Results 2,881-2,900 of 21,440 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: If we cannot get the precise figure today, it is important that we get the precise figure. The general public wants to know the cost of running committees.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. Coughlan please do that? I see no good reason to give €9,500 to the chairpersons of committees. I think at a time of austerity, when the cupboard is bare, the payment should be dispensed with. The payment of €9,500 each year to the members of the Oireachtas Commission is scandalous. I cannot see the rationale for that figure. That payment should be also dispensed...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The figure is €120,000 - okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Where are the two vacancies?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The cost of the whips is €120,000. It is a struggle to understand the presentation. We know there must be proper ordering of business and so on, but it is astonishing that it should cost the taxpayer that amount of money each year to order the business of the Oireachtas. I am not undermining the role of the whips, which is a necessary part of the parliamentary proceedings. They...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Department totalled the figure.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Let me repeat, it is just over €5 million. I read in the note sent to members that Mr. Coughlan states that this covers the cost of travel to and from Leinster House, overnight stays and, for Deputies only, any other travel expenses within a member's constituency. Of course, that has been preceded by a comment from the Attorney General.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: What is the mechanism for clarifying that issue?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Will Mr. Watt comment?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: In respect of this particular payment, which is unvouched, although I know people must make a declaration at the end of the year, it is hugely problematic for everyone concerned.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: I appreciate that progress has been made on all of these matters as against the last Administration and previous Administrations. That is unquestionably the case, but we must still acknowledge that there is a big problem when, in this case, we have €5 million in travel and accommodation expenses being paid out. I am not making a judgment on the integrity of any Member in the use of...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: On those different elements I went through with Mr. Coughlan, it would be interesting to take all the figures, break them down individually and in respect of the unvouched elements, including travel, put the figures together and total them to see how much money is exiting the system without adequate accountability and an adequate paper trail and, in respect of the costs of the committees and...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am right in saying, therefore, that these payments to Independent Deputies and Senators do not have to be accounted for in the same way as payments to a political party. I am not asking Mr. Watt to make a value judgment on that.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: They are unvouched.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Certainly.

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Can we take it that the Minister's review of allowances, expenses and all these payments will be done in a holistic way and that he will examine not only the leader's allowance but each of the tranches of expenditure?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am conscious I do not have time to move on to the Civil service allowance issues and I might return to those later in the meeting. I will finish by giving a view on this to the Minister's Department in particular. The era of unvouched expenses has to end and that is an absolute necessity. The scale of the allowances being paid must be revisited with an eye to cost reduction. Certainly,...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: We have some information in front of us but, as I indicated, I do not think it is entirely comprehensive. It would be instructive to carry out a case study on particular officeholders, say, the Taoiseach, and in saying that, I am not personalising this to the current occupant of the office. It is a salary of €200,000 and expenses, I understand, of €118,981 although that figure...

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: Where the forklift allowance is concerned, "Driving a forklift" is an excellent case to make. I would be more worried if the forklift was not being driven. Are these drivers in question in Customs and Excise?

Public Accounts Committee: Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Houses of the Oireachtas Commission - Review of Allowances (23 Oct 2012)

Mary Lou McDonald: It jumped out at me. Forklift driving is not something one would associate with the Civil Service.