Results 7,061-7,080 of 8,016 for speaker:Peter Burke

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: Accounting and auditing.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: One of the first things anyone would do is write to the banks and solicitors to see the balance in accounts and what accounts are held. That is the first thing any competent accountant or auditor would do. Did Mr. Kelly do that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: In terms of auditing and doing the internal audit. Mr. Kelly was aware from this memo that there were 13 accounts which had been closed. The number of accounts and the way they were dealt with raised serious questions. As internal auditor, when Mr. Kelly saw €1.5 million being channelled into this organisation, the first thing I thought he would have said to himself was what...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: An auditor does not go around checking things with management. He has to have professional scepticism, checking and stress-testing what has happened. It looks to me that Mr. Kelly did not do that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: Who did Mr. Kelly ask?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: Is this back in 2011?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: I want to go right back to 2011. When Mr. Kelly was in sight of that memo in 2011 which stated 13 accounts were being closed by the organisation, what steps did he take on foot of that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: I need to understand the process that Mr. Kelly as an internal auditor went through when he saw all was not well in the college with several accounts being closed. What did he do to check these accounts were not as bad as it appeared to be in the memo?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: Mr. Kelly’s name is on the top of it. How could there be a process if his name is on the top of it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: It states Mr. Kelly was to finish his review.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: It states that, subject to approval, the head of internal audit should now be directed to complete his audit in the financial controls of the Garda college. That would suggest there was something going on at that stage.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: One does not rely on the word of another in the context of audits; one tests and stress tests. It seems the witness did not do that. Does the witness concur?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: That is a shortcoming on the Mr. Niall Kelly's behalf.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: The €1.5 million was flowing from the Vote account into these various operations. How many tax numbers were prevalent?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: Separate tax numbers. An Garda Síochána has its own tax number for its employees, for gardaí and civilians alike. How many tax numbers are operating where this €1.5 million of public money is concerned?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: No, I am talking about employer registration numbers. How many accounts with the Revenue Commissioners were there? It is referenced in internal audits that employees should be transferred over, so there must be another tax number to allow that to happen. If the bar is running an operation, it must be subject to VAT. If the restaurant is running operations, there are tax implications in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: That is incredible. The witness was the internal auditor in respect of this operation. Some €1.5 million went into this account over the past four years and the witness cannot tell me how many tax numbers are operating. That is incredible. I cannot understand this. The existence of tax numbers suggests that there is turnover - and we know there was - so we have to be assured that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: We are talking about €1.5 million, more or less, going into and leaving the Vote account. It has been said that this account was for trainee gardaí and that there were various capacity issues within the college. The witness is aware that private accountants audited various activities. This did not provide a clear audit report, which is another shortcoming. There was...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána - Internal Audit Report on Garda College, Templemore (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Peter Burke: With respect to the witness and his position, I was a private sector auditor. If I had let this happen, I would have been let go long ago. I cannot go to my boss and say that the bank accounts are correct because the financial officer in the company told me so. The auditor has responsibility. If there is a limitation of scope in respect of any aspect of that work, then he or she is...