Results 11,541-11,560 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: I will go through it again. The initial estimate from the worst affected counties is that €65 million is the scale of the damage. That breaks down as follows: €20 million for roads under the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, €35 million on coastal, and €10 million on tourism. Within the coastal a large proportion would be marine and harbour related...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: I made the point to Deputy McDonald that the Government does not want to see any bickering between central government and local government. Last week I saw in Quilty, County Clare, that the local authority is getting on with the task. We have advised it to do the work and that we would reimburse the funding. If local authorities put in funds, there is no reason they cannot get on with the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: OPW crews have been working with local authorities throughout the west in places where we have that responsibility. I was in Foynes last week. The Shannon Foynes Port Company spent more than €100,000 in the past two weeks to address a serious situation that arose there. Private companies, the OPW and local authorities all have responsibility. A lot is happening and I do not want...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: On the latter issue, the Deputy is correct. There is a good deal of controversy locally surrounding the library. Often I describe the Department as the classic shared service facility across government. The Deputy is correct in saying the OPW does not get the praise it deserves. I suspect this is because it is not represented around the Cabinet table. In this key piece of work, a key...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: It is €47,000 in total for the continuation of these two projects.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: There is one other piece of consultancy work. The Deputy will be aware that the Government asked us to lead on the property management aspect of the public sector reform plan and we launched our proposals last July. It is under the auspices of the OPW. As I mentioned, we are carrying out a review of capacity within the OPW. We will have the report shortly and it will obviously fall part...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: As I stated, 155 Garda stations throughout the country have been closed for operational reasons. We take responsibility in maintaining the Garda stations and for the capital budget concerned. Since the Government took the decision on the 155 stations, eight have been retained for alternative State use. The HSE, in one case, and the Ambulance Service, in another, have taken them over and...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: We are giving buildings back all over the country.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: With the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, I will shortly be launching the optimising power at work scheme which introduces in public buildings many of the soft measures that can help to generate greater energy efficiencies, including campaigns to turn off lights. One often hears an argument that real savings are obtained by providing deep...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The sub-committee will make a recommendation.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The additional allocation of €2.5 million is as a result of the carbon levy. We received an additional allocation at the end of last year for the Kilmainham Gaol project, a 2016 project we have been asked to lead. The difference in reckoning between December 2013 and now is quite small, in the order of €4.5 million.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: No. My understanding is that this meeting would normally happen in December. We were happy to come before the sub-committee at that time but could not get a slot.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: It is usually done in December because the Estimates relate to expenditure for the following year.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: These Estimates have not been voted through by the Oireachtas. That will happen after their consideration by the sub-committee.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The national procurement service originally came under the OPW, before the Government took a decision to establish an independent Office of Government Procurement under the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Expenditure in this regard would in the past have come under our Vote, particularly on the staffing side. Now, however, it comes from the allocation for the new office within...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: There are several examples in this regard. We are now working with the Department of Education and Skills in procuring sites for schools. Another example is that previously every Department looked after its own maintenance. We have been asked to take on that €20 million budget and do the work ourselves, which has released more than 100 people back into Departments because they are...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The Accenture report which is in the public domain indicated a tag of €5 million on the procurement side. If I recall correctly, the total sum earmarked for this year is €127 million, of which we would make up a part. I will get the exact figure for the Deputy.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: If the Deputy has information in this regard, he should give it to me and we will examine it. Talk is cheap in our system and I have heard all types of story. By centralising the system, we can extract substantial savings and ensure funding is prioritised in accordance with the allocation we receive. We are spending €19.5 million this year on maintenance, which includes Garda...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: I have visited the centre at Tara. Obviously, the site is the responsibility of the OPW. An audio-visual system has been put in place by it in the church on the Hill of Tara. The Deputy makes a fair point in that the site is not open to the public for many months of the year. The coffee shop on the site which is run by a gentleman whom I met some years ago does substantial business.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The office was involved in discussions with him to see if an arrangement could be arrived at whereby he might take responsibility for opening and closing the church. I can revisit that matter. The Deputy makes a fair point, namely, that the money we invest must be used. We spent a substantial sum of money on restoring the ramparts at Elizabeth Fort in the Chairman's constituency.