Results 5,401-5,420 of 34,585 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: I will not get into the details of the matter, but in order that people know what is under discussion, at the meeting Deputy Cullinane asked the Commissioner in respect of a particular case about which he had read in the media. He asked:Does that mean the Garda has conducted an examination of the case? Has Mr. Harris examined the claims made by the individual in question? Mr. Harris...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: That is correct. It is an example of members' commitment to their public duty that they want to see this matter through. We could have easily declined to insist on quarterly reports and allowed the matter to just hang there. We will publish the letter. There have been improvements in a number of areas. The Christian Brothers have recently contributed €2 million but they still owe...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: That is why I am putting it on the public record. The public might not appreciate the significant nuances around this. We also asked about enforcement. Up to 2018, all operators were fully compliant with their obligations but in 2018, two operators failed to comply with their obligations to surrender emissions trading allowances to cover their emissions for 2017. The two operators were...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: We will do that. One would hope and expect it to do the right thing. Let us verify it.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: The next category of correspondence is C, correspondence from and related to private individuals and any other correspondence which is not for publication. No. 2166 C is from an individual dated 13 May 2019 requesting the committee to undertake a detailed scrutiny of the proposed BusConnects project. Our position is this is a policy area and an ongoing project. No. 2171 C from an...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: I agree with members. We need, at least, to have the opportunity to listen to Mr. Morgan. There are two possibilities. It would be a private meeting in any event. Should it be public?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: I believe his preference is to have a private meeting. We will check that directly with him. If his preference is to have a private meeting, we will have it some afternoon. There will be some afternoon when we will be finished to 3.30 p.m. or some such time.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: That makes sense. Will we contact Mr. Morgan directly with a view to setting up a meeting? It will be on a Thursday afternoon. We can determine whether he wants a public or private meeting. It he wants a private meeting, we will go private. If he wants a public meeting, we will have it in public. It will be on a Thursday afternoon. That would probably be the best.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: I suggest a Thursday afternoon because we will already have a quorum established. I would not like to call a meeting here every Tuesday evening only to be embarrassed over not having a quorum.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: If it is on a Thursday, the quorum will already be established. If there are ten of us or three of us, the meeting can proceed. That is why I am suggesting a Thursday. I thank Mr. Morgan for his continued communication with the committee on this issue. Obviously, he has a lot of experience. The next correspondence is No. 2178 C, from the European Lotto Betting Association, which is...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: It does.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: It is stated the Department of Education and Skills has the final decision regarding the acquisition of the property in any event. This is only at the end of the process. The price might have been pushed up excessively by the time it gets there. The Department takes the point but states that legally it cannot prevent bodies from bidding. We have made the point very clearly.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: It looks weird.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: We have the ability to write back on this. The Deputy is saying that-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: A capital projects division in the Department should know what is going on.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: We are talking about the Department of Education and Skills at the moment.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: It could happen elsewhere as well. We will deal with education for now. We will write back on that basis, asking the Department to have some liaison or monitoring ability in respect of capital acquisitions above a certain figure, be it €5 million or €10 million. We are not talking about small acquisitions.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: Bidding against each other.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: We will write back on foot of this. Part of this process is that we do not necessarily accept or agree with every response we get from the Minister. That is his response and it is not as strong as we would have liked. He says he is captured by the legislation and cannot prevent them, but we are saying some mechanism is required in the Department for a level of liaison. It is about...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (30 May 2019)

Seán Fleming: We are dealing with the education area now. The HEA has a role as well. We will write back to the Department. The point is well made. What we have suggested might be complicated but is very reasonable. All of us could probably find a myriad of cases.