Results 5,521-5,540 of 10,573 for speaker:Patrick O'Donovan

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: No, I-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: Based on the questions I have asked.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: I accept that, but-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: I accept that, but my question relates to procurement and my question comes from the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General that I read last night. Regarding consultancy, and assuming I were to accept what Mr. Griffin said at face value, I will outline what is reported about consultant C. Consultant C was employed at a daily rate of €1,230. Further work was contracted for in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: When did they terminate?

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: Will the official from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform comment on the procurement issues? What is happening here seems outrageous.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: When did the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform become aware of the issues with consultants A, B, C, D, E and F?

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: I presume officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform read the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform became aware that seven of the consultancy contracts met criteria for inclusion in the Department's statements to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in the years 2008, 2013 and 2014, but only two of them were included. Therefore, during the intervening period, nothing happened.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: Is it not fair to say that, if the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform followed up, not much notice was taken of it? Consultants A to F only finished last July, but they never went through procurement processes. It is like they won the lotto. Not one of them went through a competitive tendering process, yet there are figures of €146,000, €38,000, €145,000,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was aware of it. I asked whether the Comptroller and Auditor General's report was read, and it was. These people only finished in July when the process concluded. The Department should have been made aware of seven, but the other Department only told it about two. Obviously, no action was taken because the other five seemed to have continued...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: It is totally and utterly unacceptable-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: Mr. Griffin has made an assertion about something that I just said. For me, it is totally and utterly unacceptable for the Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to tell this committee that consultants who were retired public servants, in some cases with a connection to the Department, received payments in the order of €146,000 without...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: The taxpayer is offended by this report.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: Then why did the Department not tender out the process?

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: This issue had been knocking around since 2005-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: -----but the Department was in a hurry in 2013.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: These people remained in situwith renewed contracts. For example, consultant A had contracts dated October 2013, February 2014, September 2014 and January 2015. This person's four contracts' daily rates ranged from €362 per day to €604 per day at a total cost of €146,000. The Department had from 2005 to 2013 to get its act together, but no procurement process was...

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: And it just so happened to be a retired public servant.

Public Accounts Committee: 2014 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources
Chapter 13 - The Development of Eircode, the National Postcode System (28 Jan 2016)

Patrick O'Donovan: We know it is not unusual. We see that here week in, week out.