To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the work completed to date in implementing the recommendations of the Independent Panel on Strengthening Civil Service Accountability and Performance; if the consultation events held as part of this process will be maintained as a mechanism for public sector workers to provide feedback on the performance… Continue Reading
As a member of the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation I was pleased to see the establishment this week of the new Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The Commission will have increased powers and replaces the Competition Authority and National Consumer Agency. The new Commission has been created with the passing of the Competition and… Continue Reading
State’s reform of procurement process must be fair on SMEs and take into account the local economic benefits of State contracts The State’s ongoing reform of the procurement process must take into account the indirect benefits which accrue when local small to medium-sized businesses win public service contracts. Each year the State spends over €8.5… Continue Reading
I welcome this Bill as a key component of the Minister’s programme of reform of the State’s employment rights and industrial relations machinery. The Bill represents the culmination of several years of work in terms of drafting proposals, holding public consultations and bringing the draft Bill before the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation,… Continue Reading
I will take up where I was previously regarding the issue of deaths of Irish people abroad. I covered some of the other areas. The Bill I produced in 2012 covered some of the shortcomings experienced by a number of Irish families who had loved ones die abroad. Currently, the law does not permit the… Continue Reading