Results 30,721-30,740 of 33,214 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: On behalf of the committee, I thank our guests for attending. I assure them that Germany's respect for and friendship with Ireland is reciprocated. We hope that the rest of their trip goes well. Before I conclude the meeting, I remind the two of my colleagues who are present that, if they can make it, we have been invited to an EU Presidency conference tomorrow at Farmleigh on the western...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank all members of the committee for their questions and contributions and invite the delegates to respond. Maybe we will begin with the youth issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I would like to give other colleagues an opportunity to put their questions before asking our witnesses to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Sure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: That does not need translation but we would all obviously disagree with him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Decisions on subsidiarity are made at sectorial policy level.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Does any other member wish to contribute?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I call on Deputy Durkan and Senator Healy Eames.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: EU Developments: Discussion with Bavarian Parliament (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: On behalf of the joint committee, I will respond to that question. I acknowledge the fact that all of my colleagues who are from different parties could have different answers to Professor Männle's question. I will, therefore, make three points that may be helpful to the visiting committee. The first point, as Professor Männle said, is that under the Lisbon treaty, new powers...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: To make a point related to the Chairman's remarks, I thank the OPW for many of the properties and work it does in communities. The Chairman mentioned one in his own constituency. In my constituency, I have the Phoenix Park, including Farmleigh House, the Botanic Gardens and many other sites dotted across the city. The OPW staff at those sites do a tremendous job. I want to recognise that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: We should tease out the inference Mr. Campbell is making. Of the expenditure that is not covered by framework agreements, of course, it would still have to be cognisant of procurement policies within the organisation and EU competition law. I was not suggesting there was a kind of "wild west" of procurement. We have had this big discussion about framework agreements but they only cover 3%...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I have some specific questions on the future framework. I already made a point to Mr. Quinn on the nature of the framework models to which we are seeking to evolve. If we are in an environment with many buyers and suppliers, that is clearly inefficiency. I would argue there is also inefficiency in a model where there are many buyers and only a single supplier. We have talked about this...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Figure 14.2 deals with the framework agreements for the end of 2011. A number of the framework agreements have a single supplier against them. It is not my phone that is interfering with the sound recording and broadcasting equipment. I make the point that I turned my phone off completely.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: It might be an I-Pad. I will just keep going. I am not making any inference about any of these suppliers because I know they obtained these contracts through proper tenders and so on. However, if there is also a concentration of power at the supplier end, it could create difficulty for us.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Mr. Quinn will be aware of the broader consequences here that if all the business goes to one player, it has a knock-on effect that might mean that there is a procurement saving on paper there are broader consequences in the real economy resulting in it not being a direct saving to the State overall. The framework agreements are currently not mandatory and people have the option of entering...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: What percentage of the framework agreements in place are mandatory?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: Does Ms McGrath have a rough estimate?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: It would be fair to say the majority of them are mandatory.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: No. I just wanted to know how many of the total framework agreements in place were mandatory.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the officials for attending. Deputy Eoghan Murphy has covered many of the issues I wanted to raise, but I will circle back over a few of them. I would like to focus on the national framework agreements. How much of the procurement are the offices of Ms McGrath and Mr. Quinn overseeing or responsible for? How much is covered by national framework agreements?