Written Answers Nos. 164-183
164. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Taoiseach the number of staff within his Department who are based and working with the European Union in Brussels; the present roles and responsibilities of the staff; the posts and responsibilities that are presently vacant; and the corresponding figures on 23 June 2016. [19044/22]
View answerMy Department does not have any roles based in the European Union in Brussels. However, staff of my Department regularly avail of the opportunity to work in the European Commission under the National Experts in Professional Training (NEPT) and the Seconded National Experts (SNE) programmes. At present two officers of my Department are working in Brussels, one on the NEPT programme and one on the SNE programme. As at 23 June 2016, no staff of my Department were working in Brussels.
165. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Taoiseach if defibrillators are installed in all offices and buildings accessible by the public in his Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit. [19181/22]
View answerMy Department has two defibrillators installed in Government Buildings. The National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO) which is the only body under the aegis of my Department has one defibrillator installed in their building.
166. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Taoiseach the total value of consultancy contracts awarded to an organisation (details supplied) for work with his Department and bodies under auspices of his Department in each of the years 2017 to 2021, in tabular form. [19200/22]
View answerNo consultancy contracts have been awarded to the organisation in question by my Department or by the National Economic and Social Development Office which is the only body under the aegis of my Department.
167. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Taoiseach the purpose of a new question in the Census forms relating to the number of bedrooms in a home (H5); the reason this new question was included on the Census form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19247/22]
View answerCSO launched a public consultation on the content of the Census 2022 questionnaire in late 2017. As part of this consultation, members of the public and interested stakeholders were invited to submit their requests for new questions and revisions to existing questions. To assist the CSO in assessing the submissions, a Census Advisory Group (CAG) was formed. Membership of the CAG was drawn from organisations and groups who regularly use census data. The CAG made recommendations on which new and revised questions should be tested during a Census Pilot survey which was held in September 2018. Following the Pilot, the CAG assisted the CSO in deciding which questions should be recommended to government for inclusion on the census form.
As part of this process, suggestions to expand the question on the number of rooms in each dwelling to include the number of bedrooms were proposed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and IBEC. This proposal of the extension to the question was accepted by the CAG for testing in the Census Pilot on the basis that data derived from the question could provide increased insights into relative levels of crowding in homes across the country. The revised question was successfully tested in the Pilot and subsequently recommended by the CAG for inclusion on the census form. Approval for the inclusion of the question in the census was received by government in 2019.
The CSO also plans to use the data generated from the question in order to meet EU regulatory obligations specified in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/543.
168. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the dates on which groups (details supplied) chaired or co-chaired by the Secretary General of his Department met from June 2020 to date in 2022. [19419/22]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is set out in the table below. As the Deputy will be aware, the period concerned was very unusual in that the management of the State response to the Covid-19 pandemic was the absolute priority, while public health restrictions also had a significant impact on the convening of meetings.
|
Groups |
Dates of meetings from June 2020 to date in 2022 |
|
COVID 19 Oversight Group |
17 September 2020 30 September 2020 07 October 2020 12 October 2020 14 October 2020 21 October 2020 30 October 2020 04 November 2020 11 November 2020 18 November 2020 25 November 2020 02 December 2020 09 December 2020 16 December 2020 23 December 2020 30 December 2020 06 January 2021 13 January 2021 20 January 2021 27 January 2021 03 February 2021 10 February 2021 17 February 2021 24 February 2021 03 March 2021 10 March 2021 17 March 2021 24 March 2021 31 March 2021 15 April 2021 21 April 2021 05 May 2021 12 May 2021 19 May 2021 26 May 2021 02 June 2021 10 June 2021 16 June 2021 23 June 2021 30 June 2021 07 July 2021 14 July 2021 22 July 2021 28 July 2021 04 August 2021 18 August 2021 25 August 2021 01 September 2021 16 September 2021 29 September 2021 13 October 2021 20 October 2021 28 October 2021 03 November 2021 10 November 2021 17 November 2021 24 November 2021 01 December 2021 08 December 2021 15 December 2021 22 December 2021 30 December 2021 05 January 2022 12 January 2022 19 January 2022 16 February 2022 |
|
Civil Service Management Board |
17 July 2020 30 October 2020 29 January 2021 26 February 2021 26 March 2021 30 April 2021 04 June 2021 25 June 2021 24 September 2021 29 October 2021 26 November 2021 26 January 2022 24 March 2022 |
|
High Level Steering Board on Policing Reform |
20 April 2021 23 February 2022 |
|
North East Inner City Oversight Group |
