Results 6,621-6,640 of 34,779 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: We heard statements on budget day in regard to which key people involved in achieving the stated budget savings denied agreeing.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Watt is Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. On budget day, his Minister presented the Dáil with the Estimates of expenditure for 2014. Was Mr. Watt satisfied at the time that the Estimates were correct and, if so, what persuaded him to revise the figure afterwards?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: I am referring to the budget for this year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Is that a "Yes" or "No" answer to a simple question? As Accounting Officer, was Mr. Watt satisfied that the Estimates published by his Department on budget day were correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: What changed his mind immediately after they were published?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Was Mr. Watt happy with the figure when it was published?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: In other words, would the new IMF guidelines require the Department to have those discussions with the HSE and the Department of Health before announcing the Estimates? Is it good practice to announce Estimates and revise them subsequently? Would it not have been better to discuss them before publishing them?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: The dogs on the street could see on the day that an issue had arisen in that regard. Was Mr. Watt unable to see it? I met nobody who believed the figure announced on budget day but Mr. Watt was happy with it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Nobody else seemed to believe it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: In the letter Mr. Watt sent to us on Monday he referred to the working group tasked with reviewing the framework for grant funding by public bodies. What is the quantum of grants that are being reviewed across each Department and does it include the Department of Health, IDA, Enterprise Ireland and local authorities? If Mr. Watt does not have the exact figures before him, can he send us a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: If a working group has been established, it must have the figures.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Do these grants include grants to bodies like the IDA?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Do they include contracts for services?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: How many billion euro does it come to?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: The figure for health is €3 billion.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Does that figure include local authorities?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Send us the list for each Department.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: The HSE has been before this committee talking about its section 39 agreements and contracts. Will this lead to a further revision of the documentation?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: There are two sides to Government procurement. The Department wants to achieve value for money but there is a possible negative knock-on effect for a local suppliers. Members of the Irish School Art Supply Federation came before this committee and they were very concerned about this. My colleague, Deputy Connaughton, will deal with that. Mr. Watt believes his Department has a good record...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Chapter 3 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 5 - Vote Budget Management (3 Apr 2014)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Watt has heard me suggest this before and I agree it should be done. However, HSE-funded hospitals are still not using generic drugs but branded ones. Whatever about forcing GPs to prescribe generic drugs, how has the simple message not got down to the HSE-run hospitals to use the generic drugs? It is absolutely crazy.