Results 6,801-6,820 of 26,537 for speaker:John McGuinness
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: It is written down before me. The official from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform gave his opinion. It is set out by the Department of Health and repeated by the HSE. However, Mr. Nugent says it is a grey area.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: The other anomaly is that we were given a list of six positions, with salary top-ups applying to five. On the appointment of the new CEO, Mr. Conlan, the recommended pay scale was €83,000, but the client service manager, the administrator and managers of HR and IT would have been on higher salaries. They were being paid salaries and top-up payments.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: That does not address the anomaly that continues. When the next CEO is appointed, he or she will be on a salary of €83,000 and five of the existing managers will be on salaries and top-up payments of approximately €79,000, plus €32,000.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: I understand that, but when Mr. O'Brien quoted the law to Mr. Nugent and the CRC, they, by and large, ignored him and trundled on. The HSE did not enter into constructive engagement to assist them in overcoming this difficulty whereby new recruits at the top level of the CRC would be paid less than existing managers. That is a problem for the CRC and the HSE.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: I understand that. I am speaking about ways to sensibly resolve some of these issues in order that hearings of this nature could be avoided. We would also have avoided the huge damage done to public confidence and the collections made up and down the country to support charities.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: Who are the auditors of CRC?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: Did they draw attention to the arrangements the CRC has of topping up salaries from another fund relative to its obligations to the HSE? Were issues raised by them regarding their audit?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: Were they aware of the CRC's obligations to the HSE regarding salary scales and everything else?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: They audited the organisation's books and they looked at its overall governance and compliance. They knew about the problem with salaries and the HSE and they made no comment.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: I understand that but did they ever raise it with Mr. Nugent as part of their audit?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: Surely they look at governance issues and the CRC's arrangements with outside bodies for funding. Did they not do that either?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: It is a bit late now.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: I welcome that but it is a bit late now to be doing that. When €16 million is going to one organisation and the overall fund is €1.6 billion, these requirements should have been laid down at the beginning. If they had been, this would not have happened.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: I understand that and McGuinness keeps on saying that. However, this is taxpayers' money and the HSE should have taken every step to ensure the audit was set down properly and protocols were put in place and it should not be doing that now. That is why we have this problem today. The problem was created by the CRC and the HSE, which did not try to resolve it. I am amazed that the...
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: So the HSE does not know them yet.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: We want the facts and figures relative to each organisation so that we can determine the extent of the problem, the extent of the payments, what is going on and the HSE's response to it. I am concerned that the HSE has referred to withholding or withdrawing money or whatever the process will be but we must be concerned about the service users in this instance. The fact that there is poor...
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: It was the HSE's fault, not Mr. O'Brien's.
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: Are you acknowledging that it was the your fault?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: No, the HSE's fault. Mr. O'Brien should not play with words. Someone made a mistake and at these meetings no one answers a question properly and upfront. Did the HSE make the mistake? Was it the HSE's fault?
- Public Accounts Committee: Section 38 - Agencies Remuneration (11 Dec 2013)
John McGuinness: Good man. Thanks very much. If we had a little more of that kind of clarity, we might get our business done much quicker.