Results 8,681-8,700 of 21,498 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. Watt is becoming a politician.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Am I to take it that this review will feed into a process as envisaged? I do not have the detail.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I presume Department of Public Expenditure and Reform officials do all this work.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not think figures within it are credible. Nonetheless-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Absolutely. Hopefully we might have the numbers at some stage to get some changes in that. Does Mr. Watt have the full list of State bodies?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will submit a question to Mr. Watt again on State bodies and boards. To my astonishment a number of years ago I discovered that the Department did not have a full list, but Mr. Watt has the full list now.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I come to the issue of procurement. We have had testimony today from the Small Firms Association and the Irish Schools Art Supply Federation in respect of the operation of the Office of Government Procurement and the procurement regime in play at the moment. I know that Mr. Watt and Mr. Quinn are familiar with some of the dilemmas that face small and medium-sized enterprises with a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: What does that mean?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Willingness to learn is relevant here because it is a new office. Rather than the Secretary General coming into a committee meeting and responding to questions, does that mean that he is willing to have a deeper engagement on these issues?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is not the taxpayers' interest either that jobs are lost in small firms and micro-enterprises, perhaps in rural areas. As the Department calculates what is in the best interests of the State and the taxpayer, which is entirely legitimate, there must be a calculation also of potential offsetting measures such as the loss of jobs, which is costly. Having additional people on the live...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am aware of that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am a bit bothered to hear that it is about supporting SMEs but not to the exclusion of others. I understand Mr. Quinn is making a point on competition-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I understand what Mr. Quinn is bound by and I am not arguing the toss with him on the directives or the legislation within which he must operate. It is entirely as it should be. My concern is all of us know the vast majority of employers in the State are SMEs; for all of the hype sometimes about large multinationals and as valuable as they are, this is how we tick economically. I believe...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 18 - Shared Services
Special Report No. 87 - Effectiveness of Audit Committees in State Bodies
Issues with Public Procurement (5 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I accept that.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Rent Supplement Scheme Data (10 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: 167. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if it is no longer possible for persons to open new rent supplement claims in certain local authorities that are in the first wave of housing assistance payment implementation; if she will provide details of these local authorities; if persons on the housing list in one housing assistance payment wave-one local authority area may apply for rent...

An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Votáil Uachtaráin) 2014: An Dara Céim [Private Members] - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Voting) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (11 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Tá áthas orm nach bhfuil an Rialtas in aghaidh an Bhille seo. I am very pleased that the Government is not opposing this Bill. That is positive, as is the launch of the diaspora policy to which the Minister of State referred. If I am correct, this is the first concrete, positive response from the Government in respect of the decision of the Constitutional Convention. We have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of National Lottery: Discussion (11 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Fáilte roimh, Ms Buckley. I want to ask about two assertions she makes in her document. She did not get to mention them when speaking but we have them here in the written format. The first observation was that the operators paid a high price for the national lottery and that they would be anxious to get a return on their investment. We will agree that is fair enough from their point...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of National Lottery: Discussion (11 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I understand that. That was wise from Ms Buckley's point of view but when I look at the feedback she got from her interaction with her membership - those she represents - it seems they may suspect that return on the investment is being pursued through shoddy approaches to technical solutions or customer supports systems that are not adequate, to use her diplomatic language. I do not want to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of National Lottery: Discussion (11 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Ms Buckley also says it is important that they do not pursue a return on their investment through technical solutions or customer support systems that are not adequate. We will say that to them as and when we see them. I was intrigued by a second point. Ms Buckley states that the national lottery is not a franchise to be squeezed by a private operator for maximum return without regard...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Operations and Functioning of National Lottery: Discussion (11 Mar 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Tell me about them.