Results 1,421-1,440 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for coming in. It is refreshing to have 66% women on the committee. We have a nice 50:50 balance in the witnesses today, which is very unusual in the Committee of Public Accounts and in these Houses in general. I will start with the Vote for the Office of the Attorney General. There is a contract for €147,096 for services. I ask for detail on that contract...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I will need to go through the folder to find it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I can understand that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: With regard to the pool within which the office is fishing in the Irish context, are people getting a fair crack of the whip here? Are we fishing within the one pool? I can understand why there is a limited number of people who can do this but I am trying to ensure there is no advantage to a particular person or group.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Is Mr. Moloney saying that when the regular guys retire from the Office of the Attorney General, he can contract them in afterwards?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Would the fish within the pool feel the same as Mr. Moloney does? Would the people on the opposite side who are looking to get this work agree with his statement?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: As I know it is Mr. Moloney's first time to appear before the committee, I do not want to give him any great difficulty. There was a contractor, an auditor, who withdrew midway through a process. It states that there was an internal audit function for the office and it was in place in 2017. A contracted provider withdrew from the contract at the end of September 2017. They seem to have...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: They were doing the work and they just went on and did something else.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Now the office has somebody else.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: When they withdrew, they had not been paid for any work they had not done. The office had not paid for a contract in advance before they withdrew or anything like that. It was a nice clean-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank Mr. Moloney. I now come to the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. On the financial position, some €9.6 million is due in and receipts are €397,000. As I read it there is an outstanding €9.6 million in costs due to the office. I ask Ms Browne to elaborate on this €9.6 million that is sitting there. When does that balance out?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: What is quite a while?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Ms Browne mentioned "where appropriate". This is where that comes in.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The office makes the decision as to whether it is right to pursue these costs, bearing in mind it might leave family destitute.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Of the €9.6 million, €5.4 million is one case and €4.2 million is everything else. How many cases does the €4.2 million account for? Give us a ballpark figure.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: We have 204 cases representing less than half of the amount. On writing off debt, at any point does the Office of the Chief State Solicitor just draw a line through it and give up?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Does the Office of the Chief State Solicitor subcontract this cost recovery unit out to somebody else or is it within the office?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: What does it cost per year to run the cost recovery unit? I am trying to get at whether it is worthwhile at all if the Office of the Chief State Solicitor is only getting in €397,000 so how much is it costing to run that unit? I am not suggesting we just let everybody off but I am just wondering about that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Could we get it? There is no urgency.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (Resumed)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (7 Feb 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In terms of the bodies which are using external drafting people, I assume this relates to the locum of the situation. In terms of costs, when somebody external is being brought in to draft legislation when there is a capacity issue, does it cost more in net terms to bring in an external person or is it cheaper to have it done in-house, if the staff was there theoretically? Is there an added...