Results 301-320 of 11,861 for speaker:Brian Hayes

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The reason for the increase is that we may be obliged to take on some of the leases from other agencies such as those relating to FÁS. A decision in that regard has not yet been made, but we are making provision to cover that eventuality.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: Yes. When the Deputy was in government, the OPW was spending €135 million. We are now in government and spending €97.5 million.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: I can obtain figures for the Deputy in that regard. We disposed of a substantial number of properties in Dublin as part of the decentralisation programme. The difficulty was not so much that this property was disposed of at the top of the market but rather that announcements were made on the towns and cities to which Departments and offices were going to be decentralised and, as a result,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The sub-committee will make a recommendation.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The additional allocation of €2.5 million is as a result of the carbon levy. We received an additional allocation at the end of last year for the Kilmainham Gaol project, a 2016 project we have been asked to lead. The difference in reckoning between December 2013 and now is quite small, in the order of €4.5 million.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: No. My understanding is that this meeting would normally happen in December. We were happy to come before the sub-committee at that time but could not get a slot.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: It is usually done in December because the Estimates relate to expenditure for the following year.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: These Estimates have not been voted through by the Oireachtas. That will happen after their consideration by the sub-committee.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The national procurement service originally came under the OPW, before the Government took a decision to establish an independent Office of Government Procurement under the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Expenditure in this regard would in the past have come under our Vote, particularly on the staffing side. Now, however, it comes from the allocation for the new office within...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: There are several examples in this regard. We are now working with the Department of Education and Skills in procuring sites for schools. Another example is that previously every Department looked after its own maintenance. We have been asked to take on that €20 million budget and do the work ourselves, which has released more than 100 people back into Departments because they are...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: The Accenture report which is in the public domain indicated a tag of €5 million on the procurement side. If I recall correctly, the total sum earmarked for this year is €127 million, of which we would make up a part. I will get the exact figure for the Deputy.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: If the Deputy has information in this regard, he should give it to me and we will examine it. Talk is cheap in our system and I have heard all types of story. By centralising the system, we can extract substantial savings and ensure funding is prioritised in accordance with the allocation we receive. We are spending €19.5 million this year on maintenance, which includes Garda...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: On the latter issue, the Deputy is correct. There is a good deal of controversy locally surrounding the library. Often I describe the Department as the classic shared service facility across government. The Deputy is correct in saying the OPW does not get the praise it deserves. I suspect this is because it is not represented around the Cabinet table. In this key piece of work, a key...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: It is €47,000 in total for the continuation of these two projects.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: There is one other piece of consultancy work. The Deputy will be aware that the Government asked us to lead on the property management aspect of the public sector reform plan and we launched our proposals last July. It is under the auspices of the OPW. As I mentioned, we are carrying out a review of capacity within the OPW. We will have the report shortly and it will obviously fall part...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: As I stated, 155 Garda stations throughout the country have been closed for operational reasons. We take responsibility in maintaining the Garda stations and for the capital budget concerned. Since the Government took the decision on the 155 stations, eight have been retained for alternative State use. The HSE, in one case, and the Ambulance Service, in another, have taken them over and...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: We are giving buildings back all over the country.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: With the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, I will shortly be launching the optimising power at work scheme which introduces in public buildings many of the soft measures that can help to generate greater energy efficiencies, including campaigns to turn off lights. One often hears an argument that real savings are obtained by providing deep...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: We are voting on the global amount, €45 million, for flood relief measures. Wicklow County Council will apply to us for all kinds of things within that €45 million.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Revised) (29 Jan 2014)

Brian Hayes: We can only allocate when the local authorities apply. In fairness to local authorities, as I saw in County Clare last week, they have been hit by this big storm and have been in emergency planning mode. They are now submitting the applications to my Department and others. As we get those applications, we will prioritise based on the worst affected counties to ensure we can turn them around.