Results 2,021-2,040 of 5,933 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Does Mr. Lynch agree that the method of making it cost-neutral was raising the credit note?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Ms Geraldine O'Leary said that she was aware of the tripartite agreement, and that she was aware of the cost-neutral nature, and that the credit note was raised on the instruction of Ms Forbes. Is that consistent with Mr. Lynch's knowledge of what has happened to date?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Mr. Collins said that he was not aware of the details of the tripartite agreement, and that while he was aware there was an attempt to facilitate additional commercial arrangements, he was not aware of the cost-neutral nature. I think that is Mr. Collins' evidence. Could Mr. Lynch say if that is consistent with what RTÉ knows on having carried out a trawl of all of the information?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: In the documents put forward by Mr. Kelly on Tuesday, there was an email which Mr. Kelly delivered to us, with a reference that said, "Do not put any person's name on the invoice". He said that was issued by a staff member who worked with Ms O'Leary in RTÉ. Is that correct?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Who was that person?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Of course, yes.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: I accept Mr. Lynch has a duty of care to his staff, and that there are different levels of responsibility within the organisation but, in phrasing it in a way that says "Do not put any person's name on the invoice", it shows an intent to deceive.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Okay. Ms O'Leary is not here and it was a key question I wished to ask her. If that person worked for Ms O'Leary and they communicated information that said, "Do not put any person's name on the invoice" - and we have accepted that was an attempt to not provide the full information - it can only be assumed that the instruction came from Ms O'Leary.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: The junior member of staff that we have not identified-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: I think the committee reserves the right to consider the idea of the junior level of staff. Regardless of where somebody is in an organisation, they have a responsibility as part of their contract to their employer, and there is an overall responsibility to the taxpayer, regardless of how junior one is in an organisation. If one communicates something that says, "Do not put any person's...
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: I appreciate that. I will put the following question to Ms Mullooly. Mr. Kelly stated that the RTÉ solicitor referenced in the 7 May meeting was Ms Trish Whelan, is that correct?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: The difficulty for the committee is that in the absence of anybody contesting Mr. Kelly's evidence, it is now the evidence before the committee that Ms Whelan was at the 7 May meeting.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: At that meeting the verbal agreement was given to underwrite the agreement.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Okay. Therefore an RTÉ solicitor was present on 7 May 2020 when the decision to underwrite was given.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: So the RTÉ legal department knew from as early as 2020 that RTÉ had agreed to underwrite the agreement.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: So it is not fair to say the issue of underwriting was contested consistently throughout because it had been agreed in the meeting, witnessed by RTÉ legal.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: I will allow my other colleagues to follow up on that point. On the underwriting, Mr. Lynch said it was not a final negotiation. Would he accept that while it was not a final negotiation, that as early as Ms O'Keeffe's first email, the point was conceded by RTÉ in the negotiations?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: But her written evidence is.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: To be fair to Mr. Lynch, Ms O'Keeffe has decided not to be here today.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): RTÉ (13 Jul 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: The only written evidence is her own words that say "we can provide you with a side letter to underwrite this fee for the duration of the contract". That is the only evidence the committee has before it. That would appear to be contradictory to what Mr. Lynch is saying. It would appear to be for the entire duration and it would appear that Ms O'Keeffe conceded that point on behalf of...