Results 3,361-3,380 of 3,444 for speaker:Shane Cassells

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: If one reads section 2.4 of the grant aid agreement with Console, it provides that the organisation must use the grant only for the purpose set out in the service specification schedule. Does Mr. O'Brien feel angry at what he had read in the internal audit? Does what he read in it make his blood boil, given the language used in the grant aid agreement with Console?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I asked that question because, as public representatives, we work week in, week out with groups that would be accessing funding from the HSE, groups that are hanging on by their fingernails to survive and to provide a service. I have a letter from the Committee of Public Accounts, PAC, from 26 January of this year to Mr. O'Brien in respect of a community development association, which is in...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: The National Office for Suicide Prevention said that it had grave concerns in terms of the helpline, requests for information, delivery on commitments, failure to attend significant meetings and again it is about the helplline. Will Mr. O'Brien explore that in order that I can better understand it?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: There were never any issues in respect of the value for money for the helpline service that was being provided?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: Ms O'Connor never had any concerns in that respect.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: There is an aspect that I am trying to get my head around and it comes back to the statement by Mr. O'Brien at the outset, namely, that the HSE got value for money for the service that it purchased. I cannot square that opening gambit. Does Mr. O'Brien believe that there were no funds from the HSE that were used in an inappropriate manner? That goes to core of this. We could read all the...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I acknowledge that, but I feel it is being used as a defence. Mr. O'Brien can say the service cost X and that the HSE provided Y, but that does not address the core of my question. In the light of the level of detail into which the internal audit has gone - I am not going to refer to specific individual expenditure items - does Mr. O'Brien not have any sense whatsoever that there is a...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I suggest we need to go full circle and return to the core issues raised by Deputy Róisín Shortall and the Comptroller and Auditor General about the audits of these bodies. If the HSE's belief is that the services were provided and that there is no need to delve any further, how can we get to the actual meat of the issue, which is whether public funds were misappropriated?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: To be clear, is Mr. O'Brien saying he does not believe there has not been any misappropriation of public funds-----

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: -----or is he saying he is not prepared to comment?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statement 2015 (15 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I have one last quick question. In respect of the helpline and its continued existence, Mr. O'Brien said that it costs more than the funds that were being provided for its running. The service has now been transferred to Pieta House. Has there been a full appraisal of the real cost of providing this service, with real checks and balances, against what was indicated to the HSE, and will it...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 92 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Strategic Planning for Flood Risk Management (14 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I thank the team for the presentation. I would like to recap on some of the evidence we have heard this morning and the explanations given that the overruns on the Estimates are due to a learning curve. The learning curve has cost €5.5 million more than the additional anticipated costs and a delay of a decade. The programme direction and progress reports were lacking. I note what...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 92 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Strategic Planning for Flood Risk Management (14 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I said they are effectively sterilised. We see that in respect of planners' understanding and responses to the mapping in place.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 92 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Strategic Planning for Flood Risk Management (14 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: In terms of Deputy Kelly's point, there is the scale of the problem that exists and political bodies and Departments being honest about it and the fund required. Does Ms McGrath feel that the money provided for the six year programme is adequate or conservative?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 92 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Strategic Planning for Flood Risk Management (14 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: Could I get clarification on the question the Chairman asked about the circular?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 92 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Strategic Planning for Flood Risk Management (14 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: It is not consistent across the board, Chairman. The interpretation of what is happening on the ground is not consistent across the board.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: 75. To ask the Minister for Health the reason for the substantial increase between December 2015 and May 2016 in the number of outpatients waiting more than a year for a consultation in Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan, County Meath. [20970/16]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Delays (12 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: 497. To ask the Minister for Health to expedite a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); the reason for the delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20570/16]

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest: Statements (8 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: I will use my time to address that, given the impact on members of the force. They have been pretty firm in reminding those members of Sinn Féin as well of their lasting impact and legacy on the Defence Forces. Whatever the need in the past, the circumstances have now changed and, as a new TD, I want to address the FEMPI legislation. It is something that many teachers spoke to me...

Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest: Statements (8 Jul 2016)

Shane Cassells: We are blessed with the memories of Sinn Féin not being able to condemn the killing of public servants.