Results 3,421-3,440 of 34,618 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: I suspect it will be about €5 billion in the coming year. It is good to get that information and we have it now. It shows that we will be on the case when we get an answer from a Department that is not exactly correct. We got this clarification as a result of asking. We will note and publish this reply. The next item is No. 244B from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: We will come to the work programme in a few minutes. I do not think they are due to appear in the immediate future. We will note and publish that correspondence. The next item is No. 2447, dated 10 October 2019, from Ms Lorna Gallagher, appeals commissioner at the Tax Appeals Commission, responding to our request for an information note and further details on the ten highest value...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: I will call the Comptroller and Auditor General in a moment to give his opinion. I am familiar with the article to which the Deputy refers. The committee has highlighted a couple of matters. First, only a fraction of the settlements published by the commission are paid. Although a firm may be adjudicated as owing €1.4 million or similar, there is no indication of whether that...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: Correct.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: Of the published judgments.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: We need to see the trend because one high-value case can distort the quarterly figure.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: Uncollected.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: After the event. On the final issue dealt with in the letter, the commission states that the ten highest value appeals relate to a variety of areas of law and provisions of tax legislation, mainly in respect of corporation tax. Some of these cases could end up in court during this process. It is a matter of legal interpretation rather than a calculation of tax.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: There are a couple of points on which we are clear. This was addressed in the Budget Statement. All members are aware that the Government totally underestimated the task before the Tax Appeals Commission when it was established on a statutory basis. There was insufficient provision in terms of the number of appeals commissioners and other staff, as well as resources. The organisation...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: When there is new legislation, one cannot expect the existing public service to be geared up. Sometimes if we pass legislation, the capacity may not be in-house. I take the Deputy’s point, however. It was just an afterthought I had. We will note and publish this. Is that agreed? Agreed. No. 2448 B is correspondence from Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú, Secretary General,...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: The last phrase is correct. I was on the previous committee and this question was often asked. At one stage, there was one staff member working on this part-time. It was neglected by the Department for years on end.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: I genuinely believe it was the Committee of Public Accounts that dealt with this and no one else. It should not take the committee to get these things sorted. If it is the only way it will happen, we will do it. However, this should not have to be the case. We will do it if nobody else seems to be actively or publicly on the case. We are probably helping the Department in our own way by...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: One was found to be not in breach, one we do not know about and the other is still ongoing.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: That is correct.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: Yes, I know.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: I will make a few suggestions. First, while the name of the person mentioned in this letter is in the public arena, we have not put it in the public arena, and I propose we redact the person's name before we publish the letter. The name is out there but it is not for us to put it out there. The name is mentioned three or four times in the letter but it will be redacted when we publish it....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: Allow me to finish. There is a complete distinction between suspected fraud and instances of non-compliance with procedures. Suspected fraud cases mean a potential loss to An Garda Síochána as money would be paid out in a fraudulent manner. Fraud is a criminal issue, not a HR issue. Do members understand the distinction I am making? I am not trying to muddy the waters, but...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: We will send the transcript of this discussion to An Garda Síochána in order to give it a precise understanding of the issues raised. We need clarification on whether these three cases are separate from the case about which we are talking. It is quite possible that these cases were disciplinary and that the case to which we are referring is criminal. I want to know whether the...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: We will send the transcript and put the questions to which members want answers. We will publish this letter, redacting the name of the person concerned. That is noted and published with redaction. Correspondence No. 2450B is from Mr. Tom Doherty, chief operations officer of Teagasc, providing an information note requested by the committee about the number of contracts that were...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Oct 2019)

Seán Fleming: It is interesting that, in this day and age, €250 million has essentially been locked into a State agency's account. It has no immediate purpose for that fund and there is no provision to pay it back to the Government by way of a dividend, so it is locked in. We have to find a mechanism in order to use it for an appropriate purpose. I thank Deputy MacSharry for raising this issue....