Results 2,901-2,920 of 4,350 for speaker:Bobby Aylward

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (30 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: 59. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of the new Garda recruits assigned to the Carlow-Kilkenny Garda division in each year since Garda recruitment resumed in 2014; and the attested personnel strength of the Carlow-Kilkenny Garda division in September 2014 and at the end of February 2017. [15770/17]

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: How did the Minister declare it on that day? He said it had been unwise of him to meet Cerberus, the company that was successful in the end. There has been a tribal attitude on the part of Members opposite in thinking they have to surround the Minister and cushion him from any complaint when all we are saying is that it is a fact that he did meet Cerberus. It was in the notes of the...

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Why was it not left open to ten, 12 or 15 bidders, like anyone else would have done? If one throws open a process, the more bidders there are, the more the merrier and the more money one gets from the sale. That is the way it goes. Why was all of it confined? It came down to just two bidders, Cerberus and Fortress. Why were there only two left in the end? I have a lot of questions....

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I have a lot more to say. Like Deputy Marc MacSharry, I believe we are being confined in the time limits when we have a lot more to say in the Chamber about a very important issue.

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: He was before the committee for six hours and never gave-----

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Like other speakers, I want to say how disappointed and taken aback I am that the Minister, for whom I have good respect, would come in tonight and attack the Chairman of the PAC, who has done a fantastic job over the last eight months, given all the hearings we had and the hours and hours of questioning. To think that a senior Minister of the Government would come in and attack cross-party...

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: We had months of hearings and months of agreement and then, all of sudden, we have this over something that is factual. When we were questioning the Minister for Finance, we did not know he had, 48 hours before the deal was clinched, met with Cerberus, which was successful in the bid. We did not know that at the time. Now, they are trying to come in and say they knew about it.

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: If they knew about it, why did they not declare it at the meeting when the Minister was in front of us for hours?

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Why did the Minister himself not inform us of that?

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: The Deputy did not know about it and neither did we.

Report of the Committee of Public Accounts re National Asset Management Agency’s sale of Project Eagle: Motion (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: The Deputy should admit the truth.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Personnel (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I thank Deputy Wallace for raising this matter. I have been talking to the Minister of State about this case for four months. The young man is trying to get back to his grandmother in Callan on compassionate grounds. He is a communications operator. There is a vacancy in Kilkenny for him and the problem lies in transferring him from the navy to the Army but...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I will just take up where the Deputy finished. The downturn, or the recession, had an effect on our investment in third-level institutions. My own party recognises this. As has been said, the Cassells report identified a need for €600 million of an investment up until 2021. We have slipped somewhat in the world-wide rankings. Some of our universities have slipped. It is a pity to...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: We need that every year.

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I mean we need to increase funding by that much every year.

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Yes, our position in the worldwide rankings. Some of our universities have slipped in the worldwide rankings that come out every year. I would like Dr. Love to comment on that.

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I will move on to proper governance, oversight and procedure of third level institutes. I am particularly speaking about Waterford because I am from the south east. We hear rumours on the grapevine about Waterford and the financial situation there. We hear that moneys are going into servicing loans instead of being invested in the students, teachers and the facility in general. There is a...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: If the HEA sees something going wrong - as a stitch in time saves nine - does it have the powers to move into an institute or college to say that things are not going as they should and demand proper oversight? What powers does the HEA have to intervene? With such powers these situations would not arise at all, the HEA would be there before it happens. I refer, in particular, to Waterford...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I am afraid that could be one of the problems in Waterford. The borrowing is so high that a lot of the money that should be invested in students, teachers and the college itself, now goes towards funding borrowing. The college is suffering because of that. As the witnesses have said, student numbers have dropped. I wonder who decides when the institute wants to borrow? It is easy to...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA - Financial Statement 2015 (29 Mar 2017)

Bobby Aylward: They cannot borrow themselves?