Written Answers Nos. 58-62
58. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the use of tyres in flood defence works, particularly given their use in other jurisdictions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36737/15]
View answerAccording to the Environmental Protection Agency the environmental impact of using tyres in flood defence works is still unknown.
The Office of Public Works does not use tyres on its flood defence schemes and until the evidence supporting the flood defence benefits outweigh the environmental issues, the OPW is not considering their use for future flood defence schemes.
59. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform given the announcements to recruit new members of An Garda Síochána, if he will address the issue where former members of the Defence Forces who are successful in their application will lose their pension entitlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36740/15]
View answerMembers of the Permanent Defence Force recruited up to the end of 2012 are enrolled in the Defence Forces pension scheme. The pension terms applicable to members of that scheme are a matter for the Minister for Defence in the first instance.
Members of the Permanent Defence Force, and public servants generally, who were recruited since 1 January 2013, ordinarily become members of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme, whose rules are set out in the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012. However under section 10(5) of that Act, former pensionable public servants re-entering public service employment at any time after 2012 may be exempted from Single Scheme membership provided that such re-entry occurs within 26 weeks of cessation of their previous public service job.
I understand that the position of trainee Garda is considered to be a public service position, notwithstanding the fact that it is not a pensionable public service position. Consistent with this, a person appointed as a trainee Garda is a "public servant" in accordance with the definition of that term in the 2012 Act.
On that basis, a person who leaves a pensionable public service post, in which pre-Single Scheme pension terms applied, and subsequently becomes a trainee Garda within 26 weeks, will have taken up a position as a public servant. Accordingly, under section 10(5)(b) of the 2012 Act, that person will ordinarily qualify for exemption from Single Scheme membership in the new employment, and will normally be enrolled instead in the "pre-existing" public service pension scheme prevailing in the new employment. This would mean that, subject as appropriate to the terms and conditions of that pension scheme and the rules of the Public Sector Transfer Network, the persons could transfer his or her public service pension entitlements into the pre-existing scheme in the new employment.
60. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of freedom of information requests, in tabular form, received by his Department in 2015 to date; the number of these in which the period of consideration was completed within four weeks of receipt of the request; or was extended by up to four weeks because the necessary resources to complete the request within the original timeframe were not available. [36753/15]
View answerIn response to the Deputy's question the following table details the number of Freedom of Information requests received by my Department to date.
|
Total received to date 2015 |
Total completed within 4 week timeframe |
Number where the 4 week timeframe was extended |
|
220 |
214 |
6 |
Of the 214 replies issued to date only 6 have been answered outside the four week timeframe and this was with the mutual consent of the requester.
61. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if new rules are coming into effect in 2016 regarding Supplementary Estimates for ministerial Vote groups; if supplementary estimates will no longer be allowed; and if so, the action that will be taken in the event of budget overruns, and the way they will be rectified. [36788/15]
View answerIreland is due to exit the corrective arm of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) at the end of this year and will transition to the preventive arm, which will set the context for our fiscal targets from 2016 onwards. The core of the new arrangements is the Medium Term (budgetary) Objective (MTO), which is essentially a fiscal target for Member States of the European Union to achieve. For Ireland, the MTO is to achieve a balanced budget in structural terms: this means a balanced budget once allowances are made for once-off temporary factors and the impact of the economic cycle on the public finances. It will involve improving the structural deficit at a rate greater than 0.5% of GDP each year until the MTO is met.
Along with this balanced budget requirement, compliance with the Expenditure Benchmark is another important pillar of the Fiscal Rules. This is a complementary requirement under the reformed SGP. It assists Member States to maintain or reach their MTO by explicitly setting the rate at which aggregate public expenditure can grow, unless funded by the introduction of discretionary revenue measures. The Expenditure Benchmark is designed to regulate the growth in public expenditure in line with the medium term potential growth rate of the economy, thereby making sure that the level of spending is sustainable and can continue to be supported by the economy.
From 2016 onwards, it will therefore only be possible to increase overall General Government expenditure in accordance with the requirements of the preventive arm of the SGP. The Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings for 2016 have been set in that context and it will fall to Departments to deliver services within these ceilings. From 2016, this means that additional resources in excess of those ceilings may only be allocated in a manner that is consistent with our obligations under the preventive arm of the SGP. Consequently, supplementary estimates in 2016 may not be met by additional revenue arising from the economic cycle but rather would need to be met through expenditure savings and efficiencies elsewhere or via discretionary revenue measures.
62. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the communications he has had with the company Twitter concerning its Irish operations and on the recently announced 336 job losses at the company; if all the Irish jobs in the company are safe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36711/15]
View answerThis company announced plans for a corporate restructuring earlier this month and it proposes laying off 336 jobs globally, which represents just 8% of its total workforce. Twitter’s Chief Executive has publicly stated that the company will provide generous exit packages for the staff concerned and will provide assistance with finding new employment. The company has not specified where the job losses will arise so it is not possible to say at this stage if this decision will impact on the Irish operation, which employs about 200 staff.
I have asked IDA Ireland to continue to maintain its ongoing contact with the company here to seek to minimise any adverse impact which may arise and to engage with the company on potential new developments. Twitter’s Irish operation has been very successful since the company established its International Headquarters and Operations Centre in Dublin in 2011. Since then it has expanded its workforce, thereby providing a range of highly skilled jobs in what is a fast growing and dynamic sector.
