Results 221-240 of 2,180 for speaker:John Cummins

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Okay. According to the 2019 accounts of Sinn Féin, the Deputy is not a member of the national officer board of Sinn Féin, he is not one of the almost 50 members of the Sinn Féin ard comhairle according to those accounts, nor is he a trustee of the party. In the intervening 18 months has that changed?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: It has not. Therefore, the Deputy is not an accountable officer for Sinn Féin yet he is here acting on behalf of Sinn Féin as such. As I said, this is an affront to this committee. It is unacceptable we do not have the accountable officer who is accountable for Sinn Féin here before the committee. It is just unacceptable. I am going to move on to the Abú database...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: It has never been used outside of an election period by any member of the party?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: “Not to the best of my knowledge” is a completely separate answer. It is a qualified answer, if the Deputy does not mind me saying so. It is an unacceptable answer. I want a definitive answer from the general secretary on whether the Abú database system has been used outside of an election period. When a constituent enters a Sinn Féin office, is any of his or her...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: The Deputy is confirming that he or any other Sinn Féin representative or employee has never combined data from any system with the Abú system.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: It has never been done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Just to quote what was widely reported in the media and in the Irish Independent, specifically. It referenced a training manual in relation to the Abú database. It read: Facebook will show you the name of the person and often roughly where they live. By engaging with them you may be able to elicit more specific information that will help you pinpoint them in the real-world. You can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: So the Deputy wants us to believe that he thinks it is a credible position that Sinn Féin had a training manual about the Abú database, training members of his party, to do something that was never possible on its system. That is what the Deputy wants us to believe?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Was it ever possible?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: How many people have access to the Sinn Féin Abú database?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Again, that is another reason it is unacceptable that Deputy Ó Broin is before the committee, and not the accountable officer. Deputy Ó Broin does not have an answer to that question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: The election period, as the Deputy said-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: We can take that up at the end of the committee when we have time because there was absolutely no option for the general secretary of Fine Gael to send an alternative. When was Abú database system created?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Who paid for this work? How much did it cost? Was there ever any contribution, directly or indirectly, from Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, or the Friends of Sinn Féin to develop or run that system?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: In the 2019 accounts of Sinn Féin, there is no recorded expenditure on IT development. However, there is an expense of £41,595 for IT development recorded in the Sinn Féin accounts in Northern Ireland. What was that expense for?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Chair, as I said-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: -----it is unacceptable that we do not have the accountable officer of Sinn Féin before the committee. It is an affront to this committee. It is unacceptable to me. I will be requesting formally, Chair, that the general secretary or the assistant general secretary of that party comes before our committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Chair, I would ask before you conclude the meeting that you address the issue that I raised at the outset, which was a formal request that the general secretaries of Sinn Féin, People Before Profit and the Independent groups to come before this committee. It is unacceptable that we did not have an accountable officer here from Sinn Féin and I formally put that request here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: General Scheme of the Electoral Reform Bil 2020: Discussion (Resumed) (20 May 2021)

John Cummins: Chair, I need to know why the invitation issued to Sinn Féin, which was marked on the Teams website as “Invite to general secretary of Sinn Féin”, was addressed to Deputy Eoin Ó Broin. Deputy Ó Broin has confirmed to this committee meeting that he is neither the general secretary of the party, nor a member of the Ard Comhairle, nor a member of the national...

Seanad: Affordable Housing Bill 2021: Committee Stage (28 May 2021)

John Cummins: I appreciate the thrust of what Senator Moynihan is trying to achieve with her amendment but it must be considered in the context of the entire Bill, particularly the affordable purchase and cost-rental schemes. The serviced sites fund is attaching to the affordable purchase scheme. The Minister indicated both in this House and elsewhere that he is looking at revising the services sites...