Results 31,281-31,300 of 33,214 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Exchange of Views with Mr. Egemen Bagis, Turkish Minister for Europe and Principal Turkish Negotiator for EU Membership. (18 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I extend a warm welcome to our colleagues from Turkey. We are delighted to have them visit the joint committee. They met with the Minister of State for European Affairs earlier and will meet the Tánaiste after this meeting. I hope our visitors' short trip to Ireland is productive and informative. While I have visited Turkey three times, my pronunciation of the names of our visitors...

Finance (Local Property Tax) Bill 2012: Second Stage (14 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Is it any coincidence that Ireland is one of the few countries in the world that does not have a non-transaction-based property tax and is also a country with one of the biggest banking collapses, one of the biggest housing collapses and one of the biggest general government budget collapses in history? Not having such a tax in place or a broad enough tax base partly explains why these three...

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Can I direct a specific question to Mr. Burgess on what he just said? He made the point that the shrinking balance sheets of the construction companies seeking to participate in these PPPs is having an impact on the agency's ability to secure investment in the projects in the first place. Can he explain why that is the case?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I understand.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: They are not able to do so.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Yes, I understand. I was not quite sure what the relationship was there and I appreciate Mr. Murphy's explanation.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I hope that will allow the NDFA to take better advantage of the expertise it has built, as opposed to that of line Departments.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Let me move to the cancellation costs of PPPs. I fully accept that it is not Mr. Murphy's role to decide whether the metro north and DART underground projects are to be deferred. That is a policy decision. With regard to some of the PPPs that have been deferred, the costs already accrued to the taxpayer are very significant. Where the metro north project is concerned, we have acquired...

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Where cancellations or postponements occur, what is the impact on the agency's ability to secure value? I assume the private sector factors in the degree of risk given what has happened. That risk would probably result in a higher price for the taxpayer.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I am particularly interested in the Grangegorman DIT project. It is fantastic for the education sector. How does Mr. Murphy assess the standing of such projects in the context of the discussion we have just had?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I hope there is certainty of investment in that regard. It was mentioned in the Budget Statement by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and clearly flagged as something we wanted to make happen.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I urge Mr. Murphy to do all he can to ensure the project secures the investment it requires. It is a superb project that will deliver considerable returns, both social and economic, to the taxpayer. I thank Mr. Murphy for answering my questions.

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Are there any signs that other countries, particularly in Europe, are seeking to develop or change their models of funding in a similar way to the UK?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: On the return on such investments to the State and the private investor, one of the themes we explored last week is the difficulty in accessing, from our point of view, whether those returns are being properly monitored, given the need for commercial sensitivity and for certain public information not to be released into the public domain. The Comptroller and Auditor General, in his opening...

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: What kinds of risks are involved?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: What is the PSB?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I assume what Mr. Murphy is referring to is the cost of a project if it were funded through conventional Exchequer means. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: In light of the comment by Mr. Murphy that the first bundle of projects was a pathfinder, how have the appraisal techniques for these projects changed over time to reflect the learning the State has accrued from school projects and what has happened elsewhere?

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: With regard to that process, one of the aspects we examined last week was the project appraisal stage and how we can ensure targets laid out for the taxpayer are being met. A point I explored last week is that it is apparent that very rigorous appraisal takes place at the capital stage of a project and I sought to explore what happens when the project moves beyond that stage. When a project...

Public Accounts Committee: 2010 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
National Development Finance Agency Financial Statements 2011 (13 Dec 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Could Mr. Murphy talk me through how that works?