Results 30,741-30,760 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----and will report back in a month.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: It is important to be honest about what has happened here. I understand the frustration and anger being expressed this morning and on many occasions in this House. We thought we could build a national children's hospital for much less than it will cost. That is what happened here. We unfortunately have seen a process that, until late last year, was proposing that a national children's...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: This is a project that we now have a clear understanding of in respect of costs. This is a project that was grossly underestimated in terms of cost until relatively recently. Yes, the Government and politicians need to take responsibility for that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: We will and that is why we are changing systems-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----to make sure we take account of that. The public spending code is being updated and will strengthen the steps required in public investment evaluation and management. As part of the review of the public spending code, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is conducting a full assessment of how cost estimation and management for capital projects could be improved. Updating...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: The Government has been clear. The Minister for Finance and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, have said repeatedly that the Government takes responsibility for this underestimate and for the cost increase of this project. There have been people who have felt the need to step aside because of accountability. The chairman...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: With respect, the whole point of getting PwC to do the report that is now being published is to understand fully what happened here and who was at fault so that we can have accountability, we can learn lessons from it and we can put structures in place to ensure-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----that this kind of underestimate does not happen again in projects such as this.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: Of course it is. The money has not been spent yet. Is anybody in this House seriously suggesting that we can build a hospital of this scale and complexity for less than what is currently estimated?
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: No, they are not.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: The issue is around how we learn lessons from a process that was flawed in getting us this far while at the same time building a hospital for children in Ireland. That is what we are doing and we have been open about that. We have asked PwC to put a detailed report together so we can act on the recommendations of that. It has done that independently and without fear or favour. Within a...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----will bring a plan to implement those recommendations and they will be accountable to this House on that plan.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: The Government has not taken a hard or a soft line on this. The Government has largely stayed out of this dispute. It is a dispute between the union concerned and the HSE. The Government's policy on trade unions and management is, where possible, to try to consolidate trade union representation to make it as structured and as functional as possible. There is a dispute here that we all...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: We cannot make policy decisions on the basis of threats. My understanding of what is at play here is that the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA, states that its industrial action is in connection with, in the first instance, a dispute over the automated deduction of union subscriptions from members' pay. The HSE is refusing to facilitate payroll deductions at source of union subscriptions...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: Yes, workers decide what trade unions they want to be part of. That is true. The recognition of trade unions for management in terms of negotiation is a different issue and it is not an issue on which the Government gives an instruction, as the Deputy knows.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: What I would encourage workers to do here is to try to bring this strike action to an end and to-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: The HSE is trying to make decisions here that ensure that it has the right kind of relationship that it needs to have with trade unions-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----to ensure that workers get fair representation and to make sure there is an appropriate consolidation there so that the relationship between management and trade union leadership works for everybody. That is the objective.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: I do not think anybody is defending the process that was followed here because it has clearly resulted in a whole series of failings that have been pointed out in this report.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Apr 2019)
Simon Coveney: The issue is what we do about it now. I do not believe, having read this report, that we can reduce the cost of building a national children's hospital by retendering at this stage. I know Deputy Wallace has been consistent in contesting that and I respect his view. PwC specifically tries to deal with this issue in the report. When the Deputy tells me that when we pay money for...