Results 2,021-2,040 of 7,061 for speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Okay. That will be grand if the Minister can clarify it. I will just go back to 2021. The chair of the Tax Appeals Commission stated that she required an additional ten to 12 commissioners to adequately deal with the scale and complexity of the cases. That would have brought the total staffing numbers up to 40. Does the Minister know what the current staffing levels are in terms of...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: That is just short of the 40. Does the Minister know how many of those have legal qualifications? I know that is a bit minute but it is important. We have to get a balance here in terms of what they are dealing with, and the huge resources and legal teams that companies are dealing with as well.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Just the legal ones.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I thank the Minister. In respect of Vote 7, he has outlined in subheading VII for his Department that it will cover in part the requirement for private consultants. He has allocated €100,000 for policy reviews, consultancy services and research. That figure was €150,000 in 2023. In a written response to me on 20 April 2023, the Minister informed me that his Department...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: In the correspondence I got back from the Minister, €2.5 million was allocated to Oliver Wyman for a resource allocation analysis and associated professional services. What is that?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: That was for 2023, under your own Department where I have a list.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is from the Minister, yes. The question I asked was the costs for consultancies under his Department, the bodies under the aegis of the Department of Finance. I have that list. That one stood out as being much larger than all the rest at €2.5 million.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It does.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: No, sorry, it separates it out by consultant and the purpose of the contract and the value of the contract. The consultant is Oliver Wyman and the purpose is resource allocation analysis and associated professional services. I am not picking that for any other reason than that it is substantially higher.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I will just state- maybe this is something for the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, under public expenditure rather than yourself - it is very challenging trying to find out why and how much money is allocated for consultants. My concern is if we are losing so much expertise within the Departments that we really need to have and to build up as an asset for the State, rather than contracting...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Does the Department of Finance do internships in terms of recruitment out of colleges?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: How many would you take on in the Department? It is a very competitive field in respect of graduates coming out of colleges. The Government and Departments have to be able to get the brightest and the best, to attract them in the first instance and then to retain them. Perhaps the Minister can give me a picture of how many and so on.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Is the Minister able to tell me how many?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Obviously, when we are looking at a brain drain and people moving all over the world, including to Australia and all that, it is a challenge for us to retain the people we need here.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: The Minister had sold it well. The Comptroller and Auditor General reviews 286 accounts. Has the Minister considered extending the work of the Comptroller and Auditor General to oversee all public bodies? I am thinking particularly of commercial public bodies and semi-State bodies. The RTÉ scandal should have immediately led to the Government ensuring the Comptroller and Auditor...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Where there is a split, such as in RTÉ, so there is one element that is commercial and another that is public, can the Comptroller and Auditor General's role be extended to be able to cover this?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: It is something that should be considered notwithstanding the effectiveness of the committees. They are looking back. I am asking about a situation whereby we prevent the things that happened in RTÉ from happening in the first place. If there was oversight from the Comptroller and Auditor General, these things would be less likely to happen. The aim is to avoid them happening and...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Please do.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: I disagree. It is something that seriously needs to be looked at. With regard to the additional funding for Revenue to deliver customs infrastructure in Rosslare, what was the original estimated cost of the capital project and the original scheduled time for delivery? What is the current estimated cost of the project and the estimated time of delivery?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised)
Vote 8 - Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised)
Vote 9 - Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised)
Vote 10 - Tax Appeals Commission (Revised) (24 Jan 2024)

Rose Conway-Walsh: Since Brexit, people must pay a duty if they order something from Britain. Where does this money go and how much has been collected?