Results 7,341-7,360 of 11,299 for speaker:Colm Burke

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: It then turned out that the people who were to do the contract withdrew from it. Therefore, all the documentation was already prepared. Why not invite in tenders within the following two or four weeks? Why does it take another eight months to again invite tenders?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: I am aware of that. If the OPW decides to invite tenders this week or within the next ten days, what is the timescale for all the documentation to come in, that is, submissions received from those who are interested in carrying out the work, and the acceptance time period?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: The big complaint I have from contractors is the time it takes from when the tenders come in to when the office accepts and decides on who should be awarded the contract. What timescale are we normally talking about?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: That is not what is happening in contracts. My understanding is that with many contracts - I have come across them in relation to schools and other Departments - there is a huge delay from the time the submissions are received to the time the decision is taken. We had inflation in the intervening period and the contractors could not do the project at the price they submitted.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: I am aware of that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: I am saying that there is a huge delay.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: Across Government Departments, there is a huge delay from the time contracts are submitted to acceptance by the Department, whether it is the OPW, the Department of Education or the Department of Health. I am just saying we are now in a different timescale because of inflation and there is a need to put in place contracts at an earlier time than what the current process seems to be.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: I will just pick up the issue of specialist subcontractors. In the past five days, I was approached by a subcontractor who was cheaper than other subcontractors for a particular project. The OPW instructed the main contractor not to accept this subcontractor even though it had done work previously on OPW projects. It was cheaper and cost-effective, yet the main contractor was instructed...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: I will do that. This subcontractor is absolutely gobsmacked that it is-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: No. I will give Mr. O’Connor the details on it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: What is the timescale for agreeing subcontractors?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: Let us compare it with what is happening in the private sector. We seem to have projects that will take the OPW six or seven years and the private sector will get them done in three years. Should we not be looking at how the private is able to deliver in a far shorter timeframe?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: Has the OPW requested that a review be carried out in order to assist it? I fully understand that it wants to get on with projects as well. As Mr. O’Connor said, it has to work within the rules. Has it asked for that issue to be reviewed and a more up-to-date procedure put in place?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: In June of what year?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: Has the OPW followed up on that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: Which Department does that come in under? Is it the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: I will return to-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 8 - Contract payments in respect of Convention Centre Dublin (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: On the OPW flood relief projects in Cork, I believe €109 million has been spent in recent years. On projects currently in the pipeline, how many will have work commenced by this time next year? I am referring to the Glashaboy and Blackpool schemes and a number of other projects around the county. There are 150 projects scheduled to be done between now and 2030 across the entire...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: If we have written to the Charities Regulator, why is it taking so long for it to come back to us?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Dec 2022)

Colm Burke: Okay.