Results 4,641-4,660 of 5,388 for speaker:John Deasy

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee. (12 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: Sure.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee. (12 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: I read the transcript of the committee meeting in question and it is very clear what the official said on the day. If the committee asks for clarification from the Department it will just be a regurgitation of "There was no attempt to criticise the Judiciary." I am afraid the committee will get nowhere with that approach. It was very clear, and I read the transcript a couple of times. I...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: The correspondence in question is a classic case of bureaucratic doublespeak especially when one gets to the third paragraph. It does not explain what has happened. It just takes fragments of different regulations and constructs an argument as to why the Department did what it did. The correspondence does not explain how the Department got into the dreadful mess of a disastrous tender...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: It would have been appropriate for his officials from the Department to attend.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: On the same point, and I was going to mention this later, when it comes to the commission of investigation into the IBRC the point the Chairman makes is valid because in recent days we have found that the estimate for how long it will take could be approximately eight years. Did the Department know this when it put its memo to Cabinet. What was the length of time for which the Department...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: Surely the Chairman has made a fair point.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: We are now finding out, after the fact, based on what the person leading the commission of investigation has said, that it could take eight years. Was this even closely factored in when it came to the memo? At how much was it estimated?

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: Does Mr. Watt take the point-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: -----about reasonable due diligence-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: -----based on his opening statement and the analysis he pointed to which needs to be made when Exchequer funding is spent that surely we are doing things after the fact here? Everybody was amazed by the eight year projection, and it seems to me that in the initial analysis this was not well-known at Cabinet, or there might have been second guessing with regard to this in the first place.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: We have learned nothing.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: It is, and that is fair enough, but it seems to me if we are making a decision without knowing fully how long something will reasonably take it defeats the process from day one. This is the point Mr. Watt made in his opening statement. We have a very recent example that belies and makes a mockery of what we already know about how long these things take and the type of the overruns we have...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: I told Mr. Watt that he would be accused of something before he left here today.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: I will give an example when Mr. Watt is finished speaking.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: I would make the case to Mr. Watt that this is not just about the money. He is using figures such as €77 million, €150 million and so forth but for almost a year now we have been dealing with the HSE and the way it awards contracts. In many cases there is a lack of competitive tendering. The cases we have been dealing with involve allegations of very serious child abuse and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: In this case, a Garda investigation remains ongoing but the proposals are there and have been accepted. Mr. Watt said that one corrects things as one goes along and that is fine but that has not been our experience with the HSE. It had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into agreeing to change its policy when it came to awarding incredibly important contracts. We are not talking about...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: Let us call a spade a spade. The HSE is the worst offender. It is not just me making that analysis. The Comptroller and Auditor General-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: Earlier, the Chairman asked about the Fennelly commission and I asked about the inquiry into the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, IBRC. I am not going to stray into policy or ask Mr. Watt any policy questions. However, I want to go through this again. The committee is still dealing with the legacy costs of tribunals. For example, the figure of €159 million comes to mind when we...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: In his opening statement, Mr. Watt stated, “The public spending code provides that appraisals and detailed assessments should be carried out before Exchequer resources are committed.” He also said the Government did not expect the IBRC inquiry to be eight years at the time when it made the decision to set it up. Now that there is an expectation that the IBRC inquiry could take...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Vote 41 - Office of Government Procurement
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting and Budget Management
Chapter 5 - Management of Government Grants
Chapter 6 - Payroll Accrual for National Accounts
Chapter 7 - National Lottery Fund (19 Nov 2015)

John Deasy: I am asking about the process.