Results 6,881-6,900 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Questioning.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: The interrogation is coming next, possibly.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Was that the FGS report or was it just the one on the methodology?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: None of the recommendations in the FGS report was implemented.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: I will come back in for a second round of questioning. The interrogation will start now.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Do we know the national average cost per pupil?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: I want to ask a couple of questions about claims, which is a direct cost that is covered by the Department. If there is a compensation claim against a Bus Éireann driver or bus, is the cost covered by the Department?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Is there a cap on that or how does it work? If there was a total of €10 million in claims this year, for example, is that all recoverable by the Department or is there a cap in place that allows for only a percentage of the costs to be recouped? How does it work?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Does the Department have any information on this issue?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: That is covered by the transport management charge.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: I was asking about the full cost of the claims.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Those costs are fully covered by the Department, including engineers' fees, doctors' fees and whatever else is needed. It is managed by CIÉ. Does CIÉ fight the case and hire its own solicitors and barristers or does the State Claims Agency have any role in that regard?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: How many of the claims are settled out of court and how many go to court?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: If one is not responsible for the costs of a claim, one may not fight it as vigorously as would be the case if one were picking up the bill. It is my understanding the Department has no role in the claims even though it foots the bill.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Does Mr. McCarthy examine whether we are getting value for money in that regard? Is that within his remit?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Mr. McCarthy examines the accounts of the Department and would be aware of the headline figure. Is that what is presented by the Department?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: I ask that we be provided with a breakdown of the types of claims, if possible. How many relate to accidents on buses or involving third parties? The Department should give consideration to that because it does not know how vigorously claims for which it is picking up the tab are being contested. That information might be of interest to the Department.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: I acknowledge that. I do not suggest that Bus Éireann would take a passive approach to contesting claims but if it is not picking up the tab, these things could happen subconsciously. It would be a good exercise to compare these cases against others that are taken against the company in circumstances where it is footing the bill. That might be an interesting analysis. It was...
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Has the number of private contractors increased along with the increase in the total number of vehicles?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Jonathan O'Brien: Is there a reason for that? Does Bus Éireann not have sufficient vehicles or does it relate to the size or type of vehicles needed? Is it due to the required increase in the taxi service?