Brendan Howlin
Question:6. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his plans to secure EU funding for cross-Border projects, as outlined in the Taoiseach's speech to the IIEA. [12047/17]
View answerCross-Border Projects
Questions (6)
Written answers
As I have previously indicated to the House, this Government remains firmly committed to the successful implementation of the PEACE and INTERREG Programmes and to successor programmes post-2020.
Ireland currently takes part in three EU-funded cross-border programmes with the UK: the PEACE Programme, the Ireland/Northern Ireland/Scotland INTERREG Programme and the Ireland/Wales INTERREG Programme. The programmes have a combined value of €650 million over the period 2014-2020.
The Government is justifiably proud of its role in securing EU funding for a fourth PEACE programme, and I acknowledge the Deputy's role in securing that funding.
The programmes have made an enormous contribution to cross-border cooperation and remain important drivers of development in a cross-border context. More than that, the programmes have been a key element of the EU's continuing commitment to the process of peace building and reconciliation and support for the Good Friday Agreement.
As part of the contingency planning undertaken prior to the UK referendum, my Department identified the potential risks to these programmes. As soon as the referendum result was known the process of working through the issues facing the programmes commenced so as to ensure that beneficiaries could continue to receive funding, regardless of Brexit.
I am pleased that on 28 October 2016 I was able to announce that agreement had been reached on a safeguard clause that will Brexit-proof letters of offer to programme beneficiaries.
In the short-term my objective was to secure the programmes and give programme beneficiaries the confidence they need to proceed with projects. That has been achieved.
In the medium term my objective is to see these programmes successfully implemented out to 2020, through a period during which the UK is likely to leave the EU. The safeguard clause should ensure that this can happen.
My long term objective is to see successor programmes beyond 2020.
PEACE and INTERREG are well regarded in Ireland North and South in the UK and throughout the EU, so I believe the necessary goodwill is there for successor programmes.
Moreover, the regulatory framework for programmes with Third Countries already exists. My officials have commenced work on examining such programmes to see how they might form a model for cross-border programmes post-2020.
Questions Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, answered orally.
Public Sector Pay
Questions (10)
Bernard Durkan
Question:10. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects progress to continue in regard to the restoration of pay cuts necessitated by the downturn in the economy, with particular reference to the need to recognise the impact on the workforce during the recession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18710/17]
View answerWritten answers
As the Deputy is aware this Government is committed to increasing public expenditure in a sustainable way. Critically, providing for increased public expenditure in a sustainable way seeks to ensure that incremental improvements in the funding and allocation of additional resources to support delivery of public services are maintained on a long term basis. This approach will ensure we do not again have to suffer the severe reductions in public expenditure precipitated by the fiscal crises and recession which brought our country to the economic brink and impacted negatively on all our citizens.
In Budget 2017 the Government was in a position to allocate significant additional resources to public spending with a €1.9bn increase in Gross Voted Expenditure compared to 2016. This level of investment allowed for the recruitment of additional nurses, doctors, teachers, garda and special needs assistants which will improve public service delivery to citizens. It also funded the Action Plan for Housing, improvements in childcare funding and a number of increases to Social Welfare rates.
For public servants, the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA) provides a negotiated pathway for public service pay increases through a phased partial unwinding of the FEMPI measures at a full year cost of €844m in 2018 and represents a considerable investment in public service remuneration. A comprehensive Collective Agreement of this kind allows for strong fiscal planning, with budget allocations ring-fenced within multi-annual expenditure ceilings and pay increases taking an appropriate share of available fiscal space. This phased and sustainable programme of pay increases underpins the fiscal targets in Budget 2017 and our international commitments to a prudent fiscal policy under the Stability and Growth Pact. In addition, the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) is being significantly reversed in three stages under FEMPI 2015, via substantial restoration of the PSPR cuts on 1 January 2016, 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018. The cost of these PSPR changes is estimated at about €90 million on a full-year basis from 2018.
I expect to receive the initial report of the Public Service Pay Commission by end of Quarter 2. The Commission's role is to provide evidence based analysis on pay matters to assist the parties to the forthcoming public service pay discussions in discharging their negotiation functions on behalf of Government and public servants respectively with a view to reaching agreement on a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement that is both sustainable and affordable.
Questions Nos. 11 and 12 answered orally.
Brexit Issues
Questions (13)
Seán Sherlock
Question:13. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the engagement he has had with his counterparts in the Northern Ireland Assembly since the elections, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Executive and the United Kingdom Government, specifically the Chancellor of the Exchequer, since Article 50 was triggered by the British Prime Minister; and the nature and outcome of such engagement and discussions by him or his officials. [18349/17]
View answerWritten answers
Ireland has well established arrangements for bilateral engagement with the UK, including structures established under the Good Friday Agreement and as a result of the 2012 Joint Statement between the Taoiseach and the UK Prime Minister.
