Written Answers Nos. 198-207
198. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of occasions in each of the years from 2011 to 2016 to date in which the powers vested in him or any other Minister in his Department were exercised, without any express act of delegation, by departmental officials of certain seniority and responsibility, as per the Carltona doctrine. [17471/16]
View answerThe Public Service Management Act 1997 seeks to secure an appropriate devolution of authority and responsibility within Government departments from Ministers to their officials. The Act provides a statutory framework for the assignment of specific functions for which the Secretary General is responsible to appropriate officers or appropriate grades of officers within departments, with accountability flowing to the Secretary General for the performance of those functions. The Act reaffirmed that, notwithstanding any assignment (i.e. delegation) of functions of civil servants under the Act, a Minister of the Government is in charge of his or her Department and is responsible for the administration of that Department as provided for in the Constitution and the Ministers and Secretaries Act, confirming the primacy of the principle of ministerial responsibility.
This assignment for my Department is set out in our Corporate Governance Framework, which is available on the Department’s website at https://www.dfa.ie/news-and-media/publications/publicationarchive/2016/april/corporate-governance-framework/. Information as to the assignment of responsibility within the Department is also available at www.whodoeswhat.gov.ie.
Given their variety and number, statistical information is not maintained in respect of each occasion on which powers vested in me are exercised by my officials pursuant to the Carltona Doctrine.
199. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to reform legislation, such that there is no longer any discrimination against LGBT persons in the field of pensions, as recommended in the report of the United Nations working group, in its periodic review of human rights in Ireland in May 2016. [17380/16]
View answerMy role as Minister in the field of pensions relates to issues affecting the civil and public service. The civil service operates Contributory Pension Schemes which provide benefits to spouses and/or children of deceased scheme members. In summary, when a member dies after retirement, a spouse's pension of up to one-half of the former member's pension is payable. Dependent children are also entitled to a child's pension.
Same sex married couples are afforded the same benefits, under the Civil Service Schemes and the Single Public Service Scheme, as married couples of the opposite sex. The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 extended the benefits provided to spouses under pension schemes to civil partners and the Marriage Act 2015 gives effect to the referendum on marriage equality.
200. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the remedial works or funding he can allocate to help alleviate the damage from flash floods in areas of north Roscommon where many home owners were forced to flee their homes recently after torrential rain. [17356/16]
View answerIt is a matter for Roscommon County Council in the first instance to investigate and address minor or localised flooding issues in the county. It is open to the Council to undertake any appropriate and viable local flood mitigation works using its own resources. The focus of the Office of Public Works' (OPW) funding support is for works related to fluvial (river) flooding. Flooding caused by significant pluvial events i.e. intensive rainfall over a short period usually in a relatively small geographic area and where the surface water drainage systems cannot cope with the volume of water are the responsibility of the local authority. Having regard to the foregoing, the local authority can submit an application for funding if appropriate under the Office of Public Works (OPW) Minor Flood Mitigation Works & Coastal Protection Scheme. Any application received will be assessed under the scheme's eligibility criteria which includes a requirement that any measures are cost beneficial, and having regard to the overall availability of funding. Details are on the OPW website at http://www.opw.ie/en/floodriskmanagement/operations/minorfloodworkscoastalprotectionscheme/.
201. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he sanctions continued structural under-provision in departmental Estimates. [17363/16]
View answer202. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if continued structural under-provision in departmental Estimates is compatible with the Public Service Management Act 1997. [17364/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 201 and 202 together.
In order to help to stabilise the public finances, gross voted expenditure was reduced from over €63 billion in 2009 to €54 billion in 2014. Against this background, the Government set out Departmental allocations for Oireachtas approval based on ensuring that fiscal targets were met while Departments continued to deliver key services at a time of increased demand.
The backdrop to additional spending provided by way of Supplementary Estimate in 2015 was that, with tax revenues well over forecast, the deficit target for 2015 could be achieved while additional expenditure could be accommodated. This represented a responsible approach towards funding of public services to meet social and economic objectives both in 2015 and in 2016.
As the Deputy is aware, managing the delivery of public services within Budgetary allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and their Department, and important measures are in place to help ensure that these budgetary targets continue to be met. My Department is in regular communication with all Departments and Offices to ensure that expenditure is being managed within the overall fiscal parameters. The drawdown of funds from the Exchequer is monitored against the published expenditure profiles. There is regular reporting to Government on these matters, and information is published monthly, as part of the Exchequer Statement.
