Results 29,261-29,280 of 33,581 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Leaders' Questions (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I thank the Tánaiste for letting me know when the report is to be available but it is not clear what will be the nature of that report. It seems to be the first stage in a further long process. The seminal document on mental health goes back to 1984 so there are no congratulations here. When we are talking about stigma and what is available, the difficulty is that all of this was...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: The Comptroller and Auditor General will need to treble his staff.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: As the Comptroller and Auditor General said, we did receive a list. Although the Chairman might think there was not enough information included and I bow to his experience, there was not only information but also a list of all the companies, with figures of 8%, 10% or 15%. Our difficulty is whether it is value for money. How is it arrived at? There is no such information. It is a...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I missed it. I am sorry.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: On that point, NUIG applied for the Athena SWAN, a prestigious award given when gender equality meets a certain standard. In applying for the award it would have had to have all of that information at its fingertips. I was extracting the information and it was subsequently brought to my attention that all of it had to be at its fingertips in applying for the Athena SWAN.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: We will. Will we be coming back to the health executive later?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: That is fine.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: We should move on. A valuable issue has been raised. The fact that they are complaining about us must mean we are doing a good job with the help of the Comptroller and Auditor General. We should go ahead with it. The suggestion is practical. That should be done immediately.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: The issue is bigger than us. It is an issue for the Dáil. It has arisen with the Minister, Deputy Noonan, prior to this and the Department.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: We persisted with this issue and have finally received information which has been clarified. There were 70 people involved. To clarify, 12 of them were direct employees, while the rest were not. I agree with the Chairman in pursuing the matter. However, there are other implications for charities. The Charities Act has not been fully implemented or properly resourced. This is one example...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I have no criticism of the charity regulator. I am simply pointing out that he or she is under-resourced or understaffed. We tabled parliamentary questions on the matter and this is the end result. People's lives are affected and they are not being paid. Besides any difficulty with the service, it is disingenuous of the HSE to state Pieta House did not take over Console. That is exactly...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: The issues were clarified. Public procurement was an issue. The second issue was clarification on the report that he said was about to be completed on the cost for the voluntary sector.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: The third issue concerned the staff and clarification of how many were still working. They were the three outstanding issues for him.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Freedom of information was the other matter, but I think the Chairman dispensed with it. There were issues around the interpretation of freedom of information legislation.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: That is fine.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 96 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Child Abuse Inquiry and Redress (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Just to clarify, we are not dealing with Caranua now.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 96 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Child Abuse Inquiry and Redress (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Yes, that is okay. I am not going to ask questions about Caranua now. I am going to reserve them.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 96 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Child Abuse Inquiry and Redress (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: Tá fáilte ar ais roimh Mr. Ó Foghlú and his team. Before I start asking questions - I will ask a few and try to stay away from statements - I think it is important to place why we are here with a redress board, a commission of inquiry and the conclusions of the Ryan report. I hope the witnesses have read the conclusions and I hope Caranua has read them. There are 43...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 96 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Child Abuse Inquiry and Redress (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: By any standards, that is a very average payout. Is that not right?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 96 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Child Abuse Inquiry and Redress (13 Apr 2017)

Catherine Connolly: I am going to try to ask questions for the 20 minutes. We will deal with Caranua this afternoon.