Results 1,501-1,520 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Health Service Executive
Health Service Executive Financial Statements 2011 (25 Apr 2013)

Simon Harris: My last question is on absenteeism. I have read the HSE's note on the issue. I recall that when we discussed it previously with Mr. O'Brien's predecessor, there was a huge variance in where there was absenteeism, both in terms of geographic location and, more interestingly, job descriptions. As I recall, the level of absenteeism among doctors was low, while among nurses it was slightly...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Health Service Executive
Health Service Executive Financial Statements 2011 (25 Apr 2013)

Simon Harris: What is the percentage in that regard?

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Seanad Referendum (30 Apr 2013)

Simon Harris: 3. To ask the Taoiseach his plans for a referendum on the future of Seanad Éireann. [20169/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Seanad Referendum (30 Apr 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank the Taoiseach for his commitment on this issue and for the clarification he has provided in respect of it. When he placed the issue of the abolition of the Seanad on the public agenda before the most recent general election, it moved the conversation on significantly. Some 12 reports on Seanad reform were compiled in the past but no action was taken in respect of any of these. Even...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Seanad Referendum (30 Apr 2013)

Simon Harris: It refers to learning from the experience of other countries. As stated, 14 of the 27 member states of the European Union have unicameral systems. Most countries with bicameral systems have populations greater than 10 million.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed): Seanad Referendum (30 Apr 2013)

Simon Harris: It relates to the electoral system. Prior to the election, there was a discussion as to whether we would consider having some Members of this House elected in a way different to that in which we are all currently elected. This would ensure that there would continue to be varied voices heard within the political process.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I will start where Deputy Nash finished. I thank Ms Moylan for attending. We have all said on many occasions, and I am glad it has been agreed under the proposal from Deputy Donohoe and the Chairman, that the other key players, the missing in action, should be invited to come before this committee. The Secretary General was correct in her opening remarks when she said it is impossible to...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Ms Moylan might respond directly to the comment in the Comptroller and Auditor General's finding that a detailed analysis of those factors does not seem to have been carried out by the board. Does Ms Moylan accept or reject that finding?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I am not being rude but I want to use my phone to read the Official Report of 4 November 2004. The late Tony Gregory, then Deputy Gregory, raised with the then Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, the potential conflicts of interest on the part of members of the board of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority and that this would prevent them from making balanced planning decisions....

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: My question is not a smart one and is more for my own information. It demonstrates my lack of knowledge. What was Ms Moylan's role on the board? In my view, her appointment as a public servant to the board was, to some degree, in the public interest. Would she agree with that? As a senior civil servant from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, would she have...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Mr. FitzPatrick and Mr. Bradshaw were not public servants; they were businessmen, I suppose. I am wondering whether Ms Moylan had an extra obligation in regard to keeping the Department and perhaps the Minister informed. Did she feel she discharged that? It would be useful to know whether, at any stage, she expressed concern to the Department and whether she had discussions with the...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I have two final questions. One is the political element. Ms Moylan has alluded to the responsibility of the chairman to report to the Minister. That is generally the way the communication works between semi-State bodies and relevant Ministers. Have we an idea how many times the relevant Minister would have met the chairman of the board? To respond to Ms Tallon's request that we complete...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: There is no indication of any meeting. My second question relates to the point Ms Tallon is making, which I feel is extremely legitimate and important. I refer to the difficult position that Ms Moylan was put in. I do not want to personalise the matter because any civil servant in her position would have been put in that position. If one reads the letters going backwards and forwards, as...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Who made that decision? Mr. McCarthy served on the board of the DDDA and a year later a decision was made by someone in the Department to appoint the head of the planning division.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: The Minister decided that the representative of the Department on the board of the DDDA should be the head of planning within the Department.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I want to probe this further. We have learned today that a criticism of the process is the difficult position in which Ms Moylan was put as evidenced by the letters and her need to switch caps. While I am sure she did so correctly and in an above-board manner, it was not a good way to do business. What was Mr. McCarthy's role on the board and can anyone set out the rationale behind the change?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: However, the letter is signed by Ms Moylan and addressed to her.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 77 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Dublin Docklands Development Authority (Resumed) (2 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I take it that Mr. McCarthy had a successor in his position in urban renewal who was never appointed to the board of the DDDA.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on the Department of the Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services for 2013
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank the Taoiseach for his attendance and will make a couple of brief points. First, it is encouraging to see the Department of the Taoiseach coming in well within budget last year despite the additional pressures of the fiscal treaty, the European Union Presidency and the tribunal costs. I would appreciate the Taoiseach's view on the issue raised by Deputy Sean Fleming regarding the...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on the Department of the Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services for 2013
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 4 - Central Statistics Office (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised) (9 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I pay tribute to the CSO and its staff for the wonderful way in which they use modern technology to present and make statistics so accessible to the public. I was at an event in my constituency today at which a lady was able to inform me of a very particular fact about the demographics of the town we were in. She knew it based on the census information she had garnered from the CSO's...