Department's web-site in the form of manuals and guidance on dealing with FOI requests. There are also established FOI Networks in place which have proven to be an excellent means of sharing learning and expertise, assisting in the development of common approaches and facilitating the transfer of learning between FOI bodies.
The Deputy also refers to the spirit of openness promoted by the FOI Act 2014. I would like to draw the Deputy's attention to Section 11 of the Act which specifically requires an FOI body, in performing any function under the Act, to have regard to the need to achieve greater openness in its activities and to promote adherence by them to the principle of transparency in government and public affairs. The effective repeal of the majority of restrictions on FOI introduced in 2003, with the resultant access to an increased number of records under FOI has also, in itself, resulted in an increase in openness by FOI bodies. Furthermore, I have also just concluded a public consultation on a Model Publication Scheme for FOI, which I propose to publish next month. This Scheme will bring about more proactive publication of information by public bodies and will further support FOI bodies in adopting a greater degree of transparency and accountability in their operations.
89. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when the next open interdepartmental higher executive officer competition will be held; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33509/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the independent centralised provider of professional recruitment, assessment and selection services for the Civil Service.
The initiation of an inter-departmental recruitment campaign for any particular civil service grade is determined by such factors as identified workforce planning requirements and the need to establish priorities for targeted recruitment into the civil service to meet specific service and skill needs. In this context, given, for example, the programme of inter-departmental competitions currently being held by PAS it is currently expected that the next such competition for this grade will take place next year.
90. Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when the next open interdepartmental assistant principal officer competition will be held; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33510/15]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Public Appointments Service (PAS) is the independent centralised provider of professional recruitment, assessment and selection services for the Civil Service.
I understand from PAS that an open and inter-departmental competition was advertised on 29 May 2015 and both are currently at interview stage.
