Tuesday, 24 Nov 2020

Future of Media Commission

Ceisteanna (132)

Mick Barry

Ceist:

132. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Taoiseach if he will report on his attendance at the inaugural meeting of the Future of Media Commission. [38332/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Future of Media Commission has met on two occasions, 29 October and 12 November. I provided a pre-recorded video message to mark the Commission’s inaugural meeting on 29 October. The video message is available to view on the Commission’s website, www.futureofmediacommission.ie.

Electric Vehicles

Ceisteanna (133)

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

133. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Taoiseach the number of new and of imported electric cars, plug-in hybrids and recharging hybrids licensed during the year to date; and the percentage of total new and total imported cars, respectively, accounted for by these categories. [37750/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach

The information requested by the Deputy, showing the breakdown by fuel type of new and used (imported) cars licensed between January and October 2020, is set out in the following table. Electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars represented 19.7% of new cars licensed between January and October 2020, and 10.4% of used (imported) cars.

Cars licensed January - October 2020

		Diesel	Petrol	Electric	Hybrid	Plug-in hybrid	Other	Total
New	Number	35,067	30,612	3,744	10,054	2,332	0	81,809
	% of total	42.9	37.4	4.6	12.3	2.9	0.0	100.0
Used (Imported)	Number	40,408	14,899	345	3,364	2,711	4	61,731
	% of total	65.5	24.1	0.6	5.4	4.4	0.0	100.0

Shared Island Unit

Ceisteanna (134)

Niamh Smyth

Ceist:

134. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Taoiseach the projects in counties Cavan and Monaghan which have been announced as part of the Shared Island Fund to date. [37551/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

The Programme for Government sets out the Government’s commitments on a Shared Island and to working with all communities and traditions on the island to build consensus around a shared future, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

On 22 October, I set out the Government’s vision and priorities on Shared Island in an online event at Dublin Castle. Over 800 people participated online, comprising a broad range of civil society, community, sectoral, and political representatives, across the island of Ireland and in Britain.

In Budget 2021, the Government announced the Shared Island Fund, with a planned €500m to be made available out to 2025, ring-fenced for Shared Island projects.

The Shared Island Fund provides significant new, multiannual capital funding for investment on a strategic basis in collaborative North/South projects that will support the commitments and objectives of the Good Friday Agreement.

Funding will be disbursed to Departments and Agencies in line with Programme for Government priorities and on the basis of collaborative North/South projects.

The funding will support the delivery of key cross-border infrastructure initiatives and new Government investment in all-island initiatives in areas such as research, health, education and the environment, and for addressing the particular challenges of the North West and Border communities, further to our commitments on Shared Island in the Programme for Government.

A number of these relate to projects that are relevant for Cavan and Monaghan within the wider border region, including for instance the A5 transport corridor and the Ulster Canal connection from Clones to Upper Lough Erne.

Departmental Contracts

Ceisteanna (135)

Seán Sherlock

Ceist:

135. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Taoiseach the third-party contracts entered into by agencies under the remit of his Department for the operation of community and voluntary organisations; the number of staff employed by third parties; and the cost of the contracts in 2019 and 2020. [37570/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

The National Economic and Social Development Office, an agency under the remit of the Department of the Taoiseach, has not entered into any third-party contracts in 2019 or 2020 for the operation of community and voluntary organisations.

Shared Island Unit

Ceisteanna (136, 137, 138, 139, 140)

On 22 October, I set out the Government’s vision and priorities on Shared Island in an online event at Dublin Castle. Over 800 people participated online, comprising a broad range of civil society, community, sectoral, and political representatives, across the island of Ireland and in Britain.

I engage regularly with the leaders of the political parties in Northern Ireland, and they are appraised of the Government’s Shared Island initiative. The Government is working in partnership with the Executive through the North South Ministerial Council, including to progress key cross-border investment projects, which are part of our Shared Island commitments in the Programme for Government.

I have had constructive engagement with British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, on the Government’s Shared Island objectives and commitments, and have made it clear that we are happy also to engage on an East-West basis as we take this work forward.

In Budget 2021, the Government announced the Shared Island Fund, with a planned €500m to be made available out to 2025, ring-fenced for Shared Island projects. The Shared Island Fund provides significant new, multiannual capital funding for investment on a strategic basis in collaborative North/South projects that will support the commitments and objectives of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Shared Island unit in my Department is led by an Assistant Secretary and four staff are now assigned. Operationally, the unit is focusing its work in three areas: commissioning research, fostering dialogue, and building a Shared Island agenda, including delivery of the commitments in the Programme for Government.

Strengthening social, economic and political links on the island and the promotion of all-island approaches to the strategic challenges facing Ireland, North and South are key objectives for this work.

On 22 October, I launched the Shared Island Dialogue series to foster constructive and inclusive civic dialogue on all aspects of a shared future on the island. The series starts on Thursday, 26 November, with a Dialogue on ‘New Generations and New Voices on the Good Friday Agreement’.

The Dialogue series will focus on important issues for people on the island in the years ahead, such as the environment, health, education and economy, and on key civic concerns that are addressed in the Good Friday Agreement, including identity and equality.

The Dialogue series will actively seek as broad a range of perspective and experience as possible, and the inclusion of voices that have been traditionally under-represented in the Peace Process, including women, young people, and new communities on the island.

