Results 361-380 of 1,776 for speaker:Derek Nolan

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Explain to me how the levy is collected.

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Has the levy rate changed in the past number of years?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: I understand that. The levy is per passenger. Has the amount charged per passenger changed? I accept the number of passengers has fallen, and therefore income has fallen, but has the amount charged per passenger increased or decreased in the period of the reduction?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Yes, the amount has reduced.

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: That is what I wanted to find out. Salaries have also dramatically decreased, from €1.76 million to €1.3 million. That was achieved through a reduced head count. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Was that a deliberate strategy or was it is a result of people leaving? Were people let go with packages?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: How was the reduction from 22 to 18 achieved? Were there redundancies or were temporary contracts ended?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Consultancy costs account for a lot of expenditure. For an organisation that is very specialised, I imagine those working for the commission would be very focused on aviation regulation but a lot of money is being spent on consultancy. Can the commissioner explain the €484,000 spent on consultancy costs in 2009?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Is that the Dublin Airport schedules' facilitation heading?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: That is separate in my table. I am looking at the figure for 2009, which states non-core costs were less in that year than in 2008, 2007 or 2006. They are quite low as a proportion of other costs. Is the commission confident then that the €500,000 was mainly legal costs?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: What would be the nature of the economic consultancy?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: In 2011, consultancy costs amounted to €173,000. Were those legal costs?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: In 2010, bonuses were paid to eight staff, totalling €16,000. Why were those bonuses paid in 2010?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Was work done that was not remunerated by overtime and so on?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Were hours worked that were unremunerated? Dealing with change management within an organisation is part of the commissioner's job. It is not something he gets bonuses for, especially in 2010, a time when every State agency and the entire public service were undergoing pay cuts and freezes. For a public organisation to pay a bonus that year seems very out of kilter.

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Sometimes we must go into individual budget lines.

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Have bonuses been paid since then?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: There is an issue with pensions. The commission has been waiting since 2002 for the Department of Finance to approve a pension scheme. Has that been resolved?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Is there a reason it has taken ten years?

Public Accounts Committee: Commission for Aviation Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Communications Regulation - Financial Statement 2011
Commission for Energy Regulation - Financial Statement 2011 (17 Jan 2013)

Derek Nolan: Has there been an issue with the Department of Finance? Has the commission communicated with the Department about this?