Results 4,781-4,800 of 7,126 for speaker:Alan Farrell
- Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 8: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Local Government Fund Financial Statement 2016
Special Report No. 97 of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Administration and Collection of Motor Taxes (8 Mar 2018) Alan Farrell: I understand exactly what the Chairman is saying and I agree with him. The design of the system is inherently discriminatory because of the disparity between the prices of motor taxation for old and new cars. Of course the disparity would get worse and worse the older the cars are. I would like to see the numbers. How many cars are on the road? I am told the figure is 2 million.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 8: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Local Government Fund Financial Statement 2016
Special Report No. 97 of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Administration and Collection of Motor Taxes (8 Mar 2018) Alan Farrell: I would like to know how old those cars are.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 8: Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Local Government Fund Financial Statement 2016
Special Report No. 97 of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Administration and Collection of Motor Taxes (8 Mar 2018) Alan Farrell: I know that. I refer to the specific year of manufacture. How far back are we going? Should we introduce a scrappage scheme? If there are a lot of cars that are 15 or 20 years old, which might, but only barely, pass the national car test, NCT, road safety and environmental issues present themselves. The point the Chairman is making is that if we can help people to replace those cars with...
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: I thank the witnesses for providing their opening statements in advance. I thank Mr. Seamus McCarthy and his team for the clear audit and Mr. John McCarthy for the work his Department has done in ensuring its books will pass muster. I note with thanks the work of the Department and the local authorities during the recent eventful weather event. Their efforts were most appreciated. In the...
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: That is appreciated. The Comptroller and Auditor General has alluded to the fact that we will have one more year-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: I appreciate that the Comptroller and Auditor General would not have read the point if he had read his opening statement beforehand.
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: I will spend a little time discussing the Mahon tribunal which features under the heading of audit. I was surprised to see that it was still current, given that the tribunal's report had been published in 2012. I would have expected the tribunal to have been concluded in 2013 or 2014, yet it appeared in the 2015 Appropriation Accounts. Expenditure amounted to €120 million and a...
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Are they particularly complex?
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Does the figure provided reflect the total amount requested in the outstanding claims?
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: The longer the process goes on, the more likely it is that a law firm or barrister will settle, as I know.
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Was there any particular reason? The Accounting Officer stated it was dependent on when bills were presented. Surely a cut-off date should have been applied. We cannot keep funding this process, given that the report was published six years ago.
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Has the administrative and secretariat side of the Mahon tribunal been completely disbanded or is it still in operation?
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Is there still a payroll cost to the Exchequer arising from it?
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Flowing from the Mahon tribunal and its findings was a recommendation that an office of planning regulator be established. Unfortunately, the recommendation has not been implemented. In 2016 a budget was provided for the new office, but it remains unexpended. The relevant legislation has been delayed repeatedly and is before the Seanad. I appreciate the Department's involvement in a range...
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: The sum is €53.3 million. That is a lot of money not to have spent.
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Can the Secretary General explain, even if he has to break it down into individual subheads or programmes, how the Department did not expend, or how the voluntary and co-operative housing agencies did not spend over €50 million that was given to them for housing purposes?
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Was the ability to deliver overestimated on the part of those agencies? Did a problem delay delivery? Was housing delivered in February 2017, for instance?
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: The capacity.
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Perhaps the Secretary General can provide me with information on the capital assistance schemes that have been specifically referenced in subhead A.4. I do not mean right now. I would like a breakdown of the figures and the Secretary General can supply that information to the Clerk of the Committee in writing. This is the first opportunity that the Committee of Public Accounts has had to...
- Public Accounts Committee: Vote 34: Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government (8 Mar 2018)
Alan Farrell: Yes.