1. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation if he will publish the efficiency and reform proposals that he requested each Department to provide to him by 17 July 2026; if he will do so at the earliest opportunity possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51702/26]
Sentiment score: 0.22
Will the Minister commit to the publishing of the efficiency and reform proposals he has requested every Department provide to him by 17 July, in full and as soon as possible?
Sentiment score: 0.57
Just for clarity, did the Minister commit to publishing them? Maybe he can come back on that. I genuinely mean that I did not fully understand that. When the Minister drafted these measures, he was presumably aware the Department of education was not the only one in the red. It turns out the Departments of health, justice and social protection are also on track to overspend by millions of euro. In the case of social protection, the Minister has asked it to make €6 million of cuts - an impossible ask for a Department with a projected €89 million overspend. Similarly, he slashed the health budget by €175 million despite the HSE projecting a €400 million overspend. I do not understand his taking an axe to our public services because of the failure of the last budget, which became clear in the budgetary oversight committee, as well as because the sums did not add up on budget day. Will the Minister commit to publishing them? Will he tell us what he is cutting?
Sentiment score: 0.08
The reason we are in this mess in the first place is the Department of education clearly stated it required additional financing to make ends meet this year. The reality is the Minister's Department did not listen. As a result of that, we are in this mess. My question is will the Minister publish that which he has requested for 17 July. It is only through an FOI request that we discovered he is asking for this by 17 July. We know that is the week the Dáil goes into recess. It seems to me that he is trying to sneak it through during the summer recess, when he knows there is not Dáil scrutiny. Will he commit to listening to each Department when it comes to this budget? We have had an issue whereby in the previous budget the two Ministers did not.
Sentiment score: -0.02
Yes, but tell us what it is.
Sentiment score: 0.21
3. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to give an update on the progress of a new public sector pay agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51703/26]
Sentiment score: 0.23
I completely agree with the Minister that this comes through dialogue. I am not expecting to have any information from inside the room coming to the outside. The question really relates to the fact that the previous public sector pay agreement ended last Tuesday without any deal to replace it. Of course, there will be public sector workers who are concerned about that. The Minister mentioned stability. That is what people will need and want. We know that we are in a cost-of-living crisis. We also know that the Central Bank is saying that real wages are going to fall by the end of the year. These are the people who look after us in our hospitals; they are nurses, doctors, those who drive buses and trains and so on. These are people who keep the economy ticking over. Does the Minister expect to continue with this work?
Sentiment score: 0.03
I am not sure how many are looking in at 9.30 p.m. because there may be a World Cup match on, but for those who are watching these proceedings and who take an interest in this very important matter, the reality is that they will look back and see that the first thing Government Members voted on in the lifetime of this Dáil was a bumper pay rise for themselves and for Cabinet Ministers at a time when they, the people to whom I refer, are struggling to make ends meet and when the cost of everything, including housing, is increasing. I am sure that every week Deputies deal with people who simply cannot make ends meet, whether they be public sector workers or other workers, because of political decisions that were made in this Chamber and that have resulted in, for example, rents increasing and supports in terms of energy costs being removed. I urge the Minister to do everything in his power to reach a fair deal.
Sentiment score: 0.47
4. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the national procurement strategy, which was due to be published earlier this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51494/26]
Sentiment score: 0.01
Will the Minister provide an update on the national procurement strategy, which, as I understood it, was to be published earlier this year? I brought forward legislation in relation to procurement and was told that we had to take a wait-and-see approach on foot of the work that was happening in respect of procurement.
Sentiment score: 0.24
The issue that I have is that this time last year, I brought forward legislation specifically around procurement. We know that billions of euro are spent on procurement every year. We know that if this money is spent in a way that will benefit society, it can have a massive social, environmental and, indeed, economic impact. To be honest, the Government is moving far too slowly when it comes to tackling this issue. This is something that can have an economic benefit. The Minister of State and I are both from the west of Ireland. The impact that good use of procurement, tendering and contracts can have on small communities is massive. Is consideration being given to how the strategy can be used in smaller geographical areas that may not have the economic strength that other areas have in order to ensure that those areas can withstand economic shocks?
Sentiment score: 0.31
I am probably one of the people who is most looking forward, apart from the Minister of State, obviously, to reading the strategy. I hope that it will look two things. First, the economic impact we can have with the money that is spent. That impact can be huge, economically, socially and environmentally. There is a massive impact we can have, particularly if we look at what has happened in places like Preston, for example, and how measures there have worked. The strategy also needs to look at cost overruns and at how public money is wasted. The legislation I brought forward this time last year, in respect of which the Government kicked the can down the road, suggested that information should be provided in an annual report by the Minister to show the type of procurement procedure used by public bodies, the use and type of social clauses in contracts, details on contracts awarded to SMEs and a scoring of the performance of contractors in the context of whether they go over time and over budget. Will the Minister of State commit to looking at that?
Sentiment score: 0.20