Results 25,861-25,880 of 34,956 for speaker:Seán Fleming
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: Can Bus Éireann not just buy a regular bus which can be used for school transport for 30 weeks or the year and then more generally for the remainder of the year?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: I cannot understand why taxpayers' resources are being locked up in a garage for 20 plus weeks every year. It does not make sense.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: Would that not be a good idea in safety terms?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: We have already been told the cost per annum in passenger terms of operating the 400 buses. What is the cost to Bus Éireann versus the cost to the contractors? Which is the cheapest? For example, the Comptroller and Auditor General said that the cost in 2015 was on average €1,800 per head. What is the amount for the most recent year?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: What Bus Éireann provides internally is up to 20% more expensive than what is charged by the average private contractor?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: What does that mean?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: Who was not happy?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: How long ago was that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: What commission?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: I presume the Department's objective is to maintain the contract with Bus Éireann and allow it to subcontract.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: It goes without saying that the Department is working to that objective. There is no point beating around the bush on that. It is the policy most people would expect. Nobody would want to see an English or Portuguese company getting the contract for school buses in Connemara.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: On average, the difference is contested at 20%. Are there regional cost differences in regard to route servicing in, for example, Meath versus Kerry? I do not want to hear that everywhere is different. I am asking about comparable routes.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: I understand that. I am asking about the outcome of the process. Bus Éireann must know on average the cost of similar routes across the country.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: If there is a lack of competition in a particular region and strong competition in another, what is the difference in cost?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: I want to deal with the buses for now. Where are the regional differences? Do the witnesses have that information? As the Committee of Public Accounts, we are trying to find out if we are getting value for money. There are lots of activities in Irish life in respect of which we know the cost, including the cost of surfacing a kilometre of road in one county versus another county, which is...
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: Were there many cases this summer where Bus Éireann was unable to get an acceptable contractor to fill a route for this school year and it had to use its own bus? How often does that happen on the thousands of routes?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: What does Ms Flynn mean by "direct award"?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: I raised the issue because the witnesses mentioned it as the reason a public resource was needed to fill the gap. However, when I asked about the size of the gap, they told me that they did not have that information. Do the witnesses follow me?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: The greater Dublin area.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Seán Fleming: There must be trends. Historically, Bus Éireann probably knows where there will be strong competition and where it will be lucky to get a contractor. In the latter situation, does the contractor effectively name his or her price?