Results 11,561-11,580 of 26,610 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: What was the total cost of the project?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Why was there an overspend of €194,000?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: But it is an overspend. The overspend arose due to additional costs. Is that because the additional costs were not foreseen?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Why was that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: My next questions are on the refurbishment of Leinster House and conservation works. We all look forward to that being completed and opened. If there is a grand opening, we will all be there. I just want to look at the costs. While I do not believe everything I read in the newspapers, no more than anyone else, the initial reports on the project in an article in The Irish Timesof May 2017...
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: I know that. We will get to that in a moment. I am going back first and we will work towards what the actual cost was. Back at that point, a number of newspaper articles were talking about a cost of €8 million. Mr. Finnegan says there was a very rough estimate by the OPW of €8 million. It would be better if we did not have rough estimates because once figures are put out...
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: I downloaded the following from a website. It is on Leinster House restoration and conservation works and was published by the contractors, Duggan Brothers. It refers to works over a 12 month period and an Office of Public Works contract with a value of €10 million.
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: I might provide a copy of that and it might be confirmed if it was a VAT difference. To cut to the chase, was there an overspend on that work? What was the estimated cost and what is the estimated total outturn? Has there been an overspend?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: I am reading from an Irish Examinerarticle. Again, it is just newspaper articles and if they are wrong, Mr. Finnegan should feel free to correct the figures. This was published on 8 July 2019, which was this week in fact. The article says the total cost of renovating Leinster House will top €17.5 million. Is that incorrect?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: So, it is correct.
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Is there an overspend then?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: I ask Mr. Finnegan to explain in a little more detail so that people can understand it. Why is there an overspend in the first instance? If it is approximately 15%, how much is that in money? What is it directly related to?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Can Mr. Finnegan give examples of that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Is there no limit then on what it could cost?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: In other words, anything could have been found that could have increased the cost.
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: A number of things were found that were unforeseen. Mr. Finnegan said very extensive surveys were carried out but that there were still things that were not detected that led to an overspend.
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: I will quote something back to Mr. Finnegan that I found extraordinary. I will not name the individual because I do not think he is in the role he was in. It was the Superintendent of the Houses of the Oireachtas and he was quoted in The Irish Timeswhen it was asking about the costs. He said "As Michelangelo said to the pope, 'It will cost what it will cost'." That is not really an...
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Did Mr. Finnegan think it was an appropriate quote?
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Regarding my final set of questions, it would be remiss of us not to ask about our own expenditure and what we incur. My first question in that territory is on the funding for political parties. It is something that is largely misunderstood. There is an obvious logic to it as it reduces the dependency on corporate donations, which we have very strict controls on, thankfully, in the State....
- Public Accounts Committee: Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Appropriation Account 2018 (11 Jul 2019)
David Cullinane: Is that €61,000 for each Member?