Results 7,961-7,980 of 8,237 for speaker:Peter Burke

Other Questions: Rural Development Plan (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: I would be grateful if the Minister would set out how much funding will be available for the action plan for rural development. I note that there has been significant investment in greenways and sustainable projects in my constituency of Longford-Westmeath. The Minister of State, Deputy Ring, will be aware of our sports capital grants. It is very important that we continue this but in a...

Other Questions: Rural Development Plan (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: I welcome the response. I think we are approaching this in the correct manner in having an action plan. Finea in County Westmeath has faced huge challenges. The huge Mr. Crumb factory is located there and cannot get sufficient broadband, which is a huge challenge for it. We need to do the things we spoke about such as a co-ordinated plan to ensure we encourage sustainable employment in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: I thank the staff of the Department for presenting their response to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. Obviously, the Department is a major spending Department. I wish to focus on a few of the areas that the Comptroller and Auditor General has drawn attention to. When one adopts a sense of materiality within the whole Department, some areas can seem more concerning than...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: There is no detail on the charge for staff time during the implementation of the system.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Correct.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Who was the contractor?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: So it received €2.6 million for the system.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: How does the Department assess that the system has been working to date?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Can the system furnish an aged debt listing, together with cash balances, per Intreo office, as well as a total figure? I presume the Department can obtain a detailed report showing the activity level in each office of the Department.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Per office.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: What about different jurisdictions because I want to move on to-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: I am confused by the difference in cash balances throughout the different offices. From reading the report, there seems to be a difference in the calculation. Will Ms O'Donoghue comment on this? How has the difference come about? I understood it was because of a difference in cash balances in a particular Intreo office and that the cash balance was different per system. There was...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: It has been in place from the very start of November 2014.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: The difference in cash balances is from the exact time the new system went live and has still not been rectified.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: We are not aware of where it comes from either.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: In terms of debtor balances at 31 December 2015, there is a difference of €515,000. In debt recovery there are balances of €78.7 million and €79.8 million, respectively. There is a difference of €1.1 million directly as a result of implementations of the new system. Do we have any detail on the reason for the difference?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Does Ms O'Donoghue believe the new system is operating effectively? As someone looking at the system, €2.6 million has been spent on the new software, yet in all of the key areas, there seems to be an issue in reconciling the differences. There is also a concern about the integrity of the system. Has it to do with staffing issues and what is being input into the system or the actual...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Who operates the payroll system? What software is used and for how long has it been in place?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: Is Ms O'Donoghue happy with the shared services system and how it is operating?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Department of Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Roll-out of the Public Services Card
Social Insurance Fund 2015 (20 Oct 2016)

Peter Burke: There was a significant increase in the level of overpayments to staff within the Department at year end. The figure was approximately €3 million covering 1,361 cases. In 2014 it was €1.2 million. How does Ms O'Donoghue account for the difference?