Results 3,021-3,040 of 15,555 for speaker:Eoghan Murphy

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: Will Mr. Rogers reiterate the four criteria on which the applications were assessed?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: I asked in a recent parliamentary question why, for example, experience and language were given equal weighting.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: My own experience of participating in missions is that monitors are provided with interpreters. As far as I am aware, there is no testing of participants' language skills.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: My understanding is that language skills were not tested orally.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: I find it odd that language and experience would be given the same weighting. One can easily check whether an applicant really has been on X number of monitoring missions. In respect of language skills, I assume applicants provided some documentation, but they are not tested. If it is subsequently found, when they are assigned to a particular monitoring mission, that they do not have the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: I agree with that individual. I do not know why the weighting was the same.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: I will not name any individuals but I find it odd that someone could get selected for an election monitoring roster five years ago with no experience and then, after five years of good experience in election monitoring, would not be selected for the 2013 panel.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: Does Mr. Rogers not find that to be odd?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: The roster that was introduced in 2013 will be reviewed again in five years' time.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: Yes and I was not trying to make a special case for anyone. I was interested in the process and I do not agree with that equal weighting. If equal weighting is to be placed on languages, we should be testing it orally. This is not necessarily from personal experience but people tend to exaggerate how good they are in a language at an interview or in an application.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: In any event, I thank Mr. Rogers. The last area I wish to examine briefly concerns Ireland's preparedness for certain eventualities in respect either of Scottish independence or a referendum in the United Kingdom. Does the Department have a dedicated unit looking at these eventualities or how is it monitoring that situation?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: Sorry, which committee?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: That is the sub-committee of the Cabinet.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: It is good to know that it is being discussed at the highest level. However, as yet there is no contingency plan or document for Ireland in the eventuality of A or B. Is this because it is too far off from-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: That is fair enough. On Scottish independence, has the Department given advice or provided a view on Scotland's ability, were it to achieve independence, to accede to the European Union?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: I understand there are sensitivities in respect of this but I understand what Mr. Cooney is saying.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: However, it will be an issue for us, should there be independence.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: It also is an issue, in terms of European Union membership, for us to consider because were Scotland to achieve independence, an application might come in. Consequently, we would need to know.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: As would many other European countries.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Chapter 13 - Official Development Assistance (6 Mar 2014)

Eoghan Murphy: I have one further area to raise regarding the pre-payment of the United Nations subscriptions in 2012. Perhaps the Chairman was going to raise it.