Latest news with #JackChambers
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Justice minister to accelerate building of nearly 1,000 prison spaces across the country
A plan to build nearly 1,000 more prison spaces before the end of the decade is to be accelerated, the justice minister will tell Cabinet today. Jim O'Callaghan will inform ministers that the Irish Prison Service can deliver 150 additional spaces at Castlerea, 180 at the Midlands Prison, 50 spaces at the Dóchas Centre women's prison, 100 at Wheatfield, and 150 at Mountjoy — all 12 months ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, the rebuild of the Old Cork Prison site will see 230 additional male spaces and 100 for women. That facility is due to finish at the beginning of 2031. Jim O'Callaghan has engaged with public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers to allow for the acceleration of prison projects — reducing delivery timelines by up to 18 months in some cases. The Minister will inform government that the prison estate as a whole is currently operating at 115% over capacity with a new record high of 5,394 in prison in mid-April — an 11% rise in 12 months and over 1,100 more people in prison than in January 2023. Overcrowding creates "an increasing level of risk for the Irish Prison Service, its staff and the people in its custody including rises in assaults, pressure on all ancillary services, threats to staff safety, and insufficient capacity to respond effectively to emergencies", he is set to tell cabinet. He also intends to introduce an electronic tagging pilot programme in the coming months. Meanwhile, housing minister James Browne will bring to cabinet a memo updating ministers on the progress of plans to exempt modular homes in existing gardens. Planning minister John Cummins has been pursuing changes to provide exemptions for detached cabin or modular-style structures at the back of properties. Currently, planning exemptions are in place for a 40sq m extension that is attached to a property. Cabinet will hear that an interdepartmental consultation is "substantially complete" with 11 government departments making submissions. A public consultation will take place this month and finalisation of exempted developments regulations will follow. Sources said that the plan would increase the ability to "expand and improve existing planning exemptions" and it is understood that the review has identified areas that are in need of updating to enable the quicker delivery of certain education, health, and utility infrastructure. Minister for social protection Dara Calleary will announce the expansion of the Wage Subsidy Scheme which aims to help more disabled people get and retain jobs. Enterprise minister Peter Burke will also tell Cabinet that he is setting up a new group with the sole aim of reducing the cost of running a business. The Cost of Business Advisory Forum will hold its first meeting on June 11 and will bring together business owners, retailers, tourism operators, accounting professionals and representative groups—alongside regulators and state agencies. Also at Cabinet, minister for higher Education James Lawless will request cabinet note his plans to launch a further call for applications under the Technological Sector and Specialist Colleges Enhancement Fund (TEF) which funds initiatives aimed at developing Technological Universities (TU's), Institutes of Technology (IOTs) and publicly-funded specialist colleges.
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
‘We do not need housing tsar' says sec gen at Department of Housing
The appointment of a 'housing tsar' has been opposed by the top civil servant at the Department of Housing, Graham Doyle. Mr Doyle spoke against the introduction of a new 'tsar' at the Property Industry Ireland (PII) conference in Dublin on Thursday. 'I like that poll, I voted no,' Mr Doyle said, referring to a poll of conference attendees on whether a housing tsar was necessary. 'We do not need a housing tsar, can I just clear this one up, once and for all.' READ MORE The position to head the new Housing Activation Office (HAO) was suggested by Minister James Browne, who also spoke at the conference. [ Why is the housing crisis Ireland's most enduring failure? Opens in new window ] [ Housing tsar row masks a much deeper problem for the Government Opens in new window ] While an appointment was blocked by Fine Gael at the start of May, the Government has insisted it will be going ahead with the plan. Responding to the questions on the secretary general's comments on Thursday Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers said: 'We've been very clear. The Government position is that there will be someone leading the Housing Activation Office, and it's a matter of Government policy and direction that that's what will occur.' Mr Chambers, speaking at the launch of the public consultation period for the National Development Plan review, added that the secretary general's view 'might be his own perspective' but 'he'll have to implement what Government decides'. The HAO position is intended to eliminate blockages stopping the development of new housing units. 'The Minister and the department have a job to do around housing policy – it's very much about creating an environment for people in this room to deliver and do what they do,' Mr Doyle went on to say at the conference. He stressed that the work the department does is in the policy and funding space as well as removing obstacles for construction efforts. 'We don't need a tsar to do all of that and we never, ever used the word tsar,' he said. 'What we do need is an interventionist approach on the ground, at the site level, where we are talking about coalescing the various infrastructure, the local authority actions and infrastructure pieces. 'There is a sense in some quarters that if you knock a few heads together, if you give enough people a kick in the backside, then things happen. I only wish that was the case.' He said the way to 'coalesce' the actions of the State bodies to maximise housing output 'is to look at all those very detailed issues down at that level.' 'Those who said this is about doing the Minister's job are talking utter nonsense,' Mr Doyle said. 'As a civil servant, I don't like using phrases like that, but it really was.'
