Results 5,241-5,260 of 5,988 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I suggest to the Minister that the Housing Agency must have as much openness and flexibility as the local authorities, because it is responsible for the cost-rental element of it. It takes that little bit longer with the Housing Agency. I will leave it with the Minister.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the witnesses for being here this morning and the Comptroller and Auditor General for putting in the work on the report. I agree with Deputy Cannon that it is a very complex landscape and that we are dealing with charities of different capacities and sizes. I think roughly 11,000 charities are registered. Has their turnover been categorised in any way? How many fall into the very...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Does Ms Delaney have a breakdown for the number of charities that have incomes of less than €10,000 or €5,000 per year?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: If a charity has less than €10,000, it is an incredibly small operation. It more than likely does not have any paid staff and is mostly volunteer run. Equally, the auditing requirements are very onerous. Regarding audit fees in some cases, I know of one group with a total income of €2,500 and the cost of auditing is just north of €1,000. Has any consideration been...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I find it very frustrating, as does the group itself, which I will not name, that to carry out charitable work, and it inherited a legacy structure, 50% of its fundraising is to satisfy the Charities Regulator. While that is necessary, and I cannot see any other way around it, there is scope to have a more agile approach for smaller charities, as Ms Delaney mentioned. I will leave that with...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: They are identified as chief executive No. 2 in the report.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: That is the first concern. Had the cash flow or the financial operational management not become an issue, it is likely that we might not have discovered the many other areas such as the co-mingling of donations, restricted and unrestricted funds, and issues of poor governance decisions by the board and so on. For the Charities Regulator, that must be a lesson in the sense that had the...

Topical Issue Debate (Resumed): Disadvantaged Status (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I appreciate the response of the Minister of State. Elections are democratic exercises where we get to press “refresh” on the policy approach taken by different Departments. There is an opportunity, as we head into the coming months, to get unanimity across parties on this point and bring people together so that, no matter who is sitting on the other side of the table...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Does Ms Delaney accept that the relationship between CEO and chair is key? The governance issues or the protection of the public interest really rely on the board. When there is an entirely voluntary board and chairperson, however, without the independent resources of the staffing of the organisation, the board can be in a very weak position to monitor what is happening in the organisation.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I agree, but does Ms Delaney accept the resourcing of the board is the issue there? I am not speaking about a particular case here, but if there was any attempt by a senior staff member, the CEO or staff in general to mislead the board, it could be incredibly difficult for a board that may meet once a month, whose members perhaps do not know each other very well as board members and who do...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Ms Delaney is outlining the obligations of the directors and the board and I do not take from those. My point is that many directors find it very difficult to fulfil that because they are entirely dependent for resourcing and expertise and information on the people who work within the organisation. Where it goes wrong, that is often the challenge.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: In some cases in community structures, for example, the people involved are very well meaning but perhaps do not have the experience and so on. That is the weakness of corporate governance in Ireland. It is the reason we will have other instances. We are not resourcing the boards. That brings me to my second point, which is the recruitment and retention of board members. Why in God's...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: We can look at youth centres and community structures across the country. This is the spending of public money and it is governed by volunteers we are not providing sufficient resources to. These are the charities Ms Delaney and her colleagues regulate.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Electric Vehicles (15 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: 198. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of registrations of L1e-A and L1e-B e-mopeds since the legislation changed in May 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41300/24]

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (15 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: 263. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment regarding work permits for the homecare sector, the number of work permit applications received since the scheme opened in January 2023; the number of work permits issued; the number of applications returned at initial applications pre-check stage; the number of other applications rejected; the number of applications currently in...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Building Projects (15 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: 278. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on a new build for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41004/24]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: Social Welfare Payments (15 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: 409. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide an update on the working family payment renewal of a person (details supplied). [41431/24]

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank the witnesses for being here on a day the Committee of Public Accounts does not normally sit. This speaks to the importance of why we are here. This committee supervises our audits and the billions of euro that is spent. The idea that an expenditure of €336,000 would draw our attention speaks to the point as regards this issue, namely, that many people cannot get their heads...

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Therefore, requests to improve the building and so on come from the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.

Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation Accounts 2023
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (22 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Is there any process for auditing whether requests are reasonable or unreasonable?