Results 81-100 of 5,902 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: I presume the purchase of a hotel for €6.24 million will be included on that fixed-assets register. Is this correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: All have been implemented at this stage.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Okay. I have a short amount of time and I want to touch on two other areas. I am sure my colleagues will continue the line of questioning regarding the Peter McVerry Trust. I was interested in the Local Government Fund. The property tax revenue contributes to that Local Government Fund. It currently stands, in 2023, at €293 million of a reserve. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Initially, in 2018, it stood at just over €80 million. Is there a reason it is now more than three times the size of its original reserve?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Given how cash-strapped-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: I was going to ask Mr. Doyle that. What is the 2024 figure, in approximate terms?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Okay. It is good to see the money being put to good use. That is what it is for. Part of the difficulty we have is that some of the self-funding local authorities were allowed to keep 100% of their local property tax but in essence that means absolutely nothing. They do not keep 100% of it because they lose out in other ways. It is galling to see a figure of even €200 million, if...

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Not to jump around but there was one question I forgot to ask in regard to the Peter McVerry Trust. On top of the €15 million, there appears to now be €1.5 million that is paid to a consultancy agency in regard to the preparation of financial accounts and so on. That was a new item to me. Will Mr. Doyle detail the nature of it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Why is that function not being done in-house in the Department?

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: In the normal course of the Peter McVerry Trust running its organisation, it would not require €1.5 million. If it had been doing that from the start, we would not have needed it. I cannot understand why we would need to spend a further €1.5 million to assist the oversight body.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: As a final comment, while other moneys we have talked about are advancing money that would be used for housing or delivery of services and so on, this is money that is a direct result of the problems that were caused and that is significant.

Public Accounts Committee: 2023 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Report on the Accounts of the Public Services 2023
Chapter 2 - Central Government Funding of Local Authorities
Chapter 11 - Exceptional State Funding of the Peter McVerry Trust
Chapter 12 - Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund
Local Government Fund - Account 2023 (19 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: I am just saying this has not been a cost-free exercise in terms of-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Hear, hear.

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: I welcome Mr. Gloster, Ms Queally and all the team. It is good to have Mr. Gloster before us in an environment other than a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts. I am usually asking difficult questions about numbers.

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: I am going to ask difficult questions about numbers here, too. As we drill down into the whole area of assessments of need and CDNTs, one thing that struck me was the idea that one third of children could go through the process and not reach the bar for an assessment of need.

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: One third of children are coming in to seek a diagnosis of autism where there is no other alternative publicly. One third of the time taken by CDNTs relates to assessments of need rather than the delivery of therapy. I am focused on therapy. To me, that must be the priority. It is where interventions happen. Assessments of need are important and required by law, but my worry is about how...

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: What will the autism protocol look like? At the moment, people are referred to a CDNT, which takes a long time. Their schools are anxiously awaiting some sort of professional assessment and the children are waiting for treatment.

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Perhaps it is unfair of me to ask before the protocol is published, but the bit I am not clear about is how I, as a parent, can get my hands on a professional assessment so that I can approach a school and tell its representatives that my child essentially has a diagnosis.

Committee on Disability Matters: Progressing the Delivery of Disability Policy and Services: Discussion (Resumed) (18 Jun 2025)

Paul McAuliffe: Okay.