Results 8,721-8,740 of 12,318 for speaker:Paul Murphy
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Central Bank of Ireland: Discussion (26 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: I have one final question, which is in some ways related, on the dangers of leveraged finance. Several reports have been produced recently. The IMF warned that speculative excesses in some financial markets may be approaching a threatening level. For evidence, we may look no further than the $1.3 trillion global market for so-called leveraged loans. The Bank of England has suggested that...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: There are two questions here. The first concerns the overrun and its extent, and the distinction to be made there. The second relates to the delay in the Government finding out about it, compared with the position of the board. In that respect, the position of Paul Quinn, the chief procurement officer, is important given that he was on the development board. First, to return to the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: In terms of the role Mr. Quinn played on the board, as far as I can see from the briefing note, Mr. Watt agrees that Circular 12/2010 in respect of the code of obligations for civil servants on State bodies applied to him. It has sometimes been said that he was on the board in a personal capacity as a way of getting out of the obligations of that circular. Mr. Watt seems to accept that...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: I want to get into that. To be clear, I did not name-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: He is named in the briefing document. A key bullet point says that the chief procurement officer was satisfied that matters were being addressed by the board and were being reported through the governance arrangements established by the HSE and the Department of Health. I would like to unpack that a little. That comes from Mr. Watt and I presume he stands over it. It says that issues...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: We know from minutes of a meeting in August that the board was aware, and arguably had been aware before then, that there were big issues in terms of cost. Why were they not reported at that stage? Does that not mean that they were not being reported through the governance arrangements?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: At what time?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: Does Mr. Watt believe that all relevant information from the board about the very substantial rise in costs or the potential for such a rise was reported to the Minister relatively early after being discovered?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: Mr. Watt says in the briefing note that Mr. Quinn would have advised the Minister for Health if he felt that serious matters were not being addressed and not being communicated through the governance structures. Is the reason he did not that all the key information he had was transmitted very quickly to the Minister?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: Okay. That is useful. I thank Mr. Watt. He made an interesting point earlier. He spoke about a counterfactual situation in which we were not here. He said, fairly, that different variants were possible. One was that we did not have an overrun, but another is that the hospital would have been the same price without this process. If it ended up in the second position, which is that this...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: If it turns out that the real cost of building this hospital is this amount, which Mr. Watt has said may potentially be so, would that indicate a problem with the BAM tendering process?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: Let me pose a solution, which is to have a State construction company to take on these big projects. One therefore avoids this whole process, the dangers involved in it, the involvement of all these companies which seek to maximise profit, and the race to the bottom with respect to working conditions and so on that goes along with that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: It does not look very efficient now, does it?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: I will finish by asking if Mr. Watt thinks it is appropriate that PwC is doing the review, considering that PwC is BAM's auditor and has received some €4 million from BAM in the last number of years. Is there a conflict of interest there?
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: First, it is great that the Taoiseach supports the school students' strike on 15 March.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: School students across the country should take it as the green light to walk out next Friday week in protest against climate inaction. That is what the school students' strike is about.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: The Government has stated it supports them. If it is not to be a patronising pat on the back, it will support and defend the rights of the students who are protesting for their future and the future of humanity. I agree that it is not a narrow party political issue. However, the system and policies the Taoiseach defends are incompatible with dealing with the issue of climate change. An...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: I return to the question I asked and ask the Taoiseach to answer it, as opposed to posing questions to me. Free public transport would have a major impact on emissions from the second biggest sector in the economy.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: It would only cost €600 million, the same amount as the fines Ireland could be facing annually from next year. If the Government is serious about listening to students, will it give a commitment to invest in properly funded - properly paid and proper conditions for the workers - and free public transport?
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Mar 2019)
Paul Murphy: Invest more in it.