Written Answers Nos. 212-225
212. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which the Office of Public Works plans to support the cultural and historical events in Kells, County Meath to mark the 1,500th anniversary of the birth of St. Colmcille; if they will ensure that St. Colmcille’s House in the town is open and accessible and is resourced with a paid tour guide; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27480/21]
View answerSaint Colmcille's House in Kells, a National Monument in State care, is maintained by the Office of Public Works.
OPW is happy to work with the local community to promote cultural and historical events associated with the anniversary of Saint Colmcille through its various social media platforms and inclusion of interpretation material on the Heritage Ireland website. It would also be quite happy to publish an article in the Heritage Ireland e-zine. The organisers are requested to contact OPW directly in this regard.
The Deputy will be aware of the Tara Lecture Series which takes place annually in the Visitor Centre at the Hill of Tara. Regretfully, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the series has been suspended for 2021. However, OPW would further hope to support the anniversary events by including a lecture in the 2022 series on St Colmcille who had a number of connections to the Meath area.
OPW has a keyholding arrangement in place for St Colmcille's House. COVID-19 guidelines permitting, it is envisaged that this service will be available to facilitate access to the site at certain times, if this is required. There are no plans, however, to put a full Guide service at the site.
213. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount spent on external legal services by the HSE in 2014, 2019 and 2020, in tabular form. [27503/21]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that this is a matter for the Department of Health rather than my Department and should be the subject of a separate question in that regard.
214. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will commit to achieving a living wage for low paid civil servants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27624/21]
View answerIt is important that Ireland’s statutory National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage concept are not confused. The Living Wage has no legislative basis and is therefore not a statutory entitlement. It currently stands at €12.30 per hour according to the Living Wage Technical Group document 2020.
The National Minimum Wage is a statutory entitlement and has a legislative basis. The Low Pay Commission annually assesses the appropriate level of the National Minimum Wage. The current national minimum hourly rate of pay, since 1 January 2021, is €10.20 per hour, as set out in the National Minimum Wage Order (No. 2) 2020.
The suggested Living Wage at €12.30 per hour based on the Civil Service 37 hour standard net working week equates to an annual salary of €23,747.
Detailed data on civil service staff indicates that only some 0.2% of staff (FTE) in the civil service are on salary points less than €23,747. Further to this, all civil servants are paid at rates above the minimum wage of €10.20 per hour.
Those currently on an annual salary of less than €23,747 may be receiving remuneration in excess of the suggested living wage through additional premium payments in respect of shift or atypical working hours or are on salary scales that progress to the suggested living wage and above through incremental progression.
Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022 provides for a general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% or €500 (whichever is greater) on both 1 October 2021 and 2022, as well as the equivalent of a 1% increase in annualised basic salaries to be used as a Sectoral Bargaining Fund (in accordance with Chapter 2 of the Agreement) on 1 February 2022. The Agreement is heavily weighted towards those at lower incomes with headline increases of approximately 5% for the lowest paid public servants. These groups will also benefit more from other measures in the Agreement including the overtime rates and premia payment adjustments. By the end of the Agreement, the annualised pay increases will almost eliminate the cohort of civil servants earning less than the suggested living wage.
More broadly, the Low Pay Commission has, on request of the Government, formally begun work on examining how Ireland could move towards a Living Wage. The study will examine the design of a living wage in an Irish context and consider the policy, social and economic implications. It is expected that the report will be completed in the second half of 2021.
215. Deputy Cathal Berry asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of persons who received a waiver under sections 52(4) of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012, for the abatement of a public service pension within the past five years; the breakdown by Department and grade of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27737/21]
View answerThe principle of abatement of a public service pension is longstanding within the rules of various public service pension schemes and abatement is an important aspect of the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 (the Single Scheme Act). The policy rationale is to avoid a situation where individuals benefit from both a valuable public service pension and also a public service salary. In that context, pension abatement represents a suitable and measured response to legitimate public concerns.
As the Deputy is aware, there is discretion under Section 52(4) of the Single Scheme Act, to grant a waiver of abatement. These waivers are generally granted only in exceptional circumstances and for a limited period of time. Each waiver application and business case is assessed on its merits. An important consideration is the need to avoid creating an incentive for more experienced staff to retire on pension and return to the workforce. It is also this Department’s view that long term reliance on retired staff is at odds with good HR practice.
The Deputy has asked about waivers granted by this Department in respect of individual cases/applications. The Department of Public and Expenditure and Reform has directly granted 7 separate waivers of abatement over the period May 2016 to date in respect of specific applications for particular individuals re-employed in the following Departments:
|
Department |
Number of Waivers |
|
Department of Transport, |
2 |
|
Department of Foreign Affairs |
2 |
|
Department of Education |
1 |
|
Department of Environment, Climate and Communications |
1 |
|
Department of Justice |
1 |
The grades generally encompass specialist positions or unique administrative roles.
