Results 6,921-6,940 of 10,581 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: I welcome the officials from the OPW. I wish to start with decentralisation and the property portfolio. A reply to a parliamentary question that I tabled in January 2015 stated that the Road Safety Authority, RSA, has a lease on a property in Ballina costing €442,828; in Carrick-on-Shannon, the Department of Social Protection has a 20-year lease for €600,000; while in Limerick...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Does Ms McGrath have details of the occupancy?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: At the Department of Social Protection building in Carrick-on-Shannon, there is capacity for 186 people and €600,00 is being paid under the lease arrangement. How does the OPW know that it is value for money if it does not know how many people are there?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: How many people are in Carrick-on-Shannon at the moment?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: How does the OPW know that it is getting value for money if 186 places have been provided but it does not know how many people are there? How can the OPW rationalise the value for money element in that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: How does the OPW monitor the effective use?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: That does not answer the question I asked. How does the OPW monitor this on an ongoing basis? The Department of Social Protection said that it needed 186 places but how do we know that €600,000 is value for money if we do not know how many public servants are there?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: To take the example we are discussing, did the Department of Social Protection communicate to the OPW in 2013 that it had a sufficient amount of space for the number of people who were in Carrick-on-Shannon?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: The point I am making is simple. How can the OPW determine if the taxpayer is getting value for money for office space that is rented if it does not know how many people are in that office?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: They have not done that up to now. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Is it the role of OPW to seek to get value for money in terms of the leases?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: How do we know we are getting value for money if, as part of the review, we do not know whether the building is fully occupied?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Exactly. I know that the supply is 186. I just want to know how many people are in there.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Intreo offices have been rolled out recently by the Department of Social Protection, and that is ongoing. At what stage in that process was OPW asked to seek out suitable properties?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Is that register complete?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: One of OPW's tenant agencies is the Road Safety Authority.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: It established the National Driver Licence Service about two years ago. Did it consult the Office of Public Works in respect of vacant properties that could be used for this?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: Is there a reason the National Driver Licence Service is predominantly in rented accommodation in the private sector rather than in publicly owned buildings?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: But there is a cost.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts 2013
Vote 13 - OPW
Chapter 4 - Accounting for OPW Agency Services (26 Feb 2015)

Patrick O'Donovan: The point I am coming to is this: as the Government has abolished all town councils, surely there should be in every town where there was a town council a supply of office accommodation. Why then was there a requirement to rent office accommodation for the National Driver Licence Service in the private sector?