Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 16 November 2023
Public Accounts Committee
Appropriation Accounts 2022
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
2022 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 5: Vote Accounting and Budget Management
9:30 am
Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
The issue is the timeline and sequence of events. The OPW went out to consultation twice. The file was then submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I am not sure what happened in the intermediate period. We were informed that the environmental consultant the Department retained, Enviroguide Consulting, recommended seeking supplementary information. The expectation in December 2022 was that the file was going to the Minister's office. It was July 2023 before anyone was informed about the additional, supplementary ecological data that were required from the OPW. My question is really about the collaboration between the Department and the OPW. When I asked this question of representatives of the OPW, they were completely blindsided. What type of relationship does the Department have with the OPW?
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