On 11 April 2017 I met Joe Fitzpatrick, Scottish Minister for Parliamentary Business, who was in Dublin for a series of meetings and with whom I discussed a range of issues, including the Ireland/Northern Ireland/Scotland INTERREG Programme.
Last October I met Mark Drakeford, Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government to discuss the Ireland/Wales INTERREG programme, and my officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in the Welsh European Funding Office in relation to the Programme.
I had regular contacts with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir while he was Minister of Finance in Northern Ireland. These took place in the context of Plenary and Sectoral meetings of the North South Ministerial Council as well as bilaterally, and Máirtín and I visited Derry in December to see some of the projects funded by the PEACE and INTERREG programmes. I look forward to resumed contacts with the Minister for Finance once the institutions are restored. In the meantime, my officials continue to work closely with their Northern Ireland counterparts on the implementation of the programmes.
In all of these contacts I have been clear about the Irish Government's commitment to the successful implementation of the PEACE and INTERREG Programmes and to successor programmes post-2020. I am pleased, therefore, that on 28 October 2016 I was able to announce that agreement had been reached with the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and the Welsh European Funding Office on a safeguard clause that will Brexit-proof letters of offer to programme beneficiaries.
There is regular contact between my colleague Michael Noonan and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and they spoke by phone on 29 March 2017 following the triggering of Article 50.
Question No. 14 answered orally.
Public Sector Pay
Questions (15)
Mick Barry
Question:15. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the reason the FEMPI, financial emergency measures in the public interest, legislation is being kept on the Statute Book; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18351/17]
View answerWritten answers
I am obliged under the legislation to undertake an Annual Review of the operation and effectiveness of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts (FEMPI) which is laid before the Oireachtas by the end of June each year.
In my last review of the necessity for the continuing application of the measures provided for under the Acts, my decision was informed by the instability in the international economy (including risks posed by Brexit), the still fragile nature of our economic recovery, the need to protect hard won competitiveness gains, the high level of debt, the continuing fiscal deficit, the obligation to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact, and the need to balance competing demands within the available fiscal space. To date none of these factors have lessened appreciably, while the risks of international economy instability have, if anything, increased.
The Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA), has provided a negotiated pathway for public service pay increases through a phased partial unwinding of the FEMPI measures at a full year cost of €844m in 2018 and represents a considerable investment in public service remuneration. A comprehensive Collective Agreement of this kind allows for strong fiscal planning, with budget allocations ring-fenced within multi-annual expenditure ceilings and pay increases taking an appropriate share of available fiscal space. This phased and sustainable programme of pay increases underpins the fiscal targets in Budget 2017 and our international commitments to have a prudent fiscal policy under the Stability and Growth Pact. In addition, the Public Service Pension Reduction (PSPR) is being significantly reversed in three stages under FEMPI 2015, via substantial restoration of the PSPR cuts on 1 January 2016, 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2018. The cost of these PSPR changes is estimated at about €90 million on a full-year basis from 2018.
This year's Annual Review will be informed by the Public Service Pay Commission which has been asked to provide input on how the unwinding of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation should proceed. This input will also inform any future engagement with staff representatives on a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement that is both sustainable and affordable.
Questions Nos. 16 and 17 answered orally.
State Assets
Questions (18)
Mick Wallace
Question:18. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he is satisfied with his Department's role in the State asset disposal programme to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18714/17]
View answerWritten answers
The Government announced its decision on the State Asset Disposal Programme in February 2012. The following month, my Department published a protocol on meetings with market participants and/or advisers in relation to any of the assets that formed part of the overall disposal programme. The protocol, which is available on my Department's website, set out the policy for future engagement with market participants and advisers in relation to any of the assets concerned, and the procedure to be followed when any requests were received for meetings with officials of NewERA and/or any Government Department, including advisers to Departments or Ministers.
My Department established an overarching inter-departmental Steering Group, comprising senior officials from each of the sectorial Departments with responsibility for the assets included in the Programme, together with the Department of Finance and NewERA, to oversee the implementation of the overall disposal programme.
Each individual asset disposal transaction was then separately overseen by a dedicated Steering Group, involving senior officials of the relevant policy Department, my Department, the Department of Finance and NewERA, which was co-chaired by the relevant policy Department and my Department, with the relevant policy Department taking the role of lead co-chair in each case.
The individual sale transactions under the State Asset Disposal Programme were transacted via an open, transparent and competitive process that secured fair value for the assets sold, while protecting the economy by ensuring that key strategic assets such as the electricity and gas networks were retained in State ownership.
I am fully satisfied that my Department acted appropriately at all times in progressing the State Asset Disposal Programme and that the governance procedures put in place for implementation of the individual asset disposal transactions were robust, consistent with best practice and ensured that value was achieved for the State in all cases.
Question No. 19 answered orally.