7. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance to provide details of any assessments made by his Department on the impact on the Irish economy of the possible introduction of certain tariffs by the US Government that will act as a barrier to trade between the United States and the EU; the preparations his Department is making to deal with this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5148/25]
Sentiment score: 0.18
My question relates to a matter which has been raised on two separate occasions in the House this morning, that is, the impact of potential tariffs being considered by the US on Ireland and the EU's trade with the US and any assessments the Department may have undertaken at this stage on that impact. The Minister addressed the matter earlier but I have a couple of related questions in the follow-up discussion.
Sentiment score: 0.02
One of the implications of all of this that is probably less well understood is the fact that Ireland is the ninth-largest foreign direct investor in the US economy and that Irish firms are responsible for a substantial number of good jobs in the US. Of course, President Trump is nothing if not unpredictable. We were expecting some form of white smoke from the White House this week as to what any potential tariffs may look like. Obviously, Ireland is especially exposed. On that basis, obviously, much of the responsibility in dealing with tariffs would be an all-of-government responsibility. The Minister for enterprise, Deputy Peter Burke, will have a lead role, as will the Tánaiste and Minister for trade, Deputy Harris. From the Minister, Deputy Donohoe's, own point of view, however, does he accept - and this is a long-standing issue about which we have been told time and again - that we need to broaden our tax base to try, insofar as we can, to insulate our own public finances from the threats that will potentially arise?
Sentiment score: 0.14
There is more than a grain of truth in what some colleagues said earlier but I would not put it in the way they have. There is an imbalance in the Irish economic and enterprise model and we are all aware of that, notwithstanding that we have to recognise the incredible work being done by Enterprise Ireland. I remind Deputy Tóibín to look at the Enterprise Ireland job statistics from last year. They are quite extraordinary and they compare very favourably with IDA Ireland's but there is a larger job of work to be done in that regard. I have no doubt that looking at the focus on the indigenous economy that we need to keep a close eye on research and development tax credits, for example, and how we can better operate those to encourage the development of indigenous enterprise, to grow sustainable Irish jobs and to ensure high potential Irish companies go global from here.
Sentiment score: 0.19
66. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform when he will conclude the process of workforce planning referred to in the programme for Government for the public sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5124/25]
Sentiment score: 0.01
Will the Minister put on the record the position relating to the programme for Government commitment on the process of workforce planning? It is referred to in the document adopted by the House. Will he elaborate on precisely what that means, what the process involves and when he expects to complete that initiative?
Sentiment score: 0.13
I am glad the Minister made the point that the public sector ought to be the employer of choice. It needs to be the exemplar and best practice needs to be shown. A degree of workforce planning in the ranks of junior Ministers has taken place this week. The Minister claimed that because of an expanded population we require additional Ministers of State. We had that debate yesterday. He is right that public sector employment levels will grow to a record high this year and that is to be welcomed. There is a degree of misalignment between his position and that of the Parliamentary Budget Office, and its analysis made available to The Irish Times a couple of days ago. The Minister may have seen the piece published yesterday, where it was estimated there would be 415,000 civil and public servants by the end of this year. He said his figures are that it will be in excess of 420,000. He might explain his understanding of the Parliamentary Budget Office's position. His assessment may include local authority workers and he might clarify that.
Sentiment score: 0.14
IBEC has even made an assessment in recent years and has caught up with the position of the Labour Party and others that our State is not only too small to service current economic and social needs, but future economic and social needs and ambitions. I will make two points. The first is that when we talk about agility, the public sector and the private sector need to be agile. There is now competition for talent. It was disappointing to see individual Departments going on solo runs last week on unilateral proposed changes to their policies on blended work. That position has changed in recent days where they have agreed to engage with trade unions. It is important that the public service should be an exemplar of employment practices. We obviously do not include section 39 workers, who are balloting for industrial action, in our public sector employment figures. There used to be a connection and alignment between their pay grades' terms and conditions and those of equivalent grades in the public service. That is not the case at the moment and that needs to be addressed because they are carrying out the work of essential public services in the health-related activities contracted to them by the State.
Sentiment score: 0.08
70. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide details on the full number of staff who will be assigned to the proposed dedicated infrastructure division in his Department; if he will provide details on the range of skill sets that will be available within the division; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5127/25]
Sentiment score: 0.18
This question is on the commitment made in the programme for Government to create a dedicated infrastructure division in the Department. Will the Minister put on the record the range of skill sets that will be available, the number of staff to be employed and the overall complexion of that particular division, which will be critical to the development of crucial infrastructure in our country?
