The Cabinet will be updated on Tuesday regarding plans to bring RTÉ under closer scrutiny as the Government prepares to shut down alternative Sinn Féin legislation on the matter.
Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan is expected to tell Cabinet colleagues that his plan goes further than the Sinn Féin alternative, which has been initiated as a Private Members’ Bill by its media spokesman, Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
The Sinn Féin Bill would assign the Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) as auditor of RTÉ and is due for second stage debate later this week.
Mr O’Donovan says the C&AG will also be installed as auditor of RTÉ by the Government Bill and that the policy objective contained in the Sinn Féin proposal is already being addressed through draft laws produced by his department and which have been sent for pre-legislative scrutiny.
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The Limerick county TD claims there are two substantive differences, arguing that the Sinn Féin Bill doesn’t provide for the director general of RTÉ to be accountable to the Public Accounts Committee when it comes to the broadcaster’s financial statements or value-for-money matters.
It also doesn’t allow the RTÉ board the discretion to appoint a regulated private sector auditor in addition to the C&AG, Mr O’Donovan says.
Elsewhere, Minister for Education Helen McEntee will tell Cabinet that she plans to publish a new Deis plan later this year, addressing educational disadvantage across schools. She will update Ministers on the Deis-plus plan, which will target schools with the highest level of educational disadvantage, with plans to establish a new advisory group populated by representatives who work with children from areas of high intergenerational disadvantage.
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Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless will update colleagues on progress with Path (Programme for Access to Higher Education) schemes aimed at widening access to third-level education.
There are 173 students with intellectual disabilities enrolled in 11 universities and other higher education institutions.
There are also now almost 15 per cent of new entrants to third level who have a disability and are being supported through a national access plan, new figures show.
Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will update Cabinet on the establishment of a small business unit within his department. The intention is that the unit safeguard the needs and issues of small business across Government with an emphasis placed on them in the department.
Mr Burke had asked officials to prioritise the work of setting up the unit early in the lifetime of the new Government and it has now been established. It will focus initially on the Coalition’s new “SME test”, designed to check the impact of legislation and regulation on smaller firms, the work of the National Enterprise Hub and Local Enterprise Offices, and wider work on simplification and burden reduction.
Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary is to update Cabinet on recruitment for the “My Future Fund” organisation, which will manage the auto-enrolment scheme due to go live next year. The recruitment of a board, chief executive and accountant for the body is under way, with the head of the organisation expected to earn in the region of €214,000 annually.
He will also bring an update on the procurement competition to source investment management providers for the scheme.