Public Procurement Contracts

Ceisteanna (141)

Carol Nolan

Ceist:

141. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Taoiseach the details of contracts of €25,000 or more that have been awarded by his Department or bodies under the aegis of his Department and found to be non-compliant with procurement guidelines from 1 January 2019 to date. [37806/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

My Department liaises closely with the Office of Government Procurement (OGP) on all matters related to public procurement and monitors all areas of expenditure on an ongoing basis to ensure that value for money is being achieved.

Under Department of Finance Circular 40/02, my Department makes annual returns to the Comptroller and Auditor General in respect of contracts above a €25,000 threshold which are awarded without a competitive process. Contracts awarded without a competitive process are not necessarily non-compliant with procurement guidelines.

My Department's Finance Unit has not identified the awarding of any non-compliant contracts in 2019 and to date in 2020. Although there is active monitoring of expenditure, the 2020 position cannot be fully confirmed until the end of the year.

From the 1st January 2019 to date, the National Economic and Social Development Office, which is under the aegis of my Department, have not awarded any contracts over €25,000 that were found to be non-compliant with procurement guidelines.

Legislative Process

Ceisteanna (142)

Carol Nolan

Ceist:

142. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Taoiseach the details of all applications made by his Department to the Oireachtas Business Committee to waive pre-legislative scrutiny of primary and secondary legislation sponsored or initiated by his Department from 1 January 2017 to date. [37903/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

My Department has not made any applications to the Oireachtas Business Committee to waive pre-legislative scrutiny of primary and secondary legislation sponsored or initiated in my Department in the period in question.

Departmental Staff

Ceisteanna (143)

Patrick Costello

Ceist:

143. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Taoiseach the grade at which the chief data protection officer in his Department is employed. [37911/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

My Department’s Data Protection Officer is a designated official at Assistant Principal (Higher) grade.

Tribunals of Inquiry

Ceisteanna (144)

John McGuinness

Ceist:

144. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Taoiseach the number of tribunals, inquiries or investigations currently being undertaken by his Department; the number that are in the process of being set up; the number in which the terms of reference are not complete or not agreed; and the cost of all to date. [38049/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

The two Commissions of Investigation for which I am the specified Minister under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 are the IBRC Commission of Investigation, for which Judge Brian Cregan is the Sole Member and the NAMA Commission of Investigation, for which Judge John Cooke is the Sole Member. Both Commissions are fully independent in their investigations.

Excluding third party legal costs incurred but not yet paid, from the date of its establishment in 2015 to end October 2020, the IBRC Commission has spent a total of €8,687,379, while the NAMA Commission, which was established in 2017 has spent a total of €2,911,477.

The Deputy will also wish to note that the Moriarty Tribunal was established in 1997 and published its final report in March 2011. Following publication of that Report, a reduced legal and administrative staff remains in place.

The Tribunal continues with wind down and deconstruction and it is expected that all matters concerning remaining costs applications will be concluded by early next year.

Total expenditure to end of October 2020 for the Moriarty Tribunal is €65.5m.

Official Travel

Ceisteanna (145)

Alan Kelly

Ceist:

145. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question No. 148 of 17 November 2020, the nine names proposed by his predecessor to attend the event in the White House in 2019. [38541/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

The St. Patrick’s Day reception in the White House is hosted by the President of the United States. Those attending, including those proposed by the Taoiseach of the day, are invited and attend as his guests.

As I set out in my previous reply, I am advised that it is not the practice for the names of those invited by the US President to such events to be made public.

Judicial Appointments

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 to 152, inclusive, together.

As the Deputy will recall from his time in Government and his involvement in the decision-making process for judicial appointments, nominations for judicial appointment are decided by the Government on a proposal from the Minister for Justice. The Government decided on the nomination of the person to whom the Deputy refers at its meeting on 15 July 2020.

As I have stated previously, shortly prior to the Government being formed Minister Ryan and I, as party leaders, were notified by the Tánaiste that the person to whom the Deputy refers had been recommended as a suitable candidate by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) and would likely be recommended to be nominated by the Government for appointment to the Supreme Court.

The important point in my view was that the person in question had been recommended by the JAAB which is an independent board, established under the Courts and Court Officers Act 1995 to identify persons and inform the Government of the suitability of those persons for appointment to judicial office. The JAAB, which is chaired by the Chief Justice and includes the Presidents of the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court, conducts its procedures independently under the Courts and Court Officers Acts 1995 and 2002. The JAAB forwards information on candidates to the Minister for Justice who brings a proposal for nomination for appointment to the Government. The practice is that the Minister for Justice makes one nomination per vacancy to the Government.

In the case of the vacancy to which the Deputy refers, the Memorandum considered by the Government at its meeting on the evening of 15 July 2020 was submitted by the Minister for Justice, in the normal way, earlier that day.

As I have said previously, I was not aware that there were other applicants for the vacancy and, therefore, I could not and did not discuss with the Tánaiste or with other Ministers that there were other judges or the identity of those other judges who had applied for the position.

My Department was not made aware of the existence of or the identity of other applicants for the vacancy to which the Deputy refers prior to the appointment a person to that vacancy. It is not the practice that information on the details of applicants for ordinary judicial vacancies in the Courts are made known to my Department. My Department would have become aware that there was a recommendation from the JAAB for the appointment in question – but not the identity of the individual – when the Memorandum for the Government on the proposal for appointment was circulated for inclusion on the Government’s agenda.

The following was received from the Department under Standing Order 54 on 4 December 2020.

Correspondence