Results 961-980 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: That is grand. Mr. Pollock became aware in June when the design team told him about an additional €40 million. It told him that the first six months were okay and all the procurement contracts were on schedule and coming in on price but that there was one with €40 million over and above. Mr. Pollock brought that to the attention of the executive board in-----
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: Following that, it was brought to the attention of the finance sub-committee by the executive board.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: The finance sub-committee would have looked at it then.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: So it went from €40 million to €200 million between June and the end of August.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: When did it go from €200 million up to what it is today?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: In November.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: It had gone up to €450 million.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: Were these just the construction costs or were they the project costs in total?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: That was November. A number of reports were produced. Was the internal audit report by Mazars the one that identified the final escalating cost of the €450 million because that was completed in November 2018?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: Is that report public?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: I would appreciate it if the report could be made available. Obviously, Mazars looked at the GMP process. It reported in November 2018. We know the figure escalated from August 2018 to November 2018, which is four months, at a rate of €100 million per month.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: And it was €450 million in November.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: So it was €100 million per month. That report would definitely be of interest to me and the rest of the committee because I presume it outlines why it went from being on track in June to €450 million in November.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: They are addressed in the report.
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: Why is PwC producing a report if a report is already there that identifies why the project went from being on track with regard to price to €450 million within the space of four or five months? What is the difference between the two reports?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: Which was when?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: Could the Comptroller and Auditor General give his professional opinion regarding this? Would it be unusual for a project of this size to be on track one month and four months later, see an escalation of costs of €450 million?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: I know the Comptroller and Auditor General has not examined it-----
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: If he was to examine it, I presume that one of the things he would look at would be the role of individuals, the board and its responsibilities given that it is a legislative responsibility and whether the process is robust enough. Why were the processes not robust enough to identify it long before they did?
- Public Accounts Committee: National Paediatric Hospital Development Board: Financial Statements 2017 (31 Jan 2019)
Jonathan O'Brien: I find it astonishing that we are on track one month and then, four months later, we are €450 million over and above what we predicted. It seems to have snowballed in a very short period of time. One would have to question the controls and processes which were put in place.