Results 801-820 of 1,040,497 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Cathal Crowe OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe) in 'Committee meetings'

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: He made the case that he wants more money, as does every leader of every State body and agency and as does everybody who appears before an Oireachtas committee. They say they acknowledge what they have but they will always make the case for more. To every charge that is made of deliberate underfunding on my behalf, including by the Deputy, I simply point to the fact that €1.9 billion...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: What was presented in last year's budget presented punitive risks to the health service and the health of people in my constituency and elsewhere. I do not think there was a need for it and I welcome the fact the Minister corrected it yesterday. It should have been corrected a year ago. There was a gaping hole in the budget but we will agree to disagree on that.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: We will indeed.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The Minister claims in his statement that the Government has been successful in addressing inflation and public infrastructure deficits. In terms of inflation, 671,000 people are still living in poverty in this State and more than 188,000 of them are children. Pensioners, carers and people with disabilities are worse off today than they were four years ago. That is what the evidence shows....

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The ESRI and my Department have published independent data showing we have been successful in protecting those on lower incomes from the effects of inflation, in particular through a combination of one-off measures and core social welfare increases. I did not say in any presentation that we do not have people who are still living in situations of low income. I did not deny for a moment the...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Will I take this as it may be a bit more relevant to my Department?

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I are aware of this issue of people who, late in life, find themselves in a position where they do not own their own home, do not qualify for social and affordable housing, and rent is going up or maybe their rental accommodation is uncertain. With regard to what we are doing in relation to it, this is why funding we are making available to the Department...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I take the Deputy's point but I know the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is aiming to do that. The plans I would be most familiar with in Dublin City Council, and the mix of homes being built by the city council, are predominantly focused on one- and two-bedroom units. In many cases the focus is on one-bedroom units to provide support for people who need the kind of accommodation the Deputy...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: This is why existing level of service, ELS, funding is going up by so much. It is one of the big reasons. It is very clear to me that the demographic transition, which we used to think about being in the medium term or happening at some point in the future, is happening now and in many different ways. It is happening in our health service and in our schools. We do ELS forecasts and ask...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I did not say they would be ring-fenced-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I did not say they will be ring-fenced because when we start ring-fencing funding for one group of people, then we are always faced with demands to ring-fence funding for other groups of people. The way in which we try to deal with the Deputy's point, which is an important one, is through the ELS funding that is made available to different Departments and we have a forecast for what that...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: The €24.2 billion refers to where we are with current funding and does not take any account of where we are with capital funding. Regarding the national children's hospital, I am confident that despite the many difficulties we have had with that project and the many issues that we acknowledge we need to handle in a different way, when that hospital is open and running it will make a...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, but sure I said in my answer to the Deputy that I accepted we had to learn lessons from it. On the other hand, now that we publish a cost span for huge projects, we receive commentary in respect of their cost being too big. We acknowledged what went wrong with the national children's hospital project and we have learned to fix it. While I deeply regret some of the issues that happened...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: If I may respond to that, I have great respect for Deputy Healy-Rae. He has been elected to Dáil Éireann many times and I recognise that on many different topics, with all the experience he has, he speaks an awful lot of sense. However, I have to honestly say to him that when I hear him speak about "our people", I flinch. He speaks, for example, about the Ukrainians. Of course,...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I think the facts speak for themselves. I will come back in if we have another round.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: If the Deputy will allow me to make a comment, I opened my contribution saying how much I respect him. That should indicate to him that the last thing I am trying to do is banish him. I believe that would also be completely unhealthy. We have to be able to have a debate and discussion, and this is what we are doing.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I want a "Yes" or "No" answer-----

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I want confirmation of two things. I ask the Minister to confirm that the allocation for new measures is less in this economic statement than it was last year. It is €1.8 billion this year and it was €2 billion last year. Is that correct? This is for new measures overall.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Paschal Donohoe: I will have to check the figure of €2 billion. Last year, we had a figure of €2.6 billion, but that figure included the provision for a pay deal which we were negotiating.

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Summer Economic Statement: Discussion (10 Jul 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is much less this year because of the pay deal. Is that the case?