Results 31,821-31,840 of 33,280 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: What happened in this instance beggars belief. I refer to the fact that the invoices relating to the president of an institute of technology hiring a private jet were mixed up. I reiterate that this beggars belief. At our previous meeting, those present stated that they had got to the bottom of what was going on and that everything had been flushed out. However, we have now discovered...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: We should get that information. However, before we deal with that matter-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Okay. Reference was made to the fact that the purpose of the second flight - about which we are discovering information for the first time - may have been to get the passenger to a meeting with the then Taoiseach. Could Mr. Ó Foghlú elaborate further on that matter?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Does Mr. Ó Foghlú know where the meeting took place?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: So it took place in St. Luke's. What was discussed at the meeting?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: What was the focus of that work?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: The Chairman has asked nearly every question I was planning to ask. When this meeting is concluded I will request that we go into private session to discuss how this meeting is being conducted. I was in attendance for the entire meeting last week and I want to have a discussion about how the Chairman has conducted this meeting because he has been speaking for half an hour.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: We will deal with it. The opening statement was provided to all members of the committee. I invested a lot of time in preparing for this meeting. I want to have a discussion on how this meeting is being conducted and how information has been given to us. I return to the matter of the flights. In our meeting last week we were given the information about one flight but we are now informed...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Will the Secretary General provide the dates, please?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Is it known who was on each of these flights?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Has it been possible to confirm that he was one of the party of three?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 78 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Matters Arising out of Education Audits (Resumed)
Higher Education Authority - Annual Financial Statements 2011: Discussion (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: It is extraordinary that last week's committee meeting had a long discussion about one flight and on foot of that discussion, we now find out there were three flights.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a question on a matter the Chairman himself raised at a recent meeting. Where do we stand with regard to the skills fund investigation? The Comptroller and Auditor General indicated that his office was involved in a matter. When will this come back to the committee?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: Thank you.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I have one question in this regard. Has the scheduled meeting on 9 October concerning the HSE been confirmed?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a quick question about our role in striking a balance. The Chairman stated it was important to bring in the ICTU for this reason. Will one appearance by the ICTU, given the numerous sittings planned, allow for the level of balance and variety of opinion required to make for a successful investigation? By the time the ICTU appears before us, our hearing with the Department of...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I am simply asking the question. In respect of the hearing on the figure of €600 million spent in the education sector, should we not get the perspective of employees as part of that session? Similarly in the case of the Defence Forces, should the representative group which issued a statement this week on allowances be included in that session?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (4 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I am asking whether we can be inclusive in a different and better way. It would be a pity if, after investing a lot of time in this process, some group complains it never had the chance to express their points of view. Allowing the collective body to appear at only one session in the middle of our investigation to present its views might mean that those affected by our hearings will ask at...

Philanthropy and the Arts: Statements (3 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: I enjoyed the opening of Deputy Troy's contribution, when he referred to the Minister's work before the summer. We have become used to amnesia being a conscious political choice by Fianna Fáil. The party tries to paint a picture of politics in government starting with this Dáil. However, a new tool has been added to its armoury, namely, selective recall. I heard Deputy Troy use...

Philanthropy and the Arts: Statements (3 Oct 2012)

Paschal Donohoe: What the Minister is doing is entirely appropriate if we are to understand what type of relationship we want with the bodies and what choices we can make to ensure the people who are interested in the arts and who want to enjoy museums and galleries - the people the bodies seek to serve - are able to do so in future. I am a regular visitor to one of the bodies Deputy Troy mentioned, the...