Latest news with #DepartmentofPublicExpenditure
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
Department of Public Expenditure gave green light to higher pay for housing executive
The post was meant to be filled with a starting package of €161,593 a year, the first point on the Assistant Secretary salary scale of the civil service. However, the Housing Agency said their preferred candidate had been paid a higher salary than that in his previous role in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). They argued that their new CEO, Martin Whelan, should start at €184,852 per year, the fourth and final point on the agreed salary scale. The Department of Public Expenditure said that based on his 'substantial knowledge and experience' and his previous salary, they would have 'no objection' to the higher package. Internal records detail how the Housing Agency was left without a CEO when previous boss Bob Jordan resigned in September last year after a three-month notice period. An email from the Department of Housing said: 'Given the short lead-in time to Mr Jordan's resignation there is an urgency in commencing the recruitment process. 'It may be a case that an interim CEO will be required for a number of months as it is imperative that the work and consequential outputs of the Housing Agency is uninterrupted while the substantive CEO process is ongoing.' In response, the Department of Public Expenditure said they had no objection to a person being appointed on an acting basis if the need arose. They said the full-time appointment should be made on the Assistant Secretary level which begins at €161,593 per year and with no perks permitted under government policy. In November, the Housing Agency said they had found a candidate for the role but submitted a business case to seek a higher starting pay rate. It said that while Mr Whelan was 'enthusiastic about the role,' he had 'requested a review of the remuneration package.' The business case said: '[His] current salary at the NTMA is [redacted] which contrasts with the €163,209 at the first point of the Assistant Secretary grade. 'To address this and to reflect the level of experience and expertise Mr Whelan will bring, the Agency proposes appointing him at the top of the Assistant Secretary scale, €186,701.' It said a committee led by the chair of the Housing Agency fully supported it and believed it was a 'prudent and necessary investment'. As part of the business case, the Department of Housing said they also agreed that Mr Whelan should start on the higher rate of pay. There were further discussions with details sought on how many people had applied and how many were considered suitable for the role. In mid-November, the Department of Housing said they were hoping for a final decision as the matter was now 'very urgent and impacting the business of the [Housing] Agency'. On November 29, an email from the Department of Public Expenditure said they had closely considered the case and the candidate's previous experience. 'Taking into account his current salary in the NTMA, [we] would have no objection to the Housing Agency negotiating a salary up to the fourth point of the Assistant Secretary scale,' said the message. Asked about the records, the Department of Public Expenditure said they had nothing further to add.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Civil servant knew a year before Cabinet that Arts Council IT project might need to restart
The Government's chief information officer was aware, well over a year before the issue was raised at Cabinet, that the Arts Council 's botched information technology (IT) project may need to restart. The senior civil servant, who is based in the Department of Public Expenditure , ordered an external review of the IT grants system in early 2024 after learning it could take three more years to finish. That review found that the IT system was not viable, that the project could overrun and that the final system may not even be used by the council. Despite this, the review formed the basis of a 'rescue' plan, in which the council asked the Department of Culture for 'significant investment' to save the project. [ Three firms that shared €4.8m from Arts Council for abandoned IT project named Opens in new window ] In response, the council's parent department sanctioned the council to hire two more senior IT roles in an attempt to save the doomed project. By this point, the project was geared towards overhauling the grants management system for the arts sector and had already cost almost €6 million. READ MORE Government chief information officer Barry Lowry was involved in advising the council throughout the project in his capacity as the main adviser on public service information and communication technology. [ Government to appoint chief information officer Opens in new window ] Mr Lowry was approached by the council in December 2023, as the State agency became increasingly concerned about the then almost four-year-long project that had not produced a functioning IT system. Correspondence between Mr Lowry and the council in December 2023, released under Freedom of Information legislation, shows he was aware the project may need to begin again. 'What you certainly need at this stage is an accurate cost/time to fix or an honest assessment that you would be better starting again,' noted Mr Lowry. He added that 'if, and I hope this is not the case, you are in the start again space', his office had 'grant management solutions' used for the Department of Public Expenditure that should be shown to the council. Mr Lowry was also aware that the state of the project could result in the council taking legal action against at least one contractor. In a meeting with the council in January 2024, Mr Lowry asked to discuss the suggestion that the IT project 'could be delayed by a further three years'. By February, he had ordered Storm, a technology consultancy firm, to conduct a two-week review of the architecture of the council IT project. The Office of the Chief Government Information Officer paid for the review, which was scheduled to cost no more than €50,000. A document prepared by the council said any architectural review should consider if the project was compliant with 'design principles' and value for money. Following the Storm review, the council wrote to the Department of Culture explaining the report showed 'we are at an extremely critical juncture with the project, one which requires making significant investment in ... the short term ... in order to rescue the overall project'. These emails, which were released by the council to the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee , show the arts agency succeeded in getting sanction to hire two new directors of IT. A spokesman for the Department of Public Expenditure said it 'has been very clear on numerous occasions that the focus of the OGCIO [Office of the Chief Government Information Officer] was solely on the technical issues with the project and not on the budgetary implications, which was a matter for the Arts Council and its parent department'. The spokesman said the Storm review ordered by Mr Lowry 'did not examine the project costs or business case, which remained the responsibility of the parent department'. A Department of Public Expenditure spokesman said that the review ordered by Mr Lowry found that the system 'was not irretrievable but would have an associated cost in relation to necessary actions to ensure its capability. At no stage did this review examine the cost of the project, as it focused on technical fitness for purpose.' 'Ultimately, the Arts Council and its board decided to take an alternate approach and in line with DGOU [Digital Government Oversight Unit] processes, it remained proper and correct that the Arts Council took the matter forward through its parent department.'
