Results 10,941-10,960 of 26,610 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: Whether we bring them in.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: We need to know what it was based on. I am sure there was a document.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: There has been a spotlight on Ireland for some time now in terms of corporation tax. Some of it is good and some of it not so good in terms of the perception of how corporation tax is applied in Ireland. We have the European Commission's judgment on Apple. Generally there has been what I would regard as a very negative interpretation of how the Irish tax code applies to multinationals. I...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: Is there an umbrella group for multinationals in Ireland?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: I wanted to raise a couple of issues relating to the third level sector. We have put quite a spotlight on this sector and published a report. Subsequently, we had a number of independent - I use that word advisedly - examinations into a number of issues. Outstanding is the Thorn review in Limerick. We have subsequently received new information that was on the front pages of some...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (8 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: I do not think we would be doing our job if we did not examine any organisation on which €170 million of taxpayers' money is being spent. We ahad a very extensive discussion about recognising the independence of RTÉ. It is the national broadcaster and none of us wants to ask questions about the type of programmes it produces and why. That is entirely a matter for it. There is,...

Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2018: Second Stage [Private Members] (14 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: On this special day, I join with all of the Deputies who have already expressed their appreciation and love of Deputy Pearse Doherty for introducing this Bill. I wish to be associated with those remarks. In 2015, the former chairman of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority, IFSRA, Mr. Brian Patterson, gave evidence to the banking inquiry. His answers on accountability and...

Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2017: Second Stage (14 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: It is welcome that we are at least having a discussion on the Bill that will go some way towards addressing the issues arising from low hour contracts and low paid jobs. As Teachta John Brady said, I sat where he is sitting almost a year ago and proposed a Bill that would have gone much further and dealt in a more substantial way with low hour contracts. That legislation sought to implement...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: At our last meeting, I asked the Comptroller and Auditor General to respond to claims that the university or people in it may have misled his office. He said at the time he was doing his own report. Obviously, we must come back to it at some point because we have dealt with it in the past. We have the internal audit report which makes 42 recommendations. The correspondence states 17 of...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: Must we wait until we have the special report?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: I welcome that the report has been published at last. Looking back to when we first dealt with this matter and, as a committee, put a spotlight on this issue, we might remind ourselves that we were told by the HEA that there was no problem and nothing to see. I felt there was pushback against members of this committee even asking questions. The attitude was pretty much one that we should...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: The Chairman requested it. It was not a report, as such, but information on how much it costs the State to support it.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: No, that was the point. We had a discussion on this last time and I think it was accepted that it was not as difficult as was being suggested. We will have to come back to it at some point, maybe we should wait until the report comes from Waterford, but Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the HEA are all players in this. We now have a report which makes changes and which...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: I have a final contribution. As one of those who asked the questions and took an active interest in this, I want to put on the record that an awful lot of good work is being done by universities and institutes of technology in research and development, co-location and commercialising intellectual property. None of that is bad. Legitimate questions were asked about process, conflicts of...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: Where did that come from?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: To me, this very much chimes with what happens in the health sector where we get sent from Billy to Jack. For example, it could be the HSE, which then says it is a matter for the Department or the Minister. Nobody - not Knowledge Transfer Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Department or the HEA - can answer any questions.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: I want clarification before this session about what we can or cannot deal with. Local authorities are not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General's office. There is separate auditing. The principal funder is the Department and then there is the local government fund. We are dealing with the accounts for the then Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: This is a large Department and it has responsibility for many areas. We could all approach this matter from different perspectives and raise different issues. I foresee problems. Some of the frustrations that we have already heard will be multiplied by 50 on the day if we all go off, prepare and come back only to be told that we cannot deal with those issues. The Accounting Officer will...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: We must not put ourselves in that position. We have a bit of time, so I can identify the types of issue that I would like to explore with the Accounting Officer. We can notify him of the broad areas. We might also say that we do not want to be stonewalled and told that a matter is for someone else. If it is for someone else, then that person should be brought in. It is as simple as that.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (15 Feb 2018)

David Cullinane: Can we give the broader issue some thought in terms of how we map the meeting for next week?