Results 6,441-6,460 of 26,037 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I wish to make a point on the banking inquiry. This committee has done a significant amount of work, especially with the report produced. That has played a significant role in terms of the framework for the banking inquiry. I wish to acknowledge the great work done by the Committee of Public Accounts under your stewardship, Chairman.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome Mr. Ó Foghlú. I want to touch on a few issues. Mr. Ó Foghlú provided the committee with an item of correspondence about County Wexford Vocational Education Committee, which effectively is about something that has resulted in the waste of taxpayers' money to the tune of €420,500. It relates to a situation whereby the VEC moved to a new building in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Would it not have been the norm, if it had an exposure for eight years, to ensure it got a long-term lease in place? Even apart from that, the annual rent it was paying on the premises was €67,465. The rent from the sub-let was only €51,000. That is a shortfall of €16,500, and it was looking at an eight year exposure. Even with that there was €131,000 of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Did it seek approval?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What is the average cost of a teacher to the Department?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What is the average cost of a special needs assistant, SNA, to the Department?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: That is seven teachers and effectively 12 SNAs. My point is that the Department should be about front-line services. It is not about bricks and mortar unless it is a school. What does Mr. Ó Foghlú propose to do about this issue? Do any similar situations arise within the Department or the VECs? It is an enormous sum of money?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: That does not take inflation into account.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: When inflation is taken into account it is probably over €500,000.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: It was a flawed model from day one.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: With due respect, if a VEC is moving premises resulting in a shortfall of the order of €16,500 per annum - a sinking fund - the basic principle, regardless of whether it is approved, is flawed. While I do not know the circumstances, this was in 2006 and the VEC was paying a rent of €67,465. If the VEC could only get €51,000 in rent in July 2006, which was at the peak of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: On the face of it, one could make the case that as it was, the Department was overpaying for the building because the VEC was only able to get €51,000 on re-letting the premises at the height of the crazy tiger years. As part of the Department's due diligence, I ask the Secretary General to examine how a rate of €67,465 was negotiated on the rental of the premises. Why could...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will follow on with an issue that frequently comes up on the ground in respect of young teachers, that is, of temporary posts arising and young teachers feeling they are not getting a fair shake of the dice in terms of being able to apply for or get these temporary positions. What is the policy within the Department to ensure that young, unemployed teachers are given some sort of priority...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I do not in any way question the skill sets of the retired teachers. However, in a situation in which one person is retired and one also has a young person, married or single and perhaps with a family, who is unemployed, the question is-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: However, it is still at the discretion of the principal in the school.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Obviously, there will be cases in which, because of various circumstances, a certain person is taken on. What I really am driving at is the policy - once again it comes to transparency - that all things being equal, priority is being given by the Department to young, unemployed teachers with regard to temporary placements.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I have two brief final questions. I refer to the issue of public private partnerships, PPPs, and the Department having in place a work programme. Obviously, as members can see on the ground, there has been a population explosion, particularly among the younger age groups now coming into primary school and, by definition, into the secondary schools thereafter. It has recently been reported...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Returning to the issue of Wexford VEC, now Wexford ETB, given the sheer scale of the wastage of €420,500 of taxpayers' money, I would hope that something immediate could be done on this. That level of drain of funding every year over that eight-year period in total defies logic to the ordinary persons up and down the country looking in who fund-raise for their schools, parents...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Will the Secretary General come back to the committee on it?

Topical Issue Debate: HIQA Reports (11 Jun 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I welcome the HIQA report which reaffirms what we already know - that there is major overcrowding in the accident and emergency department at University Hospital, Limerick. It is not fit for purpose and is unacceptable for patients and the staff who do such fantastic work in the hospital. The report discussed fast-tracking the new accident and emergency service at University Hospital,...