The Journal
14-07-2025
- General
- The Journal
Full-scale excavation at former mother and baby home in Tuam to begin
A FULL-SCALE excavation of a site at a former mother and baby in Co Galway will get underway today, aimed at identifying the remains of infants who died at the home between 1925 and 1961. Research led by local historian Catherine Corless in 2014 indicated that 796 babies and young children were buried in the sewage system at the St Mary's mother and baby home in Tuam across that period. The work at the burial site, which is being undertaken by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam, will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible and re-interment of the remains at the site. Work began at the site last month when it was surrounded by a 2.4-metre-high hoarding , and set up for security monitoring on a 24-hour basis to ensure the forensic integrity of the site during the excavation . The dig is anticipated to last two years. Advertisement Experts from international institutions have arrived at Tuam in recent weeks to assist with the excavation. Global best-practices will be used to search, recover, separate, sort, age and identify the skeletal remains at the site. This will allow for the individualisation of each set of remains, and it is hoped that identification of some of those buried can take place with the assistance of DNA provided by families as well as other records. The team has a €9.4m budget for 2025, with further allocations yet to be finalised by the Department of Public Expenditure. The St Mary's home for unmarried mothers and their children was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns, who apologised to women and their families after the discovery. Then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin apologised to victims on behalf of the state in 2021. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
11-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Minister pushes to retain basic income scheme for artists
It's understood that the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O'Donovan is pushing to retain the basic income scheme for artists which is due to expire early next year. The scheme has run for an initial three years and was due to expire in August but it has been extended to February 2026. Two thousand artists, selected by lottery, receive a basic income of €325 per week. Officials from the Department of Culture have been negotiating with their counterparts in the Department of Public Expenditure on a successor to the scheme. Any further scheme would have to be agreed as part of the Budget negotiations. The Programme for Government said that the scheme would be assessed to "maximise its impact". It's understood that there has been some resistance from DPER to the scheme continuing in its current format. Mr O'Donovan is expected to push for another version of the scheme which his Department believes has changed lives and delivered a huge social and cultural impact. The Basic Income Scheme costs €35 million per year. Labour has accused the Minister of leaving artists in limbo. Arts spokesperson Rob O'Donoghue said artists need security and not to have to worry about bringing the begging bowl back to the Government table. Sinn Féin has also called on the Minister to develop a long-term follow on scheme and to expand its remit.
The Journal
30-06-2025
- Politics
- The Journal
Six former ministerial advisers sought to have their lobbying cooling off period waived last year
SIX FORMER MINISTERIAL advisers sought to have their cooling off period waived in 2024. The figure was revealed in the Standards in Public Office Commission's (Sipo) annual report . Under the Regulation of Lobbying Act (2015), anyone who communicates with a public official or politician – called designated public officials, or DPOs – about laws, policies and practices, or seeks to have them changed, must register as a lobbyist and file returns three times a year. These returns are then listed on the publicly accessible Register of Lobbying. On these, ex-government officials who engage in lobbying, must declare that they are former DPOs as well as the most recent public position they held. Former DPOs are subject to a mandatory one-year cooling-off period after leaving their government roles unless they seek an exemption from Sipo. The Commission did not say how many of the six exemption requests in 2024 – all from special advisers – were granted. Advertisement Someone may be granted a waiver if they want to take up a new role and can guarantee that they won't be involved in lobbying for the remainder of what would have been the cooling off period. Enforcing lobbying rules It was revelaed in December that Sipo pleaded with the government not to be in charge of proceedings where ex-ministers, special advisers or other public servants did not stick to rules around a 'cooling off' period. In correspondence with the Department of Public Expenditure, SIPO said plans to leave enforcement up to them instead of the courts were 'completely unworkable.' They warned that there was a 'high litigation risk' and that offences related to cooling-off periods would be better dealt with through the court system. The Department of Public Expenditure rejected this approach however, saying that dealing with it as a criminal matter could have a 'chilling effect.' Records showed how SIPO told the government that plans for amended legislation on the regulation of lobbying were fraught with difficulty. They said they were already struggling with a lack of resources and adding to their work would 'heighten the risk of under-resourcing, and of error, in relation to [their] portfolio as a whole.' SIPO also argued there was little reason to keep the process outside of the legal system as each case was likely to be appealed anyway. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
