Results 7,481-7,500 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Several centres closed recently . Will the Department provide details as to why they did so? Was it just a case that the contracts were up or that they were not suitable? There was a centre in Dublin 2 with a capacity of 33 which closed in 2017. There was another in Limerick with a capacity of 90 which also closed in 2017. Another centre in Dublin 2 with a capacity of 110 closed in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: In the latter case, would the contractor have to wait to the end of the lease or can they break it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I accept that several centres have opened at the same time. It is my understanding, however, that no new self-catering centres have been opened. I stand open to correction in that regard. There was also the closure of a self-catering centre in February last year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Is it policy that there would be a 10% buffer between capacity and occupancy? From my understanding of the figures presented to the committee by the Department, not one of the centres meets this criterion. In fact, some centres are operating at 100% capacity. The lowest capacity I could find is in the HSE southern area at 94%.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I assume that the objective is not to reach 100% capacity because one would need a certain amount for emergencies, such as dealing with health or fire safety concerns. The target is to be operating at 90% capacity but it is currently at 97%. Will the new centres that will be brought on-stream bring down this figure or will it remain in excess of 90%?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Is there any criterion for where the centres are located taking into account population figures? The monthly report provided to the committee for October refers to how many centres are in each location and the occupancy rate as a percentage of the overall population of the area? Is there a criterion that we should not exceed a certain percentage or is it just for information purposes?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: One of the regular complaints I receive is that if somebody has a grievance or a complaint regarding the management of a centre, he or she must go through a particular process before he or she can approach the Ombudsman. It is my understanding that the first step in that process is to actually forward the complaint to the agency or private company which is running the centre? Will the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: The most recent data I could get my hands on for referrals to the Child and Family Agency dates all the way back to 2014. I do not know if there are more up-to-date data but, if there are, perhaps the Department could provide them to the committee and to me. There was huge variation in the percentage of referrals of children within direct provision centres compared with children outside of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (4 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Some 14% of children living in direct provision are being referred whereas the corresponding figure for children not living in direct provision centres is 1.6%, so we can see there is a huge variation. With regard to the types of referrals and whether they would reach the threshold for an initial assessment to be done, in direct provision centres the figure stands at 85% and outside direct...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Public Procurement Contracts Data (9 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: 170. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of economic operators that have been disqualified from public tenders on the basis of the abnormally low tender provisions as per under Article 69 of 2014/24/EU; and the number of economic operators that have made a claim against the State after being disqualified from public tenders on the basis of the abnormally low...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: I will probably go off script a little in terms of the previous speaker. This is my opinion. I believe what people, GPs and women were looking for was a repeat smear test. I do not believe that was the issue. That was not the failing. The failing was doing what the Minister felt was appropriate but not knowing whether we had the resources to fulfil that commitment. Perhaps that is...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: It is not so much a criticism but more an observation that this is the reason the backlog exists.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Can I move on to the children's hospital, and before the Chairman decides it is not within the scope of the Estimates-----

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Yes, it is. I have a few question on it. I recognise the Minister has asked that the Government would be given a number of weeks to assess the report, examine the recommendations and decide how to proceed. I would like to discuss a number of recommendations with the Minister, however. I would first of all like to go back over some old ground and set it in context. The PwC report was very...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: There were political appointments to those groups.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Does the Minister believe the terms of reference for those groups were limited? The report states that the groups did not have the ability or the experience to question some of the decisions being taken. The groups could only monitor the information provided to them. If that is the case, does the Minister think that was a failing when the legislation was being developed and the terms of...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: The report recommends against that.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: That is one of the questions I was going to ask. The report states the Minister should not have a complete clear-out of the board because it would lose that corporate memory. It also states, however, that the Minister needs to strengthen the board by adding expertise and competency to the board. How does the Minister propose to do that given there is only one vacancy on the board at the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: To whom was the steering group responsible? I am referring to the information passed by the development board up to the steering group. Where does it go after it reaches the steering group?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (10 Apr 2019)

Jonathan O'Brien: Yes.