Results 24,421-24,440 of 33,581 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: That took five years, for some of the reasons Mr. Kennedy has outlined.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: On page 52 it states:Although the European Commission’s investment in the Marguerite Fund falls [under the TEN-T regulation, which provides for the Court’s audit rights even in case the beneficiary is a private partner,] the Irish authorities refused to provide us the PSC and the tender dossier for the N17/18 motorway project, which were also not available at the Commission....

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: TII did not give them the documentation because the EU did not fund the scheme but gave equity to only a private company in the scheme.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: It is difficult for us when the audit tells us no documentation was handed over.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: And the witnesses will also have that time.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: The debate should take place in the Dáil. Our role is to highlight the issues, as is the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General, so that proper facts and information can feed a debate in the Dáil which would lead to a proper policy. That is the difficulty. I do not blame the witnesses for that. There has been no backup for the policy. It was an ad hocreaction to...

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: It was €20 million.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: It costs €20 million to build a secondary school for 1,000 pupils. If we use that as an example, would the Department of Education and Skills show that as an upfront cost as opposed to being spread over the 25 years? Is that right?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: So the restriction on PPPs will be in terms of the capital budget for the Department in question.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: To use the example of €20 million to build a school - which seems extraordinarily high but I am no expert so I will leave the fact alone for a moment - the developer is paid off over a 25-year period and then the school is handed back to the Department of Education and Skills. What happens then with maintenance? I presume that no school has come back yet.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Which five schools are due to come back?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Is there an option in any of those contacts for the company that has the contract to stay on or will they all come back to the Department?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Sharing of revenue was built into some of the contracts for schools but I see that no revenue came back. I think Mr. Ó Foghlú's comment was that there was very poor uptake. I am delighted by that because I thought it was a very bad idea. It is acknowledged that there was poor uptake from people wishing to use schools outside the educational system.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I understand that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I understand that the Department has stated that there has been limited third party use of the schools. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: So revenue did not come back that way.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: This was another criteria used to sell the PPP which really was without foundation. I have to tell Mr. Ó Foghlú that I am delighted because I think it was a very bad idea. A school should be used for the community and never for profit. That was a criteria that was set. Why is Mr. Ó Foghlú shaking his head?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Absolutely. They should be used by the community.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Are they to pay for those hours?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Okay. Who will be dealing with the revenue coming from the National Conference Centre? I understand the revenue due back from that project was quite sizable. There was €2.4 million in 2013 and then no revenue in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Who monitors the revenue?