Results 12,981-13,000 of 26,610 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: The kangaroos are over there.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Yes.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: On a related matter, there is the invitation to the city and county chief executives.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Is that in the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report or is it separate?
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: We should go back to them again.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: A joke.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: I do not accept the responses that have come back, to be honest. They raise more questions about the procurement process. We are talking about contracts which are awarded without a competitive process. There may be times when that is the only possible outcome but it seems to happen an awful lot. To give a couple of examples, the Department states in the document that the contract was...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: The information on Corrib north and Corrib south states that the contractors have the requisite expertise and knowledge to carry out the urgent assessments required, and the contractor has specialist knowledge and an in-depth understanding of this complex project. That does not necessarily mean that there were no other possibilities. It is not an excuse for not having a tendering process. ...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: That is my point. The Department is saying that it considers the supplier for the national mitigation plan to be unique. Who decides that this contractor is unique? Why is it not tested? Mr. McCarthy's point is-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Put it out for tender and see if it is the only one that comes forward. Exactly. However, that is not being done in a whole raft of areas. This is another problem in procurement.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Absolutely.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: I raised this previously. I know we have a very busy work schedule and a lot of work to do but the broader issue concerns procurement. This is another example of where there are problems. This time, it is citing a lack of expertise in the marketplace and saying that in its judgment, only specialised companies can do this work. In other areas, we have seen examples involving leaving it too...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: It involves a slap on the wrist and a note at the end of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report saying that there may be issues regarding non-adherence to procurement rules. We then give the Accounting Officer a slap on the wrist, there is no punishment or sanction and it continues. I know there have been some improvements in the HSE because of our work. Notwithstanding that, it...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Exactly, as a stand-alone issue because it is the major one in terms of the spend of money.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: This is an important issue that was raised with me. The Defence Forces are not subject to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Similar Acts are in place in other countries to which the relevant defence forces are subject so we are unique in this respect. Because there is no possibility for class action in this State, individual cases are being taken by the trade union. It seems the...
- Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: I would like if the Fianna Fáil leader when contributing in the Dáil on statements on the EU summit would not when speaking about the North attack Sinn Féin. It does not impress anybody. Many of the Fianna Fáil backbenchers have previously referenced Sinn Féin walking away from its responsibilities. We do not walk away from our responsibilities in the North. We...
- Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: I did not interrupt speakers from the Fianna Fáil benches. Sinn Féin contests every election in the North and it has a mandate from the people. Fianna Fáil has no mandate in the North, nor does Fine Gael. They do not like elections in the North. They are the hurlers on the ditch.
- Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Neither party should criticise those who contest elections when they run away from voters in the North. Regardless of what happens today in Westminster, we have to make a number of observations about Brexit, the obvious one being that there is a withdrawal agreement on the table which provides basic protections for the North in the event of a no-deal Brexit. These include maintaining...
- Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (12 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: Hear, hear.
- Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Local Government Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (6 Dec 2018)
David Cullinane: I do not want to upset the committee's procedures but I have to get back to the Committee of Public Accounts. If it was possible for me to put the questions-----