Results 17,521-17,540 of 20,245 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Here we are again with another €1.4 million loss and a cumulative loss of more than €9 million.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: There is a short note on the investment in an associate. I am trying to understand what exactly is happening that this money has been lost. Is HRI taking corrective action to try to address that?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Is Mr. McCarthy referring to the 2020 convertible loan of up to €9 million?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Horse Racing Ireland will appear before the committee in the coming weeks.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: I think we should request more information about this case because what jumped out at me was that €661,000 was spent on what was only a renovation project.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: It is not as though it was a new build project that would have a big design and planning element to it. It was a building renovation project. I propose that we write to Údarás na Gaeltachta and ask for details on what exactly the building is, where it is, what would be the nature of the renovation and what was the budget.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Yes. It seems daft that €661,000 could be spent on an application that failed. There needs to be an explanation of what was going on there.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: It should not take €661,000 to get to the point where you know whether something is a good idea or not. That is the problem here. If it is agreed, we will send a letter to them asking for an explanation on the building - what building it is, where it is and its purpose and why they ratcheted up so much expenditure by the time they decided it was not a runner.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: What was the figure for the Ráth Chairn project, roughly?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Was that the projected cost of the development?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Are the financial statements agreed? Agreed. As usual, the accounts and financial statements will be published as part of our minutes. Moving on to No. 3, correspondence, as previously agreed, items that were not flagged for discussion for this meeting will be dealt with in accordance with the proposed actions that have been circulated and decisions taken by the committee in relation to...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: There was just one issue in the letter. In relation to appendix 5, on rent tax credit claims, I am not sure about the explanation for this. I would have thought it would have increased. For 2022, there were 265,715 claims for the rent tax credit but for 2023, that fell by 54,000 to just over 211,365 claims. That was a significant drop. The letter states that as outlined, certain tax...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Yes. And that information was coming out last year.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: You would imagine with the awareness being up it would be higher. I propose we send a note to the Revenue Commissioners asking about that. The next item is No. 2436B from Mr. Feargal Ó Coigligh, Secretary General of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, dated 28 February 2024, which provides an update on the work of the expert advisory committees...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: The letter stated it is expected that the review of the contractors fees and other matters will be finalised this week. That would have been the first week in March. On that basis, and in light of the complementary nature, the Minister expects that both reviews will be submitted during March. I do not know if there is an update on that. Sorry, it is three weeks, not three years.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: I had the Deputy worried for a second. The letter notes that on that basis, and in light of the complementary nature, the Minister expects that both reviews will be submitted during March. I do not know if that has happened or not. We might check that. It has not happened to date and we are well into the month of April now. I propose that we get back to Mr. Ó Coigligh and ask about...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: Okay. The next item is No. 2437 from Mr. Niall Gleeson, chief executive officer, Uisce Éireann, dated 1 March 2024, provides clarification around questions on vaccination programmes which arose at the meeting of 26 October 2023. At the meeting of 26 October, when asked about its vaccination programme, Uisce Éireann stated that it had one. At the meeting of 25 January the...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: University of Limerick attached a letter it received from the HEA.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Apr 2024)

Brian Stanley: UL is corresponding with us but it attached this letter, which is helpful to the committee. However, protocol would dictate that we would have to seek the permission of the HEA to publish that because it is the HEA's letter to the university; it is not a letter to us. That is the difference.