Results 6,461-6,480 of 21,440 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank Mr. O'Mahoney.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. O'Mahoney still did not speak to him.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: To summarise this, as far as I can ascertain we have two directly conflicting accounts of what happened in respect of the whistleblowers coming forward. The reason by the way that this element is so important is that, in respect of accountability structures, provisions and protections for whistleblowers are essential, albeit as an action of last resort. The Commissioner said it is...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does Mr. Callinan accept that those facts are contested?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is not a case of my view or what I think or what I have been told. Solely on the basis of information that has been in the public domain for some time, it is clear that the facts as they were presented by the Commissioner today are contested. The two individuals concerned have very different accounts of events from March 2012 onwards.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I ask the Chairman to bear with me for two more minutes. The Commissioner described their behaviour as disgusting. It is a strong thing to say that they have carried themselves in a manner that is disgusting.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am also aware that the individuals concerned claim they were isolated in their workplaces. They felt they were victimised to whatever extent. One of them subsequently left the service of An Garda Síochána. Does the Commissioner not accept it would be difficult for them to hear him use a word like "disgusting" to describe their behaviour?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is all right but it was the Commissioner and not I who offered up the term "disgusting". I am simply saying that is a strong term.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: On reflection, the Commissioner remains of that view.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What will happen to the individuals when they appear before this committee? What are the consequences for them or will there be consequences for them?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What message does the Commissioner think that might send to other serving gardaí who might have some information or who might be minded to come forward and to be whistleblowers? I note that the Commissioner referred to the individuals as "so-called whistleblowers". Is he concerned that his approach to this matter and his approach at this committee today might send a very negative...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: So the Commissioner does not regard whistleblowers as disloyal?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will end with this question. I thank the Chairman for his forbearance. On the previous occasion the Commissioner appeared before the committee, I asked him the number of reports that had been made to the confidential recipient - not the detail of them - over the previous 12 or 18 months and he was not in a position to give a figure at the meeting. What is the figure now?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Why will the Commission not give us a number?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: No, we have not and I have made clear to the Commissioner that I am not looking for the detail or the identity-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Commissioner's position is not to tell us and I find that troubling.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is not transparent. Is it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Commissioner is, therefore, telling me to ask a parliamentary question rather than to annoy the Commissioner.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Commissioner

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Management of Fixed Charge Notice System (23 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Commissioner said he is the Accounting Officer and that he is the person to put questions to but when I ask what form an eight-month procedure takes to investigate one of the complaints, he cannot tell me what was the process. When we ask how many people have come forward to the confidential recipient, he cannot give us a figure. We are not looking for names or details.