Results 43,861-43,880 of 46,267 for speaker:Simon Harris

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: I would like to move on to the Justice Vote. There is a note in the accounts - note 5.2 - on 13 retired civil servants rehired at a cost of €105,298. For what were they rehired?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: Does Mr. Purcell think it was necessary to rehire retired civil servants for those roles?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: That is reassuring. Six former members of the Judiciary were hired at a cost of €404,451. Will Mr. Purcell give us a breakdown of the six former Judiciary members?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: In the accounts, a saving of €113,000 was achieved on the disability awareness initiative. This concerns me because when it comes to the area of disability, Mr. Purcell's Department has quite an important role in terms of public awareness of, understanding of and education about the equality agenda. The budget had already been slashed from €865,000 to €307,000 between...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: Does Mr. Purcell see my point that even though the budget for disability was so sharply reduced, which was regrettable, the full amount was not spent? People with disabilities depending on such disabilities awareness initiatives did not get the full bang for their buck which they should have got. It is a concern of mine, which I have noted.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: Has the Department appointed a replacement deputy State pathologist?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: We seem to have a pretty restrictive asylum regime with 10% of applicants granted permission in 2012 compared with a European average of 27%. The former Irish Ombudsman and now the European Ombudsman, Emily O'Reilly, raised concerns about the safety of children living in direct provision, and she noted the very unsuitable conditions in which they were living. Considering direct provision...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: Who were the members of the project board?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: I would like to examine the costs of the project. The developer was McNamara. The construction costs amounted to €1,061,878.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: The construction costs were €1,061,878.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: To whom was that paid?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: The next category is professional services, totalling €425,413. To what does that relate?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: I ask Mr. Purcell to name them.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: The previous category of consultancy is similar.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: The council's professional staff costs amounted to €120,865. Is that more of the same?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: The cost for site investigation amounted to €36,682.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: Miscellaneous costs amounted to €81,000. Can Mr. Purcell give an overview of that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: I thank Mr. Purcell. These were the costs when the Department was planning to proceed with the project. Additional costs would have been incurred in securing the site. The cost for security amounted to €303,779. The word "consultancy" appears again in this category at a cost of €123,364.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: What was their role at that stage?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality
Chapter 9 - State Pathology Building Project (13 Mar 2014)

Simon Harris: Demolition costs were €52,062. There are also costs for other professional services amounting to €41,000, plant hire amounting to €13,000 and miscellaneous costs amounting to €15,000. All I can take from the information provided is that architects did very well out of this project. Perhaps Mr. Purcell can provide a breakdown of the two sets of miscellaneous costs.