Results 6,621-6,640 of 26,430 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Under headings - I remember that.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Very good.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: The HSE decided last night not to challenge a High Court ruling on consultants' pay. It is estimated the cost could be as high as €700 million which will be very significant in terms of the overall spend and as a one-off payment. It does not, however, know how much it will cost. I am not suggesting necessarily that we discuss but is it something that would come before us routinely...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: I welcome Mr. Quinn. I will confine my remarks to the sale of the Government jet. I want to deal, not in policy because the merits of the Government jet are not what we are here to examine, with the policy on value for money. All of my comments are geared toward those objectives. Mr. Quinn is the chief Accounting Officer for the Department, is that right?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: I am reading Mr. Quinn's opening statement. Stripping away the middle part of it, in terms of Mr. Quinn's response to the sale of the Government jet it is somewhat extraordinary. Mr. Quinn states that, "There is no disagreement with the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General that an assessment of costs was necessary.", but goes on to state at the end, "As Accounting Officer for the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: That is not my question. The value that was arrived at is not the issue here. In terms of process, Mr. Quinn states in his opening speech that he accepts the point made by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report "that an assessment of costs was necessary". Is Mr. Quinn accepting that it was wrong not to carry out an assessment?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Sorry, Mr. Quinn will bear with me. The Comptroller and Auditor General is clear. It is very simple. The Comptroller and Auditor General states that in process terms, an assessment of costs should have been carried out. Mr. Quinn accepts that it was necessary, but there was no assessment of costs carried out. I am asking Mr. Quinn whether he accepts that he did not do what was required...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Please.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: No, there was no cost analysis done. That is the Comptroller and Auditor General's point. Let us go to his report where he says that. It is not only the cost analysis but the life-cycle analysis as well. The Comptroller and Auditor General cites in his report that there were failures in carrying out the cost analysis.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Yes. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, at paragraph 8.12, states: "The Department is of the view that it would have been highly speculative to produce contingency cost projections that might arise from unidentified or unforeseen problems." Is Mr. Quinn essentially saying here that we should not plan for the unexpected in case the unexpected happens?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: What I seem to be getting from Mr. Quinn, everything I have seen in his opening remarks and also the responses to the Comptroller and Auditor General is that Mr. Quinn believes a cost analysis is not needed to inform, but only to validate, a decision. In any sale, one should do a cost analysis. I would imagine the company, Journey Aviation, that bought the jet carried out a cost analysis...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: I noted the Department got their views. That is not the question I asked. Mr. Quinn should stick to the questions. I noted that they gave their recommendation.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: I understand their role and Mr. Quinn has accepted their role. That is fine. I am talking about this informal contact from the Department with an aviation consultant company which then went on to make a number of observations, which I will get to. What does "informal" mean?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: I accept that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: What does "informal" mean?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: "Informal", I have asked it three times now. What does "informal contact" mean?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: What form did that take? I am trying to-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Specifically, when Mr. Quinn says "informal", was it phone calls? Was it communication? Was it e-mail? What was it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 35 – Army Pensions
Vote 36 - Department of Defence
Chapter 8 – Disposal of the Government Jet (26 Jan 2017)

David Cullinane: Okay.