Results 20,301-20,320 of 26,228 for speaker:Kieran O'Donnell

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: With a completion date at some time in 2016.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: We do not all march to the same tune, Chairman.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Not all. As Mr. Purcell will be well aware, the project is significant for Limerick because of its proximity and location within the city. I welcome the project and thank the Department. I wish to make a final observation. Perhaps the committee will look at the way capital projects are appraised within Departments. Clearly this project included advanced technology. I ask the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: That would have been in the original building.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: How much did it cost to demolish the original building?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Advice was received from the Attorney General that if the Department proceeded to allow the bondsman to appoint Sisk to finish out the contract, it would be unlawful.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Who would have sued? What would have been the legal implications?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Was that because of the contract signed with McNamara?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Could the Department not have gone through public procurement, allowing Sisk to be one of the parties tendering in the public domain? The company was clearly willing to do it for a value for the bondsman. Surely it would have been a no-lose position as any company getting the contract would have had to come in at a lower value than Sisk was doing it for the bondsman? If the Department...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: The €13.8 million had already been secured to construct the original building.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: If the building continued once McNamara started work, surely it would have been there to completion.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Is the witness saying the money was not allocated to the project?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: It seems an extraordinary way of doing business.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Considering this from the outside, it seems the Department got funding for a project that was half-built. Effectively, the company went into receivership and the rules of the game changed. It seems that if the project could not be completed in that year, the money falls away from the project. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I understand that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Normal business would not function that way and this is clearly an example of the way the Department functions. This is something that comes up repeatedly.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: The problem is €4 million in taxpayers' money is being written off and the Department is getting a yellow pack version of what could have been achieved with the €13.8 million. These are two different buildings. Mr. Roycroft referenced the state-of-the-art elements that will not be in the new building.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: I will make a comment or observation. There must be a change in strategic thinking within Departments so there is not so much emphasis on cash. They seem to operate on the cash available in a year. There should have been a way to consider that project strategically. This was an unusual issue and there should have been a process that would not involve the waste of €4 million in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: What date was that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Kieran O'Donnell: Had the decision been made by the time the letter came from Dublin City Council or did it precipitate the final decision?