The Journal
7 days ago
- Business
- The Journal
Construction of MetroLink project may not begin until 2028, transport committee to hear
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MetroLink underground rail project in Dublin may begin as late as 2028, the National Transport Authority will tell the Oireachtas committee on transport today. The government is expected to include the MetroLink in its National Development Plan (NDP), which is being revised at the moment by Minister for Public Expenditure and NDP Delivery Jack Chambers. The committee will be told that tendering for the construction work may commence next year, as long as An Bord Pleanála approves the project and there are no delays caused by judicial reviews. Once the tendering process is complete, construction would commence 18 months later, the NTA will tell the committee. The project's director Sean Sweeney said last week that he expects some public opposition to the route and the disruption that construction will cause to traffic. He said that in the age of social media, 'two people can run a campaign' against something. Advertisement Sweeney also noted that there were riots in the streets of Amsterdam before the metro was opened there, only for it to be broadly welcomed within days of coming online. Overall though, Sweeney said he has never worked on a project with such potential benefit to the public. 'The benefits are off the scale in my view,' he said. As for the cost of the massive infrastructure project, Sweeney said it is being 'recalibrated' following delays in the planning process. In 2021, the Metrolink was estimated to cost between €7 billion and €12 billion. 'The number is going to change,' said Sweeney. 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
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Arts Council takes legal action against contractors in €6.7m IT project
The Arts Council has commenced legal proceedings against two contractors involved in the failed project to develop an IT system for the organisation which cost nearly €6.7 million, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee will be told this week. The council is to also inform the committee on Thursday that it is in the pre-action stage in relation to two others. 'We are vigorously pursuing our cases to reduce the loss to the taxpayer,' the council is expected to say. There was fury in Government in February when it emerged that the Arts Council had had to scrap plans for a business transformation programme aiming to bring together five existing systems, including those dealing with grants. READ MORE Minister for Arts Patrick O'Donovan said there were a number of governance failures within the Arts Council. [ Arts Council demands high standards of cultural organisations. It failed to meet them itself Opens in new window ] Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers described the whole episode in a confidential memo to Cabinet as 'a massive waste of money'. The Public Accounts Committee is scheduled to hear from the Arts Council on the controversy on Thursday. Arts Council director Maureen Kennelly is expected to tell the committee that 'lack of internal expertise, poor performance by our contractors and also the impact of Covid-19, all contributed to the project failure'. 'We engaged external contractors to manage and deliver the work, as we did not have the internal resources to deliver this large-scale project. As we approached our expected delivery in September 2022, a year later than initially planned, multiple bugs were discovered. 'This substandard work meant the project could not move forward to completion. We ended contracts with both our testers and developers, changed the developers, project governance and management structure, and began work to rectify and complete the programme.' She is expected to say that 'following a review and attempted reworking, we were ultimately advised by new ICT consultants at the end of 2023, that the system was too flawed to rectify in a reasonable timeframe'. [ Documents prepared for Minister last summer revealed depth of botched Arts Council IT project Opens in new window ] 'System development then paused, and it stopped following a board decision, with the input of the Office of Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), in June 2024. The effect of this decision was an overall loss of value of €5.3 million, which was reported to the Comptroller and Auditor General and included in our 2023 annual report and accounts. 'Throughout, we provided information and discussed with our colleagues in the Department (of Arts) how increasing costs were to be funded from within our capital grant.' The Arts Council has said €6.675 million was spent on the endeavour, of which €1.2 million was spent on work that can be 'reused'. The project was paused in late 2023 and discontinued from June 2024. Arts Council chairwoman Maura McGrath is expected to tell the committee the IT project 'was not and is not an optional extra'. 'It began out of necessity, and it is a necessity that remains to be addressed. However, the expectation that small State bodies set up for specialist purposes should be expected to carry the load on complex IT projects should be questioned.'
