Results 7,161-7,180 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Private Partnerships (7 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: 22. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the expected role public private partnerships will play in capital projects under the National Development Plan 2018 to 2027; and if projects will be designed and tendered on that basis. [5956/19]

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Capital Expenditure Programme (7 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: 42. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the capital projects to be delayed or deferred in each of the years 2019 to 2022 as a result of the cost overruns in the National Children’s Hospital; when the details of these deferrals will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5953/19]

Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I wish to share time with Deputy Buckley.

Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I am a little confused on the Government's position on the Bill, given the controversy we have just gone through about overruns and the potential impact an overrun of €450 million will have on the Exchequer. I do not want to get into a blame game because I want to concentrate on the Bill. However, I agree with my Fianna Fáil colleagues that by abstaining on the Bill, the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Children's Hospital Expenditure (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: 383. To ask the Minister for Health the revised cost of a report (details supplied) into overruns at the national children’s hospital in view of the revised terms of reference. [6429/19]

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: When the Minister of State said he got word of the €3 million cutback, was there any conversation with the Department or was it just a directive saying it was going to take €3 million from the Minister of State's portfolio? Was there any look at savings that could be made within the Department? Was the figure just given and that was it?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Did the Minister of State come up with the figure of €3 million or was it the Minister for Finance?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: When the discussions were taking place and the Minister of State was asked if there were any savings he could come up with, what figure did he come up with?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I understand that but the Minister of State said a discussion took place and he was asked to say if any savings could be made within his Department that could be given up to the Department of Finance to facilitate the overrun at the children's hospital. Did the Minister of State put any figure on that, or was it just a case of him having a conversation about it but not giving them any figure...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: So the Department was told that it was to be €3 million and it had to find the savings.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I am aware that the Minister of State cannot speak directly about the children's hospital but I have a general query on tendering and procurement. Some of the weighting goes to the price, some to quality and so on. What would the norm be in a major project?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I am wondering what the norm would be when the OPW is looking at tendering.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Does Mr. Buckley know of any other State contracts where the weighting for costs would be 75% plus? I am asking from off the top of his head and from his experience.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I imagine Mr. Buckley is aware of the EU guidelines around abnormally low tenders. Does the OPW take this into consideration when looking at the tendering process if someone comes in low? I gather the EU directive refers to approximately 15% of the adjusted average. If the lowest tender is 15% below the average of all the tenders, then it is considered an abnormally low tender. Does the...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Let us imagine that was the case. Let us imagine the OPW looked at a given tender and had suspicions that it was simply too low or was not going to do what it said on the tin. Would the OPW be within its rights to simply ignore that tender?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: This difficulty seems to be coming to the fore the more I probe into it with different officials. If an organisation does not accept the lowest bid, it can create legal issues. One official from the Department of Health said the Department could end up on the steps of the Four Courts if it does not accept the lowest bid. If the evaluators know the lowest bid is simply not going to cut it,...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I presume that organisations spend more time worrying about that because the procurement system in this State does not have any statutory provisions around abnormally low tenders. In other jurisdictions there are provisions on the Statute Book so that if a tender is below a certain percentage of the adjusted average price then they can be eliminated without fear of the contractor taking...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: My final question goes back to the weighting system. It seems that cost is always the biggest factor or consideration in the weighting and then quality is the second factor. That may not be standard across the board but it seems to be the trend. A significantly higher weighting is given to cost. Is any weighting given to past performances of the contractor?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: The contractor-----

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (12 Feb 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: If a contractor has a reputation for putting in low bids that consistently end up costing significantly more, that cannot be a factor in the tendering process. That is what Mr. Buckley is telling me.