Written Answers Nos. 72-79
72. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the cost of registered post for ballot papers in the cultural and educational panel by-election to Seanad Éireann in 2014. [34792/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe cost of registered post for ballot papers, in the Cultural and Educational Panel by-election to Seanad Éireann in 2014, was €2,676.00.
73. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the cost of registered post for ballot papers in the National University of Ireland and University of Dublin constituencies in the general election to Seanad Éireann in 2011. [34793/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFor the election to Seanad Éireann 2011 the cost of registered post for ballot papers, for the National University of Ireland constituency was €534,336.46, and for the University of Dublin constituency was €826,744.15.
74. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will outline the discussions he or his Department have had with suppliers or service contractors to his Department or agencies of his Department to ensure that employees of such suppliers and contractors are paid the living wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34902/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the Deputy's question I can confirm that my Department adheres to all appropriate current wage legislation and considers Protection of Employees on Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations information and the guidelines in relation to wages from the Joint Labour Committees with regard to dealings with suppliers or service contractors.
With regard to the agencies, organisations and bodies under the aegis of my Department I can confirm that the Valuation Office, the State Laboratory, the Institute of Public Administration, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of Public Works and the Special EU Programmes Body have had no discussions with suppliers/contractors regarding the application of the living wage to their own employees. The Public Appointments Service (PAS) has advised that as part of the terms and conditions of any supplier or contractor procured by PAS they require that "the statutory terms which are applicable to all workers in Ireland, regardless of nationality, must be adhered to in all public contracts including the supply of labour". The Public Appointments Service has had no discussions in relation to employees of suppliers and contractors being paid the living wage.
75. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of staff currently employed in each Department and State agency, in tabular form, by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34905/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetailed, spreadsheet information on the number of Civil Servants on a county-by-county basis is being provided to the Deputy under separate cover. These numbers are recorded on a full-time equivalent basis, and the figures reflect the position at end June 2015. Information on the number of Civil and Public Servants in each State office or body under the aegis of my Department, on a county-by-county basis, is also provided.
With regard to the detailed county-by-county information on employees across the rest of the Public Service and outside the aegis of my Department, for example within the Education or the Health sector, I direct the Deputy to the relevant sectorial Minister.
For other high level information on the Public Service numbers I direct the Deputy to my Department's website - at http://databank.per.gov.ie/.
76. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide, in tabular form, the total number of staff under the remit of his Department that have applied to be transferred to Department or State agency offices located outside the Dublin region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34906/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn response to the Deputy's question the following table shows the number of staff under the remit of my Department that have applied to be transferred to Department or State Agency offices located outside the Dublin region.
|
Department/State Agency |
No. of Staff |
|
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform |
3 |
|
Valuation Office |
1 |
|
Institute of Public Administration |
0 |
|
State Laboratory |
0 |
|
Special EU Programmes Body |
0 |
|
Office of the Ombudsman |
0 |
|
Public Appointments Service |
6 |
|
Office of Public Works |
0 |
|
Total |
10 |
77. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount of funding that has been allocated to a political party (details supplied); and the purpose of this money. [34957/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI presume that the Deputy is referring to the Parliamentary Activities Allowance (formerly known as the Party Leaders Allowance).
Provision for the allowance is made under the Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Act 1938 as amended, most recently by the Oireachtas (Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices) (Amendment) Act 2014. The allowance is paid to the parliamentary leader of a qualifying party in relation to expenses arising from the parliamentary activities, including research, of the party. The conditions governing entitlement to payment of the allowance are set out in the Act.
Payments are made in respect of members of the party elected to Dáil Éireann and members elected/nominated to Seanad Éireann at the last preceding general election or a subsequent by-election or, in the case of Seanad Éireann, nominated to it after the last preceding general election. The legislation also provides that payments may be made to a member of Dáil or Seanad Éireann who is elected other than as a member of a qualifying party, i.e. an Independent Member.
The amount payable to party leaders is calculated on a tiered basis by reference to the number of party members who are elected or nominated to the Dáil or Seanad and is fixed at the time of the election, or following a bye-election. Members subsequently leaving or joining parties does not affect the position. The allowance was not introduced to support individual members of parties and the tiered calculation system provided for in the legislation is only used for calculating the payments due. It is not an allocation for individual members.
The total amounts paid to the Fine Gael party from 1 January 2013 to 30 September 2015 are as follows:
|
Party |
2013 |
2014 |
end Sept 2015 |
|
Fine Gael |
€2,687,388.61 |
€2,553,863.00 |
€1,795,080.30 |
78. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of visits made by potential multinational investors with the Industrial Development Agency to a town (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34797/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am advised by IDA Ireland that site visits are recorded on a county basis only so it is therefore not possible to give figures for individual towns. The number of site visits by potential multi-national investors to Co. Galway to the middle of 2015 is 16. At present, there are 63 IDA supported companies in Galway City and County, employing 13,862 in total. IDA Ireland actively markets Galway as part of its West region, which comprises counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. The agency has developed property solutions in Galway, which are promoted across its global offices. In particular, there are two sites in Tuam that IDA Ireland markets. The first is the Tuam Business Park, which is a 13.48ha site. The second is the 10.73 ha Tuam Business & Technology Park. Tenants include companies such as Valeo Vision Systems, Transitions Optical, Logstrup and SSL Logistics.
The availability of an adequate supply of marketable, serviced land and office and industrial/technology buildings in advance of demand is a key element in IDA Ireland’s ability to compete for mobile FDI.
The availability of property solutions eliminates the lead times normally associated with acquiring property, enables clients to plan their property needs with a greater degree of certainty and allows for the commencement of projects at an earlier date by eliminating much of the difficulties associated with land acquisition, planning and construction.
IDA Ireland launched its new Strategy for the next five years earlier this year. Entitled ‘Winning – Foreign Direct Investment 2015-2019’, it sets out IDA Ireland’s commitment to achieve a significant increase in the amount of FDI projects going into regions and outlines the strategic actions aimed at achieving the organisation's regional goals. One such strategic action is a €150m property investment plan, which will be spread out over five years. The funding will be used to upgrade Ireland's business and technology parks, as well as investing in a number of strategic utility-intensive sites and building new advanced technology buildings in a number of regional locations.
Competition for FDI is intense and global, with virtually every country in the world actively seeking new FDI investments but IDA Ireland has a long and credible track record of presenting potential investors with the best location options throughout Ireland for each client. The agency actively incentivises and encourages investors to consider a range of potential locations in Ireland, however, the ultimate locations selected are always decided by its clients and not by IDA Ireland.
79. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when the study on low-hour contracts will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34810/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI confirm that the University of Limerick (UL) has completed its study, which I received recently. The study is a substantial body of research into the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts across the Irish economy, the manner of their use and their impact on employees. I intend to bring the report to Government in the first half of October with a view to its immediate publication and to provide stakeholders with a period of time within which to consider its findings and respond to me, prior to my bringing policy recommendations to Government on foot of the study which I intend to do at the earliest opportunity.
