Results 7,261-7,280 of 26,043 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I am reading notes provided by the Comptroller and Auditor General. They state there was no chief financial officer in place for the period from April 2008 to February 2012. That is from the Indecon report.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Who was the boss over the finance team? Who looked after things? In any situation someone must be responsible for the overall financial function. Who was responsible for the overall financial function at that time?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Hindsight is great. I realise the organisation now has a separate set-up. Anyway, the situation that existed, regardless of the personalities, should not have been allowed to continue. Is that a fair comment?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: We are working off the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report at the moment. It has not come up before, but it appears that the first site Bord na gCon looked at was the Greenpark site. That was in 2001. At that stage the organisation got the site valued. In 2003, it was valued at approximately €2.2 million.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Then, in 2005 the organisation decided to proceed to put a cap on the amount of money that it would use. The cap was €1.4 million on the purchase of a site. Greenpark was valued at €2.2 million. Of the face of it, it appeared to be a better site given its strategic location. It was on the site of the old racecourse and within in the bounds of the city. It is a good...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Let us follow on. Let us consider it in the context of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report. It strikes me that the Greenpark site was identified in 2000. Bord na gCon was looking at it at that stage. It was valued at €2.2 million. That was not pursued because the organisation was looking into getting the Markets Field site rezoned. Subsequently, nothing happened....

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Yes, the Meelick site. I know it as the Coonagh site. Locally, it is known as the Coonagh site. I am unsure whether it is in Coonagh or Meelick. I think it is in Coonagh but I am open to correction. Am I right?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Let us call it the Meelick site. It seems extraordinary that the organisation bid at public auction without getting any preplanning from Clare County Council and without getting formal approval of the board. The organisation got a report produced which does not appear to have gone to the board. It stated that there were severe risks in terms of access to the site. Am I correct in what I say?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: That should not have happened. Side-by-side with that, there was a site at Greenpark that the organisation had identified some years before. It was valued at approximately €2.2 million. The site was available at that price. The organisation ended up paying €3.4 million for that site. That occurred in June 2006. The organisation did not nail things down. Clearly, proper...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is there anyone before the committee today who was on the board at the time? In hindsight, was the board consulted properly at the time on the purchase? I am not in any way saying that people were doing things that were in any way underhand. I am not questioning the motives. If I was buying something and I had a report with a question over right of access at the Meelick site, I would have...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Ironically, I reckon it ended up in the best site. However, at the same time, the process has, ultimately, incurred €4 million of taxpayers’ money as it went the scenic route.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Was the Meelick site sanctioned by the board?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Was the Greenpark site sanctioned by the board?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Has Bord na gCon put procedures in place? I am mindful of the people on the board and of the work people do on boards. At the same time we are challenged with putting the questions. This applies whether I am a Deputy for Limerick city or otherwise. I acknowledge the fantastic facility that is there, the employment Bord na gCon provides and the fantastic work it does. Nevertheless we must...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What time was that? When was that?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: It all predates that. It is interesting. Will the Comptroller and Auditor General comment? Is my analysis accurate?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: It appears that if the consultants' report commissioned on the Meelick site had gone to the board, there is a fair chance that the bid on the site would not have been pursued. It might have been a timing thing at the time as the timescale was very short in terms of completing a report before the public auction. Once one goes to public auction, one is on a hiding to nothing on a risk basis...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Can I move forward? What are Bord na gCon's current debt levels?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: How much of that relates to Greenpark?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What does the rest relate to?