Sentiment score: 0.26
I thank the Minister very much. The creation of this division seems to be a halfway house between Fine Gael's manifesto commitment to a Department of infrastructure and Fianna Fáil's own ambitions in this area, as reflected in its general election manifesto. The division will be headed by a deputy Secretary General. That is also the case in some other Departments. I believe the Department of Justice has a deputy Secretary General. The way the Minister has described this suggests that expertise will be pulled into this division from other Departments. Will this then mean a diminution of expertise in, for example, the Department of Transport? Many of us in the Oireachtas are concerned about delays to major transport projects around the country. How might that work? The Minister will understand, will accept and has experienced in his role the principle that finances follow functions. When a Department is split up and functions move, the resources move with them. Is that the case?
Sentiment score: 0.16
I will put the Minister behind the 8-ball, if I may. I have no doubt from speaking to his Government colleagues that Government has one, two or maybe even three principal objectives in respect of the expeditious delivery of critical infrastructure in the early part of the term of this Government. What are the most important infrastructure development projects that could be supported by this new division? The Minister must have something in mind. I have no doubt that he does. I have a slight concern. It was a concern that probably surfaced in the context of the election campaign in November but also subsequent to that in the programme for Government negotiations. I am not sure if there were any issues at all between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I refer to the idea of whether a department of infrastructure should be set up. The settled view seems to be that setting up a Department is complicated and it takes time, while the priority is delivery. What does the Minister want to deliver? What projects does he think this initiative will help him to deliver quicker?
Sentiment score: -0.00
75. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform when he plans to commence and conclude his planned review of the Civil Service blended working policy framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5125/25]
Sentiment score: 0.01
I would like the Minister to put on the record of the House the programme for Government commitment on the context around the planned review of the Civil Service blended working policy framework. As I mentioned in another context earlier, in recent weeks the Department of Social Protection, for example, went on what I might describe as a solo run and requested that staff return to the office a minimum of two days per week from this month. The situation has changed since, but I ask the Minister to elaborate on the current position of the Government, and on his position, on the commitment to a Civil Service blended working policy framework review.
Sentiment score: 0.38
It seems to me that the Department of Social Protection jumped the gun with its solo run on this. It jumped the gun on the programme for Government commitment. Nobody has any difficulty with a review. The existing policy, though, has been in place only since 2022, and I would not advise the Civil Service and public service or the Minister to take any example from the code of practice of the Workplace Relations Commission that applies, for example, to the private sector. That is essentially a charter for refusal for workers who want to engage in more hybrid work and have more work-life balance in that regard. I said earlier that the public service should be an exemplar in terms of employment practices, pay and terms and conditions. It is a very competitive labour market at the moment for the skills that are available in our labour market, and that will be very important as regards the ability of the Civil Service and public service to attract talent over the next few years. On that basis, pending the outcome of engagement with trade unions and the completion of the work on the framework, will Deputy Chambers, as the Minister with responsibility for the public service, instruct individual Government Departments not to change their existing frameworks and policies at least until such time as their engagement with the relevant trade unions and the completion of this initiative?
Sentiment score: 0.16
If I am reading correctly what the Minister is saying, he is comfortable with what the Department of Social Protection did in recent weeks, essentially instructing staff to come back to the office without agreement two days a week. By the way, that may seem reasonable to some, and I am not saying it is unreasonable. What is unreasonable is the lack of consultation and the unilateral nature of that decision, which appeared to blindside staff and their representative organisations, Fórsa in this case. Nobody has any difficulty - I certainly do not - with tailored, customised solutions to address the workplace needs and business environment in individual Departments and agencies because they are all different and all have different needs. However, we need to agree on a core set of principles that would apply across the Civil Service and public service on approaches to blended, remote and hybrid work. Any initiative the Government undertakes or plans to undertake - I would appreciate it if the Minister put it on the record of the House when he intends to have this process completed - must be informed by evidence. Productivity, performance and all those very important things should be included and any examination needs to be robust and decisions need to be evidence based. However, I am not seeing much of that.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I am trying to identify the question.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I thank the Minister for the prompt. I have been here all morning as I had finance questions earlier as well.
Sentiment score: 0.32
83. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to outline his vision for a public infrastructure Act as referenced in the programme for Government; how this will improve delivery, value for money and accountability in relation to public infrastructure development; if he will provide details on any models his Department is evaluating which are in place in analogous countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5128/25]
Sentiment score: 0.25
I ask the Minister to elaborate on what his intentions are for the introduction of an infrastructure Act and what that will involve.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I would like a chance to respond but it seems we have run out of time. I did not even expect to get to this particular question, given the time allocated this morning. I wish to make the point, now that there are more Members present, that the reason we got to that question is because many Government TDs are not here to take their own questions. That is quite extraordinary considering much of the political debate in this Chamber in recent weeks has been taken up by Government representatives saying they will not have sufficient speaking time.
Sentiment score: 0.18