Results 7,561-7,580 of 26,430 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I accept that I am putting a number of questions cold to Dr. Love. I was only asking questions in policy terms. I wish to move on to the financial statements of institutions and the timeliness of accounts being presented and audits being carried out. How many institutes of technology are in deficit?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Of the six, which would be the more serious? Has the HEA carried out an analysis? Which one would trouble it most?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I will concentrate on those three. It is welcome news about the three that there is encouragement. I asked for examples of the ones in most difficulty. Dr. Love mentioned two, of which Waterford IT was one. What was the other?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Mr. Brownlee said there was a third one.

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Of the three, which would be of most concern in terms of the scale of the deficit and the levels of adjustment that may be required?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: It is interesting that this is also the institute where there are concerns about spin-out companies and whether the institute is being properly protected. That is why there is a focus on it. The witnesses have now said Waterford IT is possibly the one that concerns them most. In 2008 its core funding was €40,134,000. In 2016 its core funding was cut to €26,460,000, which was...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Who-----

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I have the students numbers and they do not chime with what Mr. Brownlee stated. Let us look at them. In 2007 the student enrolment was 7,539. In 2015-16 it was 7,792. That does not seem to be a substantial-----

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Yes, but we have to look back over a reasonable period. My starting period is 2007-08. It went up a little, but it maxed at 8,302 and went down to 7,792. There was a decline, but it remained static over an eight or nine year period. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I have two remaining questions. We have acknowledged that the core grant and the fees paid to the institute were quite substantially reduced. We have acknowledged that over a reasonable period of seven or eight years the enrolment figures have stayed pretty much static. We also know from the institute and the Department that the percentage of pay versus its funding is 87%, which is above...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I want to be clear to the witnesses because I am at pains to point this out, with respect to the Chairman. Regarding the issue of intellectual property, spin-outs and so on, I completely understand the need to incentivise researchers to engage in the commercialisation of intellectual property and the benefits of same to the institute and to the regions in terms of jobs. At no point in any...

Ethical Public Investment (Tobacco) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members] (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: I am pleased that the exchanges between the Deputy and the Minister of State are cordial on this occasion. I am happy to support this Bill and I commend Deputy Fleming on his initiative and on proposing the Bill. I also commend the Government and the Minister of State on not opposing it and on seeking to strengthen it on Committee Stage, which I always advocate unless there are substantial...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Yesterday, I requested that the Garda Commissioner and the Secretary General in the Department of Justice and Equality should appear before the committee to discuss the debacle of the money that may need to be repaid because of the inappropriate fines. We also have very serious issues with the Garda training college in Templemore. We do not know who the Commissioner might be by the time we...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Is there agreement among the committee that we should do that in the first instance? Certainly with the training college some serious issues arise relating to governance and how accounts were managed. Does the Comptroller and Auditor General audit the Garda training college in the first instance?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Yesterday's report states that this first came into the public domain in 2008. I believe there was a further report in 2010. There were some changes, which were then reversed. At any point was the Comptroller and Auditor General aware of very serious issues? Did he ever address them in any of his reports?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Was it that Mr. McCarthy was not made aware of it?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: That is very serious. If that is the case, then there was an internal audit of which the Comptroller and Auditor General was not made aware.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: Given that the Comptroller and Auditor General has now read the internal audit report and in light of the fact that it is obviously very serious that it indicates that assurances cannot be given that problem management and controls processes were in place, what does that mean for the Comptroller and Auditor General's work? Does it mean that will then form part of a more in-depth look at the...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 Mar 2017)

David Cullinane: That is it.