Results 8,321-8,340 of 34,663 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: It was a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts, which resulted in a payment of €189,000 and €180,000 of taxpayer's money for no real purpose. The State is at a loss. What arrangements has Mr. Fitzgerald put in place to recoup that money since his appointment?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: Professor Fitzgerald is saying that it was approved by a senior official in the organisation at the time.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: The professor told us earlier that there are two senior officials. The official who signed off on this is still employed on the same salary scale, albeit in a different job.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: If Professor Fitzgerald can come before this committee and tell us that the information this individual provided misrepresented the situation and the Comptroller and Auditor General is satisfied that it was deliberately misrepresented, how can he have trust in people in his organisation? Is there not a case for the board to say that there has been an absolute breakdown of trust in respect of...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: Is Professor Fitzgerald now indicating for the first time, after several hours of discussion, that there may be a process in place to deal with this situation because there was no suggestion of that earlier?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: To what report does Professor Fitzgerald refer?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: The Comptroller and Auditor General is an external auditor. It is not up to him. The university is supposed to have its own internal audit, board and own governance structures. The Comptroller and Auditor General is not a crutch for any public body to do what it should be doing. He is the university's external auditor, and it should not rely on an external source to make recommendations....

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: The only observation I would make on that is that the UL has had the Comptroller and Auditor General's report since last August, which is quite a number of months ago. If there was a determination-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: No, it was August 2018.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: Did the Comptroller and Auditor General send drafts during the writing of the report?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: From about April last year until August, when the Comptroller and Auditor General finished his report, everything in his report was known to the university.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: The Minister published it towards the end of last year.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: I will ask a broad question. If the board of governors was satisfied that an individual at senior level in the employment of the university seriously misrepresented the facts, as stated by the Comptroller and Auditor General, to the board, the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Department of Education and the Committee on Public Accounts, would that individual merit a written warning or...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: These are very serious issues. At the end of whatever investigation the University of Limerick might choose to carry out we hope that if it is thought it was not appropriate to make the payments from public funds, the university would move to have the funds recouped to the taxpayer. We had it here with the Department, the Higher Education Authority and Cork Institute of Technology when...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: It is funny but twice today we have heard a remark on this issue. The Comptroller and Auditor General said that if it was to happen in the private sector and facts were misrepresented, there would be a resignation. Professor Fitzgerald has highlighted a second issue that because it has occurred in the public sector, it is, therefore, hard to deal with such issues. Two interesting comments...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: But in this case the law tells us that Mr. McCarthy could not do so.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: It is public money and we do not want the witnesses to make a mistake that would prove costly.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: The Deputy does not like the tone of my questioning.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: It was just a comment on which the Deputy picked up.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 103 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Remuneration of certain senior staff in the University of Limerick and Institute of Technology Sligo (24 Jan 2019)

Seán Fleming: The point is taken. I will put it this way - the comments were asides. We have had a detailed discussion on the issues before the committee. I apologise for the slightly late start and running into the afternoon. I have said previously that as soon as the accounts are approved by the Department of Education and Skills, we will arrange a return visit. As matters stand, the only accounts...