The operational management and implementation of waivers are ultimately matters for individual Departments within the provisions set out in abatement legislation.
216. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide Votes 1-45 of the revised estimates for budget 2021, including all budget headings, subheadings and their respective allocations including current, capita and total voted expenditure in tabular form. [28103/21]
View answerAs set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2021, Budgetary Estimates are broken down by Vote, Programme and Subhead level and include Estimates for expenditure for Departments and relevant agencies under the remit of various departments. Furthermore, detailed expenditure information on select non-commercial state agencies is included as an appendix in the REV.
The Voted Public Expenditure Databank is a publicly available dataset maintained by my Department which provides detailed information on voted public expenditure. Allocations for votes 1-45 for 2021, as per the Expenditure Report 2021, can be accessed online via the PER Databank website.
Databank users can generate report tables for all votes for each programme and subhead, showing the total voted expenditure and the breakdown to current and capital. These tables can be exported in Word, Excel or PDF formats as required.
Figures in the Databank are updated at intervals over the course of the year, with Budget allocations updated for those in the Revised Estimates for Public Services Volume and, when available, Provisional Outturn figures before finalised Appropriation Account figures.
As such, for 2021, the recently agreed Further Revised Estimates for the Departments of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Social Protection; and Rural and Community Development are not reflected in the Databank figure as of yet. These Estimates were agreed by Government to provide additional funding for these Departments in response to Covid-19 and were presented to the Dáil on May 5th. Electronic copies of the Estimates are available online via the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform website.
217. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if there is a policy of data back-up in the operations of his Department and all agencies under his remit. [28123/21]
View answerFor operational security reasons, my Department is not in a position to provide any details of its data security systems or those of the bodies under its aegis, as it would be inappropriate to disclose information that may in any way assist those with malicious intent.
218. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the efforts by the OPW to secure a site for a new Garda station at Carndonagh, County Donegal. [28172/21]
View answerThe Office of Public Works has not been requested to secure a site for a new Garda Station at Carndonagh, Co. Donegal by the Garda authorities.
219. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount spent by his Department on external professional legal services in 2014, 2019 and 2020, in tabular form. [28485/21]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that details of the consultancy and legal fees spend for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is regularly updated and published on the gov.ie website. In this context, details of this spend since the Department’s establishment in 2011 up to the end of April 2021 can be found at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/8b97d6-consultancy-costs/
220. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when allocations will be announced for the sports capital grant in 2021; and if the size of the allocation for each county has been decided. [27561/21]
View answerThe Sports Capital and Equipment Programme (SCEP) is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and physical recreation facilities and the purchase of non-personal sports equipment throughout the country.
The 2020 round of the SCEP closed for applications on Monday 1st March. By the closing date, 3,106 applications were submitted seeking over €200m in funding. This is the highest number of applications ever received.
The scoring system and assessment manual for the 2020 round has now been finalised and is available at www.sportscapitalprogramme.ie. Given the record number of applications and the detailed information contained in each application, the assessment process will take a number of months to complete. It is envisaged that allocations for applications for sports equipment- only will be made first during the Summer with allocations to other capital projects announced before the end of the year. At least €40 million is being made available for allocation and local and regional allocations will be announced at the same time. No decisions have been made on county allocations at this time.
221. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if there is an application process or established criteria to be considered following the recent announcement in relation to considering proposals on the holding of a limited number of pilot live events for arts, culture, sport and live entertainment indoor and outdoor; if so, the person or body to which expressions of interest should be submitted to; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27667/21]
View answerOn the 29th of April the Government agreed that my Department will work with the Department of Health and Department of the Taoiseach to prepare proposals on the holding of a limited number of pilot live events for sport and live entertainment, both indoor and outdoor. This is to inform the safe reopening of these activities and events when the public health situation allows.
We would hope to begin hosting these events in June, depending on the epidemiological situation at the time and subject to the rollout of the vaccination programme. All options for the safe roll out of these events are being considered. I am cautiously optimistic that once test events can be undertaken and lessons drawn from those that we can grow spectator attendances later in the Summer.
In the meantime my Department is working with the sporting National Governing Bodies, the Arts Council and other cultural bodies to identify venues which are ready to stage Covid compliant events next month and where Work Safely Protocols and Covid Guidance is already in place. Further details will be announced in due course.
222. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if consideration has been given to publishing the 1926 census earlier than the proposed date of January 2027 in the decade of centenaries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27669/21]
View answerThe Central Statistics Office (CSO) is responsible for the gathering of census data in Ireland. It has published data taken from the 1926 Census in 10 volumes as follows:
- Volume 1 - Population, area and valuation of each DED and each larger Unit of Area
- Volume 2 - Occupations
- Volume 3 - Religion and birthplaces
- Volume 4 - Housing
- Volume 5 - Ages, orphanhood and conjugal conditions
- Volume 6 - Industrial status
- Volume 7 - Industries
- Volume 8 - Irish language
- Volume 9 - Dependency
- Volume 10 - General Report
These volumes can be viewed on the CSO website at the following link: Census 1926 Reports - CSO - Central Statistics Office.
