Results 2,261-2,280 of 11,599 for speaker:Colm Burke

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Okay, my apologies.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Were people from the horse racing industry to come back before us? One of them could come before us in the morning. Were they to come back before us or are we waiting for further information from them? On the morning they came before us, they announced that one of the people-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Were they to come back before us?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Is it that they will not be available?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: It is something we might-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: The health budget is about €1.5 billion over budget but one issue that arises is the fact that the HSE is paying out well over €6 billion to about 2,500 different organisations. I know an organisation previously appeared before the committee that subsequently ended up in the High Court but is it worth going back and looking at the checks and balances the HSE has in place...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I am not sure what it comes under because we do not go into all of those accounts because we do not have the right to.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: It is impossible to do-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: If you take the accountancy body, or the solicitors' body, we have the Legal Services Regulatory Authority or the Law Society. There are more than 2,500 legal practices but they have the right to go in and conduct an audit of a legal practice. We do not have the same right to go into any of those organisations in real terms to conduct an audit.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: The Law Society has a specialist team and will audit a practice at least once every five or six years. Is Mr. McCarthy satisfied that the HSE has a sufficient audit team that go in and conduct an audit, for example, to take 100 different organisations in any one year?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Is it not time that we looked at this area? It is a lot of money - more than €6 billion. In fairness to these organisations, many of them are doing far more than what they are required to do and I have said this-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Absolutely.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: We might raise that issue.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: It is a substantial portion of the budget.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise one issue. It is where one State company sues another State company. The best example I can give is where Inland Fisheries Ireland, which is a State company, takes the Department of Education all the way to An Bord Pleanála over a planning application. By the time the thing is dealt with, the cost for the Department has gone up by €2 million. Have we any idea...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: If one State agency decides that it is not happy with what the other State agency is doing and ends up in court, there is no mechanism to stop that from happening.

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Tourism Funding (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 47. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to confirm how much Government expenditure was spent on tourism supports and projects in Cork in 2022 and to date in 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45753/23]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Budget 2024 (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 60. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to outline what measures were included in Budget 2024 to support tourism; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45754/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Budget 2024 (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 129. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline the supports that have been made available for third level students, those attending further and higher education and apprentices in Budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45739/23]

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Immigration Policy (19 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 183. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to provide an update on the addition of a bespoke seasonal employment permit scheme for foreign workers for fruit-picking and other seasonal employments in the horticulture sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45895/23]