Results 4,821-4,840 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: The Department has responded to an issue I raised in note 6, which relates to development contributions received by local authorities. I wanted to know whether restrictions were still in place on spending. The correspondence includes a table setting out the amount of income and the audited date available in respect of development contributions for the financial year ending 31 December 2021....
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: I know there has been a difficulty with the freedom to spend the money, particularly in the years since the crash. That has been the case in the local authority of which I have most knowledge.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Very often an authority can apply for local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, funding to open up a piece of land if there is an impediment to development but it might have money sitting in an account that it cannot spend. I am not sure what the restriction is. The restriction is far more likely to apply in areas where there are very big amounts of money. For instance, Dublin...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Practically, I remember there being over €1 billion sitting on deposit and the local authorities could not spend it. This was straight after the crash. We asked for the amount that is on deposit with the local authorities in order to give us a clearer picture of whether they can spend it. It is fine for them to have it on hand but if they cannot spend it-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: But the Department is telling us in the third paragraph that it was restricted following the financial crisis.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: It is not saying that the restriction has been lifted.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Yes. We also need to find out how much is on deposit around the country.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: We can ask for the figure by local authority as well so that we can see the profile. When the Department has the 2022 figures, it might provide them to us.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: I believe it was strictly applied.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Two items of correspondence are associated – Nos. 1773 B and 1781 B. I wish to inquire about Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which is looking to get out of the lotto licence. It acquired the licence in 2014 for €405 million. Is there an exit penalty and who would handle the licence's sale? I presume it would not be put up for open sale. How would it be sold? An Post is a...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Public consumption.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: And if there is an exit penalty.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: I think we all had a feeling the engagement there was very unsatisfactory, and that is an understatement. There was some justification given at the meeting, but it was not satisfactory to us.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: This came up the last week or the week before.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: I think we were told in general terms. There were 14 or a dozen retirements or something and we had not got the breakdown. We might have already asked some questions, so I assume there are not going to be duplicate questions. We need to double-check that.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Yes.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: Yes, and we did not know who got what. Then all of a sudden we saw-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: I have one other point. We are constantly told hypothecation, which I think is the word, though I would just say ring-fenced, is not generally how Departments do things. However, this is a clear example of how a Department did that. The Minister for Finance at the time this fund was set up was Charlie McCreevy, who was a strong advocate of horse racing. The next time I am told something...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: This relates to Pat Hickey and the ticketing scandal at the time. We were given €312,000 as the grand total for the Moran inquiry. Are there further third-party fees or is that the end of it? Can we ask that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Mar 2023)
Catherine Murphy: That is the point; there are third-party fees.