Results 1,741-1,760 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: -----a few months ago, that cable and fixed wireless or mobile wireless are not equatable. From my short studies on it, it only works where there is not clogging up of the system, the weather is good, the leaves are not on the trees and the wind is blowing in the right direction. I know there are businesses that it suits. Many businesses in Dublin fall into that category where they have...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The argument in respect of the 300,000 Eir customers who were carved out, the uptake of the scheme and the questions that have arisen this morning in that regard ring true to some extent. One does not expect those 300,000 people to need it today, but they may need it in the future. As such, it is a pointless analysis.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Others may do so as their children get older and have different study requirements and so on.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The social benefits, yes. I wish to follow up on the questions about the parent company of Enet. What sort of investors are involved? Are they American investors or Irish pension funds? Mr. Mulligan referred to the head of the company. Is the money coming from standard pension funds and so on or from elsewhere? Who is paying the bills?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: From an ethical perspective, are there any limits on with whom we will get into bed in terms of Government procurement?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The money is coming from a legitimate source.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In response to a question of Deputy Catherine Murphy, Mr. Griffin referred to penalties, oversights and clawbacks. How will that work when a contract has been awarded? I would consider these things, such as scope for movement on certain issues, to be a nightmare for investors. At the end of the day, investors want a return on their money. How do these penalties and so on fit into a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: If a big piece of cable running down the middle of a road is serving 20 houses and the Department predicts that five of them will connect right now, but 15 of them connect, obviously that means far more money for Enet.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: That is where the clawback comes into play.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In terms of profits, I assume the procedure is robust enough to deal with cases like those we have previously come across. I refer to the practice of people paying themselves enough money to ensure the company does not make any money. I presume people like the Comptroller and Auditor General are keeping an eye on that so that there is proportionality when it comes to pay, etc., and profits...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank Mr. Mulligan.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Mr. Griffin referred to a figure of €30 million on top of the €176 million for the value of the MANS and the Enet investment. Can we clarify that the asset is still ours?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: There were questions raised about regulation at the start of the session. I want to get this question right because I do not want the wrong message to be sent from the committee. Am I right in saying that if the Department had intervened, it could have been seen as price fixing, as such? I am referring to the operators of the MANs. Mr. Griffin mentioned the market. Competition enters the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Some of it can be misconstrued. To my mind, if the Department had set a price, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission would have been after it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I assume that the €100 connection fee has been set in order that everybody can have an equal bite at the cherry.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Therefore, somebody in Tyrrellspass can get it in the same way as a person in Dublin, for example. This means that a person living up the side of a mountain is not at a disadvantage and that a multinational is as likely to move into that area because the broadband service will be good enough. I assume that €100 is just a random figure.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It is, but it is not in any way connected to the actual cost of doing the job.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Other factors might be meeting rock on the way up a person's driveway and boring costs.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Which choice would be based on the aesthetics and reflected in their bill.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

Kate O'Connell: On the cost benefit analysis and the figures not being placed in the public domain, one could argue that the benefits are not quantifiable at this point because we just do not know what is coming down the road. Is it correct to say any cost benefit analysis only presents the picture at a moment in time?