Results 521-540 of 1,061 for speaker:Séamus McGrath

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: It is fair to say - I apologise for interrupting, but we are caught for time - that we have learned a lot of lessons from that debacle.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Is Mr. Moloney confident that we will not see that scale of overrun in future projects?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Mr. Moloney is confident that we will not see that scale of overrun of budgets.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: That is not the same as confidence.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Okay. I will accept Mr. Moloney's hope.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that. The Comptroller and Auditor General sets out Mr. Moloney's Department's role and it is an onerous one, as it is central in setting standards and procedures for financial accountability and governance of public bodies and the evaluation of public spending and investment. It is an onerous task. We all appreciate that. However, in projects other than capital ones that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: What frustrates people is the lack of accountability. Ultimately, no one is held responsible and answerable for these projects. We see review after review but there is no accountability. Will we see accountability in the future?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Okay. With respect to the State's expenditure on external management consultants, a figure was quoted that, in 2023, the State spent €800 million on external management consultants. I suspect that figure has increased. I would argue there is an overreliance on external management consultants. Is Mr. Moloney concerned about that as the Accounting Officer for the Department of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Is there an up-to-date figure for what we are spending on external management consultants?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: It is a newspaper article that says that, in 2023, the figure was €800 million.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: It has been commented on that a small number of companies provide this service and are receiving large sums of money for management consultancy services. Is it in Mr. Moloney's focus or spotlight to try to look at that from a value for money point of view?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that. Is it something that is constantly under review and being examined?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I will turn to the national pay agreements. I met with a former section 39 organisation recently. Their staff are still not benefiting from the pay increases that were agreed through the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. St. Luke's Home in Cork is a not-for-profit organisation that was formerly paid through section 39. It is now paid through the HSE services and the National Treatment...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I would appreciate it if Mr. Moloney could do so. Clause 4.1 in the agreement provides that it should be used as a framework for additional payments to be made to cover wages. In this particular case, it is NTPF and the HSE, but they are basically bouncing off each other. The staff are the victims here. They are not getting their pay increases. These are health professionals working in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I thank the witnesses for staying with us. I have a couple of follow-up questions. To return to the theme of housing and the significant issue of local authority vacant housing and voids, it has been estimated that there are more than 3,000 vacant properties across the country. In respect of value for money and public expenditure, when we are spending €50,000 a year on emergency...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: The Department has a role to try to ensure that. To go back to large-scale projects I saw in the news that the greater Dublin drainage project has been given the green light from a planning point of view. That is welcome. It is a project of a scale of €1.3 billion. Can Mr. Moloney clarify that a contract will be signed for that project? It is obviously a very large-scale...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: With regard to our public sector workforce, what is its overall number?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement
Vote 43 - Office of the Government Chief Information Officer
Chapter 3 - Vote accounting and budget management (10 Jul 2025)

Séamus McGrath: What I am getting at is the key vacancies that exist in front-line services. I met the INMO recently to discuss some of the gaps in its services in terms of workforce staffing levels not being adhered to in previous agreements. The representatives mentioned not having security staff at accident and emergency department doors at night for example. They mentioned that when it comes to...