Results 22,961-22,980 of 34,778 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I know.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Before I call in the Comptroller and Auditor General on the topic of this fund, I understand and acknowledge that in the case with which I dealt, Ms O'Donoghue has gone through the entire process. I did not even quibble. She was right, and I have no argument with the process, but she went through the process with the punter and not with the company. We will come to the Comptroller and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I will come to the Comptroller and Auditor General on debt recovery. He might make an observation about the Central Bank and how many other State agencies have lost money by placing money with the Central Bank. As a result of this, we will write to the Central Bank to find out what other State organisations have lost money as a result of placing money with the Central Bank because it is the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: We will write to the Central Bank.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Where are they?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Is EUROSTAT therefore quite happy not to include, in EUROSTAT figures, amounts due from companies under the insolvency and redundancy payments?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Are they on the Irish balance sheet?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Then EUROSTAT dictates the rules of the Irish balance sheet as to what is on or off balance sheet. We will not even go there with Irish Water. We will check through the CSO and EUROSTAT whether they happy not to include any amounts from companies that owe redundancy and insolvency payments on the State's balance sheet. I am intrigued to hear that. If that is the way EUROSTAT operates, it...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: No, I am providing balance. I am hitting the two sides.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: On that point, Mr. McCarthy has introduced a phrase I have not heard here before, namely, "contingent assets". We hear about contingent liabilities all the time. Are there are any other contingent assets out there, to his knowledge, or is it to the CSO we inquire about-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Mr. McCarthy might send a note to the committee on contingent assets because it is the first time I have encountered a contingent asset at the Committee of Public Accounts.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Regarding Vote 37, where the outstanding balance on the payments-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: -----or the overpayments, as Mr. McCarthy calls them, is €376 million, is that a contingent asset?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Is it not on the balance sheet either?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Is that right?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: We will ask Mr. McCarthy to help us because I would have thought, looking at these accounts signed by Mr. McCarthy, and the appropriation accounts, that there is a figure of €376 million outstanding on one account and a figure I mentioned earlier of €477 million, that is, almost €1 billion between the two, and now we are told they do not appear on the State's asset sheet...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I understand that but I put it to Ms O'Donoghue, because she is the Accounting Officer, that the amount of debt recovery that is there is €447 million outstanding, and would she not sell it off to Cerberus to see what we might get and let them go and collect it? I am serious. Has she not considered trying to recover some of this money by putting that debt book up for sale? I suggest...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: We might have an observation which we will come back to. It is-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: I will conclude on this. The question we must look at here is this €800 million. Is this system the best one to do this job? Does Ms O'Donoghue know what I am getting at?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Seán Fleming: Please do.