Sections 33 and 35 of the Statistics Act 1993 allow for the release of information gathered by a Census that relates either directly or indirectly to an identifiable person 100 years after the date that the census was taken. As the 1926 Census was taken on 18 April 1926, this information can be made available from 18 April 2026. While, making the details of individuals and households from the 1926 Census available will require a significant volume of work, I hope that the information will be available to the public in a digital format from that date.
223. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when Irish dancing classes and events will be permitted to return as it is a form of sport; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27673/21]
View answerThe Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021 – The Path Ahead Framework sets out when it is considered that organised indoor or outdoor events can take place. Dance classes are included with organised indoor and outdoor events. Since 10 May 2021 organised outdoor gatherings with a maximum attendance of 15 people can take place. In all cases robust protocols and protective measures, including appropriate supervision and capacity limits, should be in place.
In the meantime, the Arts Council has worked with my Department and with industry experts to develop guidance for children and young people’s arts and cultural activities. This guidance is published on the Council’s website. This guidance was reviewed by my Department’s external Health and Safety advisors to ensure compliance with:
- The Government’s Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021 – The Path Ahead;
- The Government’s Stay Safe Guidelines;
- The Government’s Work Safely Protocols.
The guidelines will assist those engaging in arts and cultural activities with children to provide a safe and controlled environment which will mitigate against the risk of spreading COVID-19. This guidance is a living document, which means that as government restrictions and public-health guidelines evolve, this document will also evolve to reflect new government advice and changes to protocols as they emerge. The Arts Council’s Young People, Children and Education guidance may be used for organised cultural activities for children and young people, including early-childhood arts activities and arts training and education services that are delivered outside of early learning-and-care, formal education and youth-work contexts.
The Guidance is available the following link ;
www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedFiles/wwwartscouncilie/Content/Contact_us/COVID-19/YPCE%20C-19%20Reopening%20Guidelines_April%202021.doc.pdf.
The Government’s COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 - The Path Ahead plan sets out the Government’s objectives for the full recovery of social life, public services and the economy. The government has decided to move ahead with this The Path Ahead plan. We are now in the early stages of the Recovery phase of the pandemic. The decision is based on advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), that a cautious and gradual phased reopening over May and June, with an emphasis on outdoor activity and a moderate increase in social contact, can be considered low to medium risk. NPHET has advised that there is scope to ease a range of public health measures in this manner with sufficient time between any easing of measures to assess the impact. This allows us to continue through the Recovery phase, focusing on what is safest and generates the most benefit and with a focus on outdoors activities – both social and economic.
I can assure the Deputy that I am engaging on an ongoing basis with Government colleagues on the importance of opening up facilities that support all art forms including dance, as soon as the epidemiological situation improves.
224. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the way an event organiser (details supplied) in County Tipperary can apply or obtain a licence to hold a limited number of live events in the arts and culture sector either indoor or outdoor; if there is an application process or established criteria to be considered under the recently proposed scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27684/21]
View answerAs the organisation referred to by the Deputy is funded by the Arts Council, any proposal relating to indoor or outdoor pilot live events should be directed to the Arts Council in the first instance.
225. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media her plans to permit live performances at weddings further to the recent meeting between departmental officials and an association (details supplied); if proposals are currently being considered to permit the resumption of live performances at weddings from 7 June 2021 subject to the epidemiological situation and public health advice available at the time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27686/21]
View answerCOVID-19 is a highly infectious disease, which spreads when individuals and groups come into close contact with one another, enabling the virus to move from one person to another. In certain settings, such as weddings, higher noise levels due to music, can force people into close proximity, requiring them to raise their voices or shout to communicate thus increasing the risk of spreading virus to others. Such activities present a higher risk of transmission of COVID-19. Accordingly the existing Government decision remains in place that no live or loud music is permitted at weddings receptions. As the Deputy is aware, Government will be reviewing COVID restrictions at the end of the month and again in July.
In the meantime, it is hoped to begin hosting a limited number of pilot live events for live entertainment, both indoor and outdoor commencing in June, depending on the epidemiological situation at the time and subject to the rollout of the vaccination programme. Every option for the safe roll out of these events will be considered.
With regard to the meeting between Department officials and the association to which the Deputy refers, I understand that discussions focused on considerations relating to the Music and Entertainment Business Assistance Scheme (MEBAS), the details of which are currently being finalised. This scheme aims to contribute towards the ongoing overheads of businesses and sole-traders operating exclusively within the commercial live entertainment sector that have been significantly negatively affected by COVID-19 but do not qualify for other available business supports. Members of the association in question will be able to apply for support under the MEBAS when the scheme opens for applications next month.