03 June 2021 |
|
Senior Officials Group on Commemorations |
12 January 2021 |
|
Climate Action Delivery Board (co chaired with the Secretary General of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications) |
26 November 2021 28 January 2022 08 April 2022 It should be noted that climate-related matters were brought forward through a number of alternative structures, including the Senior Officials Group on the Environment and Climate Change and the Cabinet Committee on the Environment and Climate, where members of the Delivery Board attend with Government Ministers. Climate-related matters are also frequently discussed at the Cabinet Committee on Government Coordination. |
|
National Security Committee |
Having regard to the confidential nature of the work of the Committee, it is not the practice to provide detailed information in respect of it. |
169. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Taoiseach if he will provide the details of the name, salary, position and roles of persons who are being paid for by his Department for secondment to another public, private or semi-private entity in tabular form following the announcement that the salary of a person (details supplied) being seconded to Trinity College, Dublin will be paid by the Department of Health. [19557/22]
View answer174. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Taoiseach if he will outline all of the secondment arrangements within his Department; and the conditions related to such secondments. [19877/22]
View answer177. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Taoiseach the number of persons currently employed in his Department who have been seconded in from the public sector; the number of Departmental officials seconded where the monies are recouped from the body the person is seconded to or where the Department pays for the person with no recoupment from the other organisation. [20069/22]
View answer180. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the number of staff within his Department who availed of a secondment from January 2019 to date on the basis that it was not the intention of the staff member to return to their position within the Department. [20650/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 169, 174, 177 and 180 together.
My Department utilises secondments to fill roles that are temporary or time-bound in nature and roles that require specialist knowledge. My Department also facilitates Departmental staff availing of secondment opportunities in other Government Departments and in the European Commission as such arrangements provide staff with opportunities to broaden their skills and continue their professional and personal development. Secondment arrangements also provide opportunities for both the receiving and sending organisations to benefit from shared learning, good practice, new ideas and experience. Staff who have departed on secondment since 2019, have done so for an agreed period of time.
Currently, there are 19 individuals on secondment working in my Department all with relevant salary costs being covered by my Department. 17 individuals are on secondment from other Government Departments and two are on secondment from other Public Sector organisations.
Two members of staff of my Department are currently seconded out to other organisations, one at Assistant Principal level to the European Commission on the Seconded National Experts programme and one at Principal Officer level to another Government Department and who continues to be paid by my Department.
170. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide the Civil Service Management Board terms of reference. [19563/22]
View answerThe Civil Service Management Board (CSMB) was established to bring together all Heads of Departments and major Offices into a cohesive whole-of-Government executive management team and is chaired by the Secretary General to the Government.
It meets collectively for strategic discussions on the shared issues and challenges that are common across all Government Departments and Offices
The Board has been assigned collective responsibility for implementing the Civil Service Renewal Plan.
171. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Taoiseach if his Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit run apprenticeship programmes or are directly engaged in the training of apprentices; if so, the number of apprentices involved; and the specialities in which they are being trained. [19592/22]
View answerNeither my Department nor the National Economic and Social Development Office, the only body under the aegis of my Department, run apprenticeship programmes or are directly engaged in the training of apprentices.
In the context of the Government’s commitment to grow apprenticeships across the Public and Civil Service, my Department is supporting cross-Government work led by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, to develop a Public Sector Apprenticeship Recruitment Plan with sectoral targets for the recruitment of apprentices by public service bodies.
172. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Taoiseach the number of persons employed by his Department and bodies under the aegis of his Department with a rate of pay below the living wage of €12.30; and the role that those persons occupy within his Department or relevant body. [19637/22]
View answerThe 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.
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.
There is one employee of my Department whose annual basic salary is currently less than this amount.
The National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO), the only body under the aegis of my Department, has no staff earning less than this amount.
173. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Taoiseach the salaries and expenses paid to advisers, Ministers and or Ministers of State in his Department in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [19754/22]
View answerThe salaries and expenses paid to advisers, Ministers and Ministers of State in my Department in the years 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022 are set out in the table below.
|
Year |
Salaries |
Expenses |
Total |
|
2020 |
€ 1,796,838 |
€ 1,679 |
€ 1,798,516 |
|
2021 |
€ 2,209,337 |
€ 2,557 |
€ 2,211,895 |
|
2022 to date |
€ 575,241 |
€ 262.13 |
€ 575,503 |
|
Total |
€ 4,581,416 |
€ 4,498 |
€ 4,585,914 |
175. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach when he will publish his diary for quarter 1 of 2022 on the website of his Department. [19976/22]
View answerMy diary for quarter 1 of 2022 has been published and is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/collection/e0fb8-taoiseachs-diary/.
176. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Taoiseach if his Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit facilitate internships by students engaged in full-time or part-time further and higher education courses; if so, the number of interns his Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit accept annually; and if any or all of these interns receive remuneration of any kind. [20015/22]
View answerMy Department does not facilitate internships by students in full-time or part-time further and higher education courses. The National Economic and Social Development Office, the only body under the aegis of my Department, provides work experience and internships on an unpaid basis to four third-level students on an annual basis.
178. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach his views in relation to the process of data collection and handling of census forms that the Data Protection Commissioner should investigate if, in fact the current processes in place are current and compliant with EU and National GDPR regulation; and if people's information is being handled by the CSO in line with best practices. [20182/22]
View answerThe 2022 Population and Housing Census is conducted in accordance with EU Regulation 763/2008 which obliges all EU Member States to conduct a regular census of population. The full list of data to be collected was considered and approved by the Government in July 2019 (the Census was subsequently deferred from April 2021 to April 2022 as a result of COVID-19).
Under Section 25 of the Statistics Act 1993, all people resident in Ireland on Census Night were obliged to complete a Census Return, with the Statistics (Census of Population) Order, 2020 providing for the census to be held on 3 April 2022. It also details the information to be provided and the persons required to provide it. Each item of personal data requested from householders on Census Night in accordance with this Statutory Instrument will be aggregated so that no individuals can be identified in any of the Census outputs.
A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was carried out to ensure that the data is being collected within the legal parameter of Data Protection Legislation, including GDPR. The CSO engaged with the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in producing this DPIA and adopted all recommendations made by that Office.
179. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Taoiseach if funding (details supplied) that has been allocated has been drawn down and spent; if there has been a follow up or appraisal on the funding given under the various programmes or headings; and if any of the allocated funding has been recouped or unspent. [20403/22]
View answerMy Department has not allocated any funding to the organisation in question from 1 January 2017 to date.
181. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the new models of sectoral engagement created by the social dialogue unit of his Department. [20977/22]
View answer182. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the dates on which the Labour Employer Economic Forum has met between June 2020 to date inclusive in tabular form; and the meetings that he attended. [20979/22]
View answer183. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach the dates on which he has met with representatives from the Environmental Pillar; the Community and Voluntary Pillar and the Farming and Agriculture Pillar between June 2020 to date inclusive. [20980/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 181, 182 and 183 together.
The Government recognises the importance of regular and open engagement with all sectors of society as we tackle the many economic, social and environmental challenges facing the country.
In particular, the Government has been working to strengthen Social Dialogue across a range of areas including:
- the National Economic Dialogue which will next take place in June,
- the National Economic and Social Council, whose Shared Island report I launched recently,
- the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council,
- the National Dialogue on Climate Action which held a Stakeholder Forum in March,
- through many consultative groups set up across different sectors,
- the recently-established Citizen’s Assemblies on a Dublin Lord Mayor and Biodiversity, and
- direct engagement with Ministers and Departments on specific issues of concern.
In recent months I have had engagements with social partners in a variety of different formats. This includes through the Labour Employer Economic Forum, which brings together representatives of employers and trade unions with Government to exchange views on economic and employment issues as they affect the labour market and which are of mutual concern.
I have attended and chaired all six LEEF Plenary meetings since the Government took office, the dates of which are documented below in tabular form.
|
Date of LEEF Meeting |
|
28/10/20 |
|
12/02/21 |
|
05/07/21 |
|
28/10/21 |
|
03/02/22 |
|
13/04/22 |
Other engagements I have had with social partners include a series of meetings last year with representatives from the Environmental Pillar, the Community and Voluntary Pillar, and the Farming and Agriculture Pillar to discuss how social dialogue can be strengthened, as well as issues of concern to those sectors. These meetings took place on 21 May, 4 June and 14 June 2021 respectively. I hope to meet again with these pillars in the period ahead as we seek to navigate and tackle major challenges facing the country, especially as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
