Results 1,201-1,220 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: European Council Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: European Council Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular form. [56551/12]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: European Council Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Defence the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular form. [56544/12]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: European Council Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular...

Written Answers — Department of Children and Youth Affairs: Ministerial Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which she sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings she attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if she will provide the names of those who attended in tabular...

Written Answers — Department of Health: European Council Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Health the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular form. [56549/12]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: EU Council Meetings (18 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the formations of the EU Councils of Ministers on which he sits; the number of meetings of that Council held from 9 March 2011 to date in 2012; the number of those meetings he attended; the number attended by a Minister of State; the number attended by an Irish official; and if he will provide the names of those who attended in tabular...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Newborn Screening Cards (19 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: To ask the Minister for Health when he received the Health Service Executive review group report on newborn screening cards; when this report was pubished; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57165/12]

Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: This week.

Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: Even in the trenches during the world wars, peace broke out over Christmas and, therefore, I will attempt to leave my colleague's comments to one side. I would like to comment on political reform and while the Bill is focused on the cost of running a Parliament, there is a cost associated with democracy and with having democratic institutions. My constituents, and I presume those of other...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: I welcome the witnesses to the meeting. I am sure the Irish Presidency of the EU will be a busy time for them and I wish them all the best for that. Deputy Deasy makes an interesting point. We all value the health service but we still bring the HSE in here and question it to the nth degree in the interests of improving the health service. That is the purpose behind this exchange. There...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: I appreciate the responses. Mr. Cooney's approach of getting to the bottom of the issue and raising the need for a chief financial officer is very reassuring. We are not going to fry Mr. Cooney but we must do our job of work.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: I say this to be constructive. The people whom I meet detest, and what I personally detest is, the use of the phrase "systemic failure". Apparently "systemic failure" ruined this country. Individuals are involved. People make decisions. People are paid to manage. Structures are put in place and people are paid to oversee those structures. The witnesses may not be able to answer this...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: There are a number of other areas, but the last point on this series of questions is whether this is an interim report.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: When does Mr. Cooney expect to have the body of work completed in this regard?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: I return to the Comptroller and Auditor General's 2009 report for programme countries, which audited the programmes in Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zambia, Vietnam, Lesotho, Malawi and Timor-Leste. The number of unqualified audit opinions amounted to 55% of the total, in other words, 55% had a clean-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: Yes, the audit was for the programme countries in 2009.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: The audit refers to 2009.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: My understanding is that the term "unqualified" implies a clean bill of health, while the term "qualified" means there is a question mark. One also has the interesting category of "other". We do not need to concern ourselves with the 55% of audit opinions that are unqualified. A further 7% are qualified and we will discuss those in a moment. The category of "other" is interesting and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 19 - Official Development Assistance
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs and Trade
Vote 29 - International Co-operation (20 Dec 2012)

Simon Harris: The Comptroller and Auditor General made a range of recommendations on foot of this figure. A diagram on page 257 of the report shows the status of recommendations from evaluations completed in 2011. While the Department accepted six of the recommendations, it did not accept one of them. Note B states: One recommendation was not accepted by management. It is the view of the Evaluation and...