Results 9,941-9,960 of 20,062 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Could Mr. Doyle please come back to us with an answer to those two questions?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: I will let Deputy Murphy back in.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Could I ask Mr. Doyle about the vacant site levy? The figure is 7% of the value per annum. There is a funding stream in that regard which is overseen by the Department. What is being collected would appear to be feeble. Out of the 31 local authorities, more than half have not collected anything. Only 8% of the money due under the levy has been collected. Nine counties still have not a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Why?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Mr. Doyle and I know that there is a financial penalty if an owner is deliberately sitting on a property, watching the value increase and thinking it will all be grand. The only thing that will move a developer, especially if that developer is a speculator, will be the financial penalty of the 7% tax.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: It used to be 3% for derelict sites, but is the vacant site levy not 7%?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Is the collection of the tax being transferred to the Revenue Commissioners?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: In many cases, a local authority will contact the owner of a site and when he or she explains what he or she is planning to do and what the barrier is in that regard, that is accepted. That is why we have local authorities. They have local knowledge and that works. Sometimes, we do not have to use a big stick. The owner of the site may have plans in place to bring the site into use, and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: What is the timeline for that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: I am just watching the clock.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Is it the case that local authorities will identify the sites and Revenue will collect the tax?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: The final issue I wish to raise very quickly with Mr. Doyle relates to retained firefighters. I have been raising this with the Department. People are leaving the service and younger people are not coming into it. There is a real problem. It is one of the services provided by local authorities that people forget about. The public do not realise the number of services provided by local...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: I am sorry to interrupt you, Ms Quinn, but there are approximately half a dozen big issues, which I will not list here. I ask you to accelerate that process. We do not have time. There are already stations that do not have the required number of staff. It is a good service and it has withstood the test of time. From my observations in the county where I live, it is an absolutely...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: We will be compiling a report and there are two recommendations we will make, with the agreement of the committee. One is with regard to the statement of internal control. The other is regarding the issue that there is funding coming from a range of Departments now. In fairness to the Secretary General, how would he keep an eye on everything? There has to be some mechanism there, and I...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: There are also the points I made about the local councillors. Perhaps we can get those taken on board and assist the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, which has made big improvements in the training for councillors. It is to be hoped Covid-19 is behind us and that after the next round of local authority elections we will hit the ground running within a month with regard to that...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: You can.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: That is no problem.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: Okay. This morning's meeting shows the importance of local government, how seriously it is considered and the role it plays. Sometimes the public miss that. It is there all the time and it is one of those things that are taken for granted. If it was taken away, we would be in an awful position. The more we can improve it, the better, and we should work on that. I acknowledge as well...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: The public business before us this afternoon is minutes, accounts and financial statements, correspondence, public work programme and any other business. The minutes of 16 June have been circulated if any member wishes to raise any issue on them. Are the minutes of 16 June agreed? Agreed. As usual, they will be published on the committee's website. I will move on to accounts and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 3 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities (23 Jun 2022)

Brian Stanley: I thank Mr. McCarthy. I would like to ask about the first three items around PPE, hand gel, etc. We are looking at €282 million. I have a question around the €38 million and the write off of excess stocks of hand gel and PPE. I am not well up on these matters but surely hand gel would not go off. Surely it is of use to hospitals, health centres and various other settings.