Results 4,021-4,040 of 6,541 for speaker:Ruairí Ó Murchú

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Engagement with Ambassadors of Moldova and Romania (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Yes, the future is secure in my hands. I thank the two ambassadors for coming before us and for their previous contributions. We can see from the report that a significant amount of due diligence was done by the group that travelled. It was a very useful piece of work and this is a follow-up on it. In regard to where the conversation started, it started during the pandemic with regard to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Engagement with Ambassadors of Moldova and Romania (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I do not think people would think that was necessarily a great travesty. It might be a hard political sell.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Engagement with Ambassadors of Moldova and Romania (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I thank the ambassadors for those answers. What Ambassador Miculet is talking about are particularly detailed asks. Would it be possible for the committee to get a look at them? I am referring to the asks from the support platform. Could we play our part in that respect? Maybe it is not possible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Engagement with Ambassadors of Moldova and Romania (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The ambassador put it very well. It is a matter of making sure that Moldova survives. For the want of a better term we have had a perfect storm. As regards Russia we talked about energy resilience but this is an energy crisis meeting a geopolitical crisis and climate change. I am sorry to use the term South Ossetia in respect of Georgia. My point is that we wonder why Russia cares about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Engagement with Ambassadors of Moldova and Romania (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: It would be good if we could follow up on that. I would like to think the Minister for Foreign Affairs would have more information than me. We might seek a meeting with him.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I am happy to let Senator Buttimer finish his contribution, if he wishes to do so.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I thank Ms Brogan and the other witnesses. I apologise as I had a number of other engagements that meant I was late. I think I have got a significant understanding of how the interaction has gone and I could probably guess some of that on the basis of Ms Brogan’s opening statement. In fairness, the Chairman has stated the difficulties that were put clearly in front of us, especially...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I get that. Does Ms Brogan have any notion-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I would also like information on the timeline, if Ms Brogan can give information on when she thinks-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Bespoke solutions are required.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I know these are changed circumstances but the State engaged in contracting during previous inflationary periods. I assume some of best practices used then could be used now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The witnesses have told me what they will not answer and the engagement with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform needs to happen as soon as possible. I asked about planning and what engagement the Department has in the ongoing processes to deal with some of the planning anomalies that are creating difficulties, particularly with regard to major infrastructural projects.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I imagine it is a major level of engagement. The witnesses will probably not go into the details.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: We need to engage to ensure this happens. The most important thing is to ensure the timeline is as short as possible and that we get a system that is fit for purpose and works.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: I thank Mr. Parlon and Mr. Sheridan. On some level, this issue has already been addressed. It was stated that there are two things we are dealing with, that is, the present running of contracts and the need for amendments. From what our guests are saying, it does not seem that there is a major difficulty there. Where two people are obviously in agreement and it is legally put together,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Ultimately, we are talking about contracts or systems that are up and running and will be used for years. If I understand the matter correctly, it is a case of sharing the possible pain that can come from the increases. Does Mr. Sheridan know what I mean? Protections will be written in, particularly from the point of view of the taxpayer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: The position we are in now was put well by Mr. Parlon in that the arrangement is utterly dysfunctional and people are just going through contracts line by line to get opt-outs or trying to use variations as a means of staying in the game. The longer this goes on, the worse the situation will be. The reason we are having this conversation is that we want projects to be delivered. We all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Has the CIF got to a point with the OGP where there is an agreement in principle that a revised mechanism will be put in place? Has it got to a point where it is working on the detail on the inflation percentage? What is the CIF's position on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport: Reform of Public Works Contracts for the Construction of Transport Infrastructure: Discussion (27 Apr 2022)

Ruairí Ó Murchú: Who has CIF engaged with on this at governmental level?