The end-May Exchequer returns show that most Departments continue to manage expenditure within profile. However, certain pressures are evident, in particular in the Health sector. As outlined in the April Stability Programme Update, there is now scope to accommodate additional expenditure increases in 2016 while continuing to deliver against the key fiscal targets. In this context, the Government has decided to allow for targeted increases to support the delivery of key services in the Health Sector and by An Garda Síochána. These increases are reflected in the 2016 Estimates currently being considered by Dáil Éireann. The Estimates, therefore, fully reflect the Government's assessment at this time of the public expenditure resources to be approved by Dáil Éireann required to provide the public services funded from each Vote.
203. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of occasions in each of the years from 2011 to 2016 to date in which the powers vested in him or any other Minister in his Department were exercised, without any express act of delegation, by departmental officials of certain seniority and responsibility, as per the Carltona doctrine. [17475/16]
View answerIn reply to the Deputy's question there have not been any occasions where the powers vested by me were exercised without any express act of delegation. As the Deputy may be aware under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, a number of officials in my Department are authorised to act on my behalf. Under the Public Service Management Act 1997, the Secretary General manages the business of a Government Department. This Act empowers the Secretary General to assign other officers in the Department responsibility for the performance of his functions. The framework of assignments for this Department is available at whodoeswhat.ie.
204. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she can provide a list of all spending on the arts sector on both the current and capital side in each of the years 2011 to 2016, to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17350/16]
View answerDetails of the funding allocations made available to my Department are published each year in the Revised Estimates Volume with the outturn published in the annual Appropriation Account. These publications are available on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and on the website of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Most of my Department's arts and culture budget is allocated to the agencies under its remit. Within these allocations, the Arts Council is the primary State agency for funding the arts in Ireland. In 2016, I provided €60.1m to the Arts Council, an increase of over 7.5% since 2014. This does not include any specific funding for commemorations. Details of the Arts Council's expenditure including its individual grants can be viewed on the Arts Council's decisions database which provides a listing of 2008-2016 Arts Council funding decisions. Decisions are routinely published in the Arts Council newsletter, and decisions are also recorded in the Arts Council's annual reports, which are available online.
Where my Department makes direct grants to organisations, the figures are published on the website of my Department at www.ahg.gov.ie. The figures for 2016 will be published in due course. It should be noted that the support provided directly by my Department for the arts primarily relates to capital investment in arts infrastructure. In this regard, I announced a new €9 million investment scheme for arts and cultural centres to run over the next three years focussed on upgrading the existing stock of arts and cultural centres around the country.
My Department is finalising the guidelines and application forms in relation to the scheme which I intend to open for applications very shortly.
205. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the funding options available to an existing social enterprise to expand their business. [17407/16]
View answerA number of Government Departments are engaged with the Social Enterprise sector and the State currently provides substantial funding to Social Enterprises through a range of programmes and schemes.
Many of these schemes are implemented through the nationwide network of Local Development Companies and Agencies, including the Community Services Programme, Community Employment Schemes, the Social Inclusion Community Development Programme, the Wage Subsidy Scheme for the employment of people with disabilities, public sector contracts through the HSE, and the Social Finance Foundation.
In relation to my own Department there are a number of programmes that may be in a position to assist.
The Dormant Accounts fund provides support for the development of social enterprises that have the capacity to deliver local, sustainable jobs and which contribute to community gain in disadvantaged areas/for economically and socially disadvantaged persons.
The Social Enterprise measure will be administered on behalf of my Department by Pobal and it is proposed that there will be an open application process before the end of the year.
My Department is currently finalising implementation arrangements for the delivery of the LEADER elements of the EU co-funded Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and I expect the programme to be open for applications in most areas before the end of the summer.
206. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of occasions in each of the years from 2011 to 2016 to date in which the powers vested in her or any other Minister in her Department were exercised, without any express act of delegation, by departmental officials of certain seniority and responsibility, as per the Carltona doctrine. [17464/16]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that there are very numerous acts and decisions made by civil servants in my Department every day and it is not possible to identify instances in which the Carltona doctrine is exclusively relied upon. However, if the Deputy has a specific query in relation to any particular decision-making process within my Department, I would be happy to provide further information in relation to same.
207. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will retain the additional funding allocated from 2016 Centenary celebrations to cultural institutions going forward and specifically to address the significant reductions applied to the sector over the past five years. [17541/16]
View answerFunding across the public service was severely impacted by the economic crisis, including the funding which could be provided for investment in culture and the arts.
The Programme for a Partnership Government contains a very important commitment to work to progressively increase funding to the arts as the economy continues to improve. The requirements of the cultural institutions will also be considered as part of budgetary deliberations and I can assure the Deputy that I will be engaging with my colleagues in Government and with the Oireachtas to seek to advance this commitment in the context of the forthcoming estimates and budgetary processes.
