Results 2,601-2,620 of 32,837 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I am referring to both: the legal costs and compensation and the breakdown, and then there is the contingent liability. I ask Mr. O'Driscoll to comment on these. If we look at the claims by the public, we see there were only 14, yet the legal costs were astronomical by comparison. If we look at the claims by employees, we see there were 183 and the legal costs were less.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: No. I am referring to the claims by members of the public. The number of cases was 14 and the associated legal costs were €317,000. Above the-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Was it not €793,000?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Of that figure. The figure for claims by the public is €134,000. Does Mr. O'Driscoll see in the report that the legal costs in respect of these claims were phenomenal? If one looks at the claims by employees under the Vote, one sees that the legal costs for the Department are €92,000 for 183 cases. Then if one looks further, one sees €317,000 for 14 cases taken by...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: What about the contingent liability?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: My final question concerned the suspected irregularity. How long has the investigation been ongoing? What is the updated position?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: This is on paragraph 6.9.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I see that. My question is how long the investigation has been ongoing. What is the up-to-date position? What has been learned from it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: If Mr. O'Driscoll does not know, perhaps he could come back to us with the relevant facts: how long the investigation has been ongoing, the completion date and what has been learned from it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Absolutely.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: That is fine. I have no difficulty with Mr. O'Driscoll coming back to me. I am just seeking the facts: how long the investigation has been ongoing, when it will be completed, what the Department has learned from it and what has happened? My final point concerns Brexit, which Deputy Aylward started off with. Either now or whenever the Chair allows him in, perhaps Mr. O'Driscoll might...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I was going to ask that question. I thought the site was to become a park and a public facility.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Is the plan just for some part of the island, and the remainder will be public?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: On page 24 of the report there is an item called "conscience money". Can the witness explain what this is?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Is it returned anonymously?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: My final question is the big question and maybe it cannot be answered at this point. Sitting here at each meeting, having listened to officials and having heard the questions that were raised about Bord na gCon today it occurs to me that we are giving out money even where there are governance issues with parent bodies which distribute the funds. For example, we have had the HSE before the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I will put that into our language; it would save us sitting here and putting the witnesses under pressure by asking questions, which we are doing repeatedly, with matters that should have already been taken in hand. We should not have to be here asking how many times has the Department met with Bord na gCon, the Marine Institute or Horse Racing Ireland when we are giving out substantial...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I am not going back to that as I will leave that issue to the Deputies who asked about it. The more general issue is in holding to account the bodies to which the Department gives money, so that the Department is satisfied. In other words, would the Department be able to inform the committee today that the annual accounts are in from the Marine Institute, Horse Racing Ireland and so on?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 7 - EU Refunds and Levies in the Agriculture Sector (16 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Are the accounts coming in up to date and is the Department satisfied with its governance overview, particularly as result of everything that has happened with regard to Console and all the other issues?

Other Questions: Jobseeker's Allowance (21 Feb 2017)

Catherine Connolly: 34. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons of 65 years of age who are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance and jobseeker's benefit; the steps being taken to resolve the issue of these persons who, on retirement, are required to sign up for jobseeker's allowance or jobseeker's benefit before they receive the State pension; and if he will make a statement on the matter....