Results 9,001-9,020 of 34,664 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Waiting for what?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: To whom were slides to be sent?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: We will come back to it next week. I am told we have a letter on the issue, which will be dealt with at next week's meeting. If we are not satisfied with that we will take it up further next week. On the letter regarding open disclosure, we are coming back to the issue of medical negligence because we have not yet completed our work in that regard. We will hold this correspondence as part...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: They acknowledge the difficulties and they state that they have different systems that came in from FÁS and they have to manually create spreadsheets to transfer information and they must spend a lot of time checking at year-end. My view is they should be doing this throughout the year and not only at year end. They are aware of their problems, which our work has helped to highlight....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Earlier this week, the Government announced the establishment of the Office of Corporation Enforcement. I anticipate that we will face the same problems in regard to this organisation as we faced with the Tax Appeals Commission. I suggest that when the legislation for the new body is being drafted it include a section devoted to how it is to be resourced and funded. Currently, legislation...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: That is a good point.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: The legislation on the technological universities is done. However, perhaps the Oireachtas should be more proactive in respect of some of the others that will be established in future.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: We do not.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Everybody is on a learning process and it is important that we share what we pick up here. Next, we will deal with correspondence C from private individuals and other correspondence. No. 1728 is from persons referred to as B and C in University of Limerick, UL. They continue to have concerns about the current work environment and want to engage with the committee. We heard recently from...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Yes. I propose that next Thursday we agree a work programme for January and February. There will definitely be a meeting or two on the third level education sector. We can discuss next Thursday whether we should have separate meetings for some of the whistleblowers. That will form our work early in the new year. No. 1770, which is related to the previous correspondence, is from an...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: No, not yet. We will follow up on that tomorrow to make sure we receive it.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: There is no reason we should not have that information by next week. We requested a detailed breakdown in respect of the way various contracts were selected and the procurement process involved. We will follow up on that tomorrow. The next item is statements and accounts received since the last meeting. There are five sets of accounts, the first of which is for St. James's Hospital and...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: It is publicly highlighted in its annual financial statement.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: The next statement of accounts is for the Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board for 2017. It is a clear audited opinion. Again, there is a material level of non-compliance with national procurement guidelines and concerns regarding the adequacy of internal audit. We will see that in the annual statements for many of the ETBs.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Yes, and that is confirmed in the letter from the Department in that it accepts there has been inadequate internal audit resources available. The Department recruited staff but three of them have since left because the amount of work involved in travelling throughout the country to do internal audits was very difficult for the small group of people involved. They were away five days a week.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: There is a big issue here.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: Absolutely.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: We are on a bit of a journey here. Two years ago, nobody was paying any to the non-submission or very late submission of ETB accounts. We have stepped it up and are getting them in. Now we have an internal audit problem. That is probably the next phase for us. The Department accepts that but I think it is involved in a new recruitment process.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: The next one is Kilkenny-Carlow ETB, for which there is a clear audit opinion. Again, it proactively highlights the difficulties relating to internal audit and welcomes an expansion of that function. It is proactive in highlighting the issues so the message is beginning to get out there. The next item is the Special EU Programmes Body. This is a North-South body which administers...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (6 Dec 2018)

Seán Fleming: If something similar had existed in the context of the Garda Síochána College in Templemore, some of the issues relating to the college would not arisen over the decades. It is a learning point. We will keep moving. Our work programme for the next meeting is on screen. We will be meeting representatives from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. ...