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Chambers refused to back open-ended RTÉ redundancy scheme, documents show
Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers was 'not prepared to give consent' for a multiannual voluntary exit programme for staff at RTÉ , newly released official documents show. The Department of Public Expenditure said in a letter in March to the Department of Arts and Media that any such move would 'deviate from the typical approach to exit schemes in the commercial semi-State sector and may pose challenges in terms of the oversight of the scheme's implementation'. The letter said the Minister believed 'RTÉ may seek consent for a further voluntary exit programme in 2026'. Former Minister for Arts and Media Catherine Martin gave her approval for the RTÉ redundancy scheme last year but the Department of Public Expenditure had sought further clarification on issues before final authorisation was granted at the end of March. READ MORE As part of its sanction, the Department of Public Expenditure said the Department of Arts and Media must be satisfied that implementing the scheme 'would not lead to additional direct exchequer funding in 2025, 2026 and 2027'. 'There should be no presumption as to what Government may decide as to any exchequer funding for RTÉ in 2026 and 2027.' It said the Department of Arts and Media and RTÉ 'should not make any assumptions about the front-loading early in either 2026 or 2027 of any exchequer funding as a primary mitigating measure to cash exposure'. 'The exclusion of senior management from the voluntary exit programme is approved on the basis of RTÉ's assurances that there will be no further voluntary exits from the leadership team. If this changes during 2025 any exit package will follow the terms of voluntary exit programme 2025.' It said the Department of Arts and Media 'must be informed before any exit package being agreed with a member of the leadership team'. Official correspondence shows the Department of Public Expenditure was anxious over a number of months that the proposed redundancy scheme at RTÉ should not be open-ended. In January it told the Department of Arts and Media it would be necessary for it to review and reauthorise any scheme on an annual basis. 'This may involve changes to the scheme to control costs,' it said. The Department of Public Expenditure said staff at RTÉ should be made aware that the terms of exit scheme being run in 2025 were 'specific to this iteration' and there were no guarantees that scheme or the terms on offer initially would be maintained in later years. On February 24th the secretary general of the Department of Arts and Media, Feargal Ó Coigligh, said in a letter to the Department of Public Expenditure: 'While I appreciate that multiannual voluntary exit programmes have not been previously sanctioned, as has been set out in previous submissions, a degree of flexibility is required to enable the transition from in-house to commissioned and independently produced content. This is a process which requires lead-in times for replacement content, and by virtue of the voluntary nature of the exit scheme, the potential redeployment of resources within RTÉ.' RTÉ said last Friday it had received 325 applications for its voluntary exit programme. The scheme formed part of a five-year strategy announced in 2023 where the broadcaster outlined a plan to reduce staff numbers by up to 400. In an email to staff last Friday RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said applications to leave under the programme would be approved where 'it is confirmed that the role can be suppressed or that equivalent savings can be made by suppressing an alternative post and/or redeploying an employee into that role'.
