Results 5,581-5,600 of 6,315 for speaker:Gerald Nash

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: What is the relationship with the local authority which, technically, purchased the site for development?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Will Ms McGrath apprise the committee by correspondence?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: That is appreciated.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: I want to ask about leases sold to date. These are leases in which the OPW engaged as part of the decentralisation programme which, by and large, will not now proceed. What are the arrangements? Has the OPW surrendered leases in which it would have agreed to engage during the process?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: The expenditure on the entire project was approximately €256,000. Could Ms McGrath indicate the apportionment in terms of the ministerial aspect of the expenditure on the project?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Ms McGrath was happy to provide us with information. I wish to put that on record. The entire project on Kildare Street appeared to cost in the region of €256,000. Ms McGrath indicated that the ministerial element of the project comprised €206,500. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Was the sum exclusive of VAT?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: That means there is a significant addition to the amount. There has been some focus in recent times, not least in the media, on communication between civil servants on, for example, the type of toilet roll in the accommodation in question. I do not wish to be facetious but could Ms McGrath outline the OPW’s system for the procurement of such products?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: In fairness, notwithstanding the fact that those issues have been reported, it has been communicated by civil servants in the Department by e-mail, which is subject to freedom of information, that particular types of toilet roll, namely Kittensoft, Inversoft and Andrex, would be required for the particular bathroom that was installed in Kildare Street. Could I ask this question-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Reference was made to three particular brands.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Three particular brands were identified in the e-mails. Neither the Minister nor his civil servants would have to go to the local Centra to buy the toilet roll of their choice. That is interesting. It would be one thing if it is the case that the people in the Department did not like the standard issue toilet tissue and that they had to buy something else but this was centrally acquired by...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: For a few extra euro we might have got the services of the Andrex puppy as well. I will leave this particular aspect of the question. The meeting might decide to pursue other aspects of the matter and might in future decide to engage with other witnesses who might be able to throw some additional light on the issue. However, I will return now to the 2011 appropriation accounts.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: That is fine.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: I welcome Ms McGrath and her colleagues from the Office of Public Works. In the first instance, I wish to raise a matter which is not necessarily germane to the appropriation account for 2011. In that context, I want to focus on the correspondence received from the Office of Public Works, dated 16 May, in respect of the cost of the provision of a suite of offices for the then Minister of...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: I would like to pose some questions in respect of the correspondence dated 16 May.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: As already stated, I wish to focus on the item of correspondence to which I refer and which the committee very much appreciates receiving. In 2007 Bertie Ahern appointed a certain Deputy as one of three Ministers of State in the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. On taking up his appointment, the Deputy in question discovered that he had nowhere to locate himself for what...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: I understand. Point No. 9 in the letter dated 16 May states that all existing suites in the relevant building were occupied. Will Ms McGrath indicate whether any civil servants who may have occupied rooms 118A and 119A were obliged to move in order to accommodate the then Minister of State and his staff? For what was that particular suite of offices used at the time?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: Ultimately, the suite of offices in question was divided up into a large office space for the then Minister of State and four staff and a holding area to keep people away from him - in other words, there was no direct access to his office. I understand this is fairly standard practice within the Office of Public Works when accommodating Ministers or Ministers of State. It has been well...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Gerald Nash: How was it that the State could manage to finance a similar office for another Minister of State at the then Department of Health and Children for €70,000? At the same time, for an amount which would pay for three semi-detached houses in Drogheda, a very lavish office that would be more suited to Wall Street was put in place on Kildare Street. The building in which what has now...