Results 7,921-7,940 of 20,068 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Has this been discussed with Mr. Buckley's line Minister, the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy O'Donovan?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: From the point of view of the Committee of Public Accounts, if we can buy, as Mr. Buckley correctly pointed out, we have an asset. It is the same with housing. I know we cannot go out and do it tomorrow morning at the drop of a hat. I understand that but we can see that most of these Departments and bodies are not going away. They will be needed long after we are no longer around.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I do not want to take up more time but I have a few questions I want to ask Mr. O'Connor about the Garda station in Portlaoise and the UN veterans' part of that. I thank the OPW for getting back to me on the issue. I will ask my questions after the meeting. On parklands and so forth, we are lucky in County Laois to have Heywood Gardens and Emo Court. The staff and management deserve top...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I am talking about the OPW's part of the land, including in Heywood Gardens.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: We are in a biodiversity crisis. It has been declared. There is also a cost involved. I preface this by complimenting the staff for managing both of those facilities. They are wonderful. We are blessed with them. I do not want to go into a whole debate on this but I ask the witnesses to go back and look at this again because one part of the Government does not seem to be telling the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: We cannot manage it if we bulldoze it out of the way.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: That is fine but wiping out hundreds of acres of natural vegetation and woodland floors does not make sense. Where is the wildlife gone? The wildlife has gone in places.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: There is a nice bit in Heywood. I ask that the OPW-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: -----start being more cognisant of this. We do not seem to have joined-up thinking on this. We have gone in and just levelled all of this. There is no demand for it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: There are huge patches gone out of it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: It is totally unnecessary.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I also ask the OPW to address what it is doing to join up the dots. I do not want to be hard on the witnesses over this but we are moving into a new space.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: There is a biodiversity crisis. There is a cost involved. The environmental cost is the biggest cost. These are important habitats and important carbon sinks. It is important that we preserve them. I would give the OPW ten out of ten for all the good work that has been done there. I do not want to just focus on that. I acknowledge that these sites are kept spectacularly. That is the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: However, we need to bear in mind that the contract stipulates nothing about a health emergency.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: When are the civil works due to start on the Mountmellick flood relief scheme?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I have a couple of quick questions on it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Why?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I understand that what was originally planned could have led to putting another location in the town at risk.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: If it is due to commence in July 2025, what is the approximate duration of that construction? Is it years or months?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: There is an urgency because the town is a flat surface - as flat as a pool table, unfortunately. It is at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. The council has done good work each year. I ask Mr Casey to keep in contact with the council and keep all the channels open in terms of the Pound river, the Owenass and all the other tributaries there. It is a fine balance regarding what can...