Results 1,061-1,080 of 2,211 for speaker:Paul Connaughton

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Another area of responsibility for the Office of Public Works is flood risk management which is topical, considering the storms several weeks ago. The accounts state additional contractual payments were made on several flood relief schemes including Bray, Waterford and Fingal. The excess was funded through the funds from other OPW voted subheads. What were these contractual payments and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Why is that not set into the budget initially?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Flooding is a topical issue at the moment and it will always happen with the rainfall levels we get. One area that concerns me is my own area of south Galway which saw massive flooding in 1995 and 2009. Flood relief works have been carried out to alleviate the risks in some of the larger towns in the area. The Kiltiernan-Ballinderreen area has suffered from bad flooding in the past but its...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: On improving the Kiltiernan-Ballinderreen flood relief scheme, the initial figure was outside the cost-benefit analysis, so they are working on it again. With the weather over the past few weeks, the area nearly flooded again, yet the improvement scheme cannot go ahead because of the cost-benefit analysis.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: That is very hard to explain to anyone in that area, particularly when they look out their windows and see floodwaters a couple of inches from their driveways. This area has seen two massive flooding events with damage to houses and other premises but the flood relief works have not been carried out. Surely, the information from the 1995 and 2009 flooding can be used to justify the works....

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Has the OPW an estimate for the overall storm damage done over the past several weeks?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: On portfolio management, what is the total figure for vacant buildings under the OPW?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: How many Garda stations have gone to communities?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: What does the OPW plan to do with the rest of these stations?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Could other Departments or agencies use these stations?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Has the consultation process with the State agencies finished. Is the next stage putting these stations on the open market?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Who makes that decision?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Is there more of a chance the OPW will hold properties in Dublin where the property market is picking up rather than in the rest of the country?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: What is the cost of maintaining such a building?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: In the case of the market outside of Dublin which is not picking up yet, will the OPW just sell those properties?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: I welcome the witnesses and thank Ms Clare McGrath for her presentation. I shall commence with the procurement side. I note the documentation provided by the witnesses states that, "The office is compliant with all relevant guidelines regarding procurement with the exception of one contract in excess of €500K. Services continue to be provided beyond the original contract end-date...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: In terms of the contact, the note states it was in excess of €500,000. What was the exact figure?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: It was well in excess of €500,000.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: So it is €800,000.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 6 - Land Swap Arrangement in the Provision of Affordable Houses
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (30 Jan 2014)

Paul Connaughton: Is that the only time that has happened? Did everything else go out?