Results 30,901-30,920 of 34,778 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: I have heard about problems relating to this issue from teachers, which is why I raised that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Next year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: I accept what Mr. Ó Foghlú is saying but it is not the full picture because local authorities, which also process grant applications, were always under the Ombudsman's remit, even though the VECs were not. I refer to the €20 million in unspent capital funds in 2012. The Department's Estimates contained an allocation of €500,000 for a special memorial project for the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Where is the location?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: It may not happen this year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: We all hope it happens as soon as possible.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: A sum of €9.9 million for third level building projects was unspent in 2012. The main reason for this was the difficulties associated with the building project at St. Patrick's teacher training college in Drumcondra. This substantial project was tendered and, subsequently, a contractor was appointed in 2010. However, the contractor later ceased trading and a receiver was appointed....

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Has that work commenced yet?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: I attended another committee meeting in the room next door at 10 a.m. with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform about the deferred surrender to the central fund of unspent money in the capital envelope for last year where he provided that it could be used this year. The briefing note given by the Department of Education and Skills to the Minister, which was circulated to us at the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Mr. Ó Foghlú contradicted himself there, if he does not mind me saying so. He stated the Department has an independent statutory appeals board in place and the Department did not allow the Ombudsman into the situation because that would be second guessing an independent appeals board. I am confirming to him the Ombudsman has stated she will have the right to examine these cases...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: The right of citizens to go to the Ombudsman when dealing with public bodies is fundamental. It does a grave disservice to students for whoever drafted the scheme to exclude the right to go to the Ombudsman in the first year of its operation. Probably, it was decided there would be such a mess that the Ombudsman should not be involved at the outset but that she could become involved in a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Did the Secretary General find the figures on how many were granted?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Did the Secretary General find the number of applications that have been granted or refused?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Certainly, at least one third of the students are being refused where decisions are completed. Either way, even if it is 32,000 or 33,000, and 16,000 have been refused, definitely, one third of all applications are being refused. Perhaps that is correct, that they do not pass the means test. We understand that. It seems a high figure, that there is one third of all applicants being...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: I have a few points I want to cover. Under school transport, who decides where the measuring points are in deciding the distance between a student's home and his or her secondary school given that the distance to the nearest school determines the student's eligibility? Would the Secretary General outline the system? Who does the measuring? Is it the Department or Bus Éireann?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Given that the Department pays for it, what guidelines has the Department given Bus Éireann?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Getting on to the specifics, my real question - I understand they measure the distance - relates to towns where there are a number of schools where there is an issue with what is called the central measuring point. Would the Secretary General speak about who picked the central measuring point, probably whenever the system was established? How was the measuring point identified? It is fine...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: Is the Secretary General satisfied Bus Éireann selects the correct central measuring points? If the company has a wrong measuring point, it may be carrying students it should not carry or it may be excluding students who it should carry.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: I refer specifically to Portlaoise where, as the Secretary General will be well aware, there is one of the finest PPP school projects in the country. He will be aware that those two new school buildings are at the edge of the town, one mile or two away from the old school sites. The Department and CIE have not moved their central measuring point, even though the schools have moved up to two...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 18 - Salary Overpayments to Teachers
Vote 26 - Department of Education and Skills (28 Feb 2013)

Seán Fleming: What of the general principle of the central measuring point? Who selects it?