Results 48,761-48,780 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: That figure has not been discussed.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I have not tabled an amendment on this issue. Perhaps it might have been resolved through the reference to the money and perhaps both amendments are not required. There is a proposal to lower the figure of 200 sq. m to 40 sq. m. I ask the Minister of State to consider bringing forward an amendment on Report Stage on the issue. There is potentially a loophole being created.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: They are linked.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: That is very welcome. My understanding is that if one is building something that is less than 200 sq. ft. or 2,000 sq. ft. in old money, one does not have access to the adjudication process which is hugely useful, arguably more so in the case of the small stuff because at the larger scale there are fewer barriers to expensive arbitration. Perhaps it might be taken out. The figure given to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Deputy Fleming is right that this is a crude instrument, but I would put forward an observation for consideration on this matter. I was at a talk by, I think, the ex-president of Tanzania who spoke about how to ensure that schools paid teachers and they turned up for work. One of the big problems was that the money was coming from the state for the school to do its job but the principal and...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: Just to be clear, I am not proposing that should be done in the case of schools. However, Deputy Fleming is proposing that something like that would be done on building sites where we have a history of the State paying the money and it not going to those companies. I am simply giving the Minister of State an example of where it has worked in another industry in another country.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I am pleased the Minister of State is looking at monitoring but it is also a matter of the construction of the contracts. The kind of ratios I have seen embedded in some of this are extraordinary. Private contractors would not let the other party make as much profit for the level of capital risk and IP they are bringing to the table as the State allows the private sector to make.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with Deputy Fleming but support his amendment for a different reason. Before I was elected to the Dáil, I was involved in PPPs, public private partnerships, and financial modelling on the private sector side. I only began to take a look at them from the public sector side in the past two years. I have been astounded by the lack of public sector capacity to negotiate these...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: We should consider both ends of the spectrum. At one end are cases such as that of specially designed and treated steel supports for a large structure that were created, angled, designed, cast, etc., for a specific structure and could not conceivably be used for any other structure. The Minister of State said they would be included if they were manufactured by the same company.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: However, if they are manufactured by one company and installed by a separate company, the installation company is covered by the legislation, but the people who made them are not. That is one end where I believe it would be clear that-----

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I understand. However, if some solution is not found, the concern is that the manufacturer will not be covered. It seems to me that we would like to find a way for the manufacturer of such a clearly expensive, bespoke piece of kit to be covered. I can understand that the official concern is over someone who argues that the paint he or she created is also bespoke because it contains a...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: No, but that is also a fair point. We are differentiating between the person who installs the item and the person who supplies or manufactures it.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: It could be.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: No, it is not the same thing, but it could be.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Éireann Services (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: 3. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide an update on Bus Éireann's application to the National Transport Authority to reverse changes to the number two Wexford-Dublin route that serves Arklow, including the details of the changes requested in the application; the initial rationale for these changes; the reason they are now being reversed; and if he will...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Éireann Services (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister for the update. I would not normally use a priority question for something like a single bus route. The reason I am bringing it up is that it is an issue for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, and for the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly. This is not just a question about a commercial route; it is issue of access to health care. The No. 2...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Éireann Services (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Minister for his response. As I said, I would not normally bring this up on the floor of the Dáil, but it is a very serious issue. It is a serious health care issue for many people in Arklow and along the route. They are not asking for the introduction of new stops - just the re-opening of stops that were removed about halfway up the N11. I appreciate the Minister's...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Éireann Services (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: By the end of the week will be grand.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Bus Éireann Services (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: No problem.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Construction Contracts Bill 2010: Committee Stage (15 May 2013)

Stephen Donnelly: I will take the opportunity to discuss the matter at that time also.