Results 3,121-3,140 of 10,569 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: Yes.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: This decision will be taken jointly between Donegal County Council and the OPW.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: As I said already, and not to repeat myself, but I think I have answered this question now maybe five times. Once my officials and I have had an opportunity to meet with representatives of Donegal County Council, I will then be able to give a detailed response to Deputy Doherty, and all the members of the Oireachtas who have raised this issue, regarding this scheme in Donegal and other...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The project costs for the scheme at Ballybofey are just short of €2 million. The estimated spending to date has been just less than €207,000. Consultants were appointed by Donegal County Council in April 2021. The scheme is at stage 1, and it is due to move into the planning phase early next year and into the construction phase in early 2025.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The OPW is the contracting authority in Lifford. The scheme is programmed to be submitted for planning in the third quarter of 2023 and for construction to begin in 2025. The estimated spending in Lifford to date has been €344,000. At Burnfoot, consultants were appointed in June 2020, and that scheme is programmed to be submitted for planning in the first quarter of 2023, with...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: All these schemes are pretty much due to come to fruition, with construction getting under way in early 2024. Most of them will wind up in construction at the same time.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: Hopefully we will have support for a legislative remedy from all sides of the House.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I hope we are relying on more than prayers.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: It is important to point out that there is nobody at fault in these matters. My officials and the officials of Donegal County Council, every county council and the OPW - those responsible for the north west are sitting in the Gallery - are at pains to point out that they are often in people's houses when they are flooded. They have to brush out the faeces, the urine and the excrement at 3...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: Did Donegal County Council submit an application for minor works?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I do not know if an application for minor works was submitted. I can check to see if an application was made. Unless an application for minor works was made, obviously we would not have been able to approve it. If an application was made, I can check it out and revert to Deputy Doherty. Is it the bridge in Bunbeg?

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: My understanding is that the former Garda station in Bunbeg went for public auction and was sold. The new one is up by the údarás facility.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am informed that it is to be sold in July. There have been a number of auctions. Deputy Farrell queried us about disposals earlier. She had previously raised the issue of reducing the amount of properties on our books. We have been at pains over the past 12 months to try to reduce those. There is a date assigned for the former Garda station in Bunbeg, and that is in July of this year.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: We can look at everything. One of the things we have been doing in the OPW is that we have exhausted local authorities, community groups, Departments and bodies such as the HSE. I served on the Committee of Public Accounts, as did Deputy Doherty. One of the things we cannot do is dispose of State assets for anything above the market value. If we were to do that, no doubt somebody else...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: We have to get value for the State in the first instance. We will consult the Department of Education. I presume the Bishop of Raphoe is the patron in this case. The OPW will ask if the patron has an interest. However, we cannot operate on a mañanabasis. I know the site. The former Minister of State, Dinny McGinley, is a good friend of mine so I know it. We cannot leave derelict...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Deputy has damned me for many things.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I am.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: I can understand that because the community groups are taking on a fair burden.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: We will engage with the Department of Education and the patron in the full knowledge that the patron would be taking on the liability of the building. We will exhaust that option in advance of any potential auction. I commit to doing that.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (2 Feb 2022)

Patrick O'Donovan: To answer the second question first, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the first instance is the line Minister with responsibility for the protection of those buildings. It is an anomaly that probably should be corrected at some stage. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage actually owns many of the properties that we have responsibility for...