Results 10,861-10,880 of 26,430 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: In our reply, we should ask whether the financial controller signed off on the correspondence.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: If the financial controller allowed the schedule to be sent to the Committee of Public Accounts as formal correspondence, it is shocking and raises concern. I echo the Chairman's views on the matter. There is an issue at the highest level.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: Yes.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: We should welcome the fact that we got a comprehensive report from them. I echo the points that have been made. There does seem to be benefit coming from the fact that we are shining a spotlight on the issue, which is good. I understand some of the reasons that have come back and it gives us a greater understanding as to why there is non-compliance. However, the overall figure of...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: Would it be possible to get some information from the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, or the Office of Government Procurement, OGP, in advance of them coming in? First, any time there is an audit opinion given, we go through them here and there is the amount for each organisation. Of the 40 plus organisations that are audited, is there an...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: If we could get an up-to-date figure on that, it would be helpful. Second, could we get some flavour of what areas the problems are in? Information technology, IT, would appear to be one area. Could we see in what area is the most consistent failure to see where the patterns are? What organisations or Departments are the worst offenders? Can we have a breakdown of the value of the...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: What is interesting as well is the Cathaoirleach's point, which is that the guidelines themselves may need to be looked at, because if that is the case with ICT, we could be unfair in some respects in pointing non-compliance when in fact it is just not practical for them. It is a case of separating out where the problems are and where they are not. If it is a matter that the guidelines need...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: I will make one point.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: What is extraordinary is the response to whether the accountants or barristers are working for the public. These are public contracts on public works but they are not working for the public.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: That is a bit strange.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: The statement is extraordinary.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: I appreciate that the SBCI gave us a very detailed response but it did not answer all the questions we asked. We asked for a county-by-county breakdown of jobs that have been created. What we got was a breakdown of loans by county. When the SBCI wrote to us several months ago, it stated that it supported 148,000 jobs. This letter states: "it is difficult to make a direct link between an...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)
David Cullinane: Yes.
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: I thank the Department for the good work it does but we are also here to probe its failure to reach targets in certain areas and areas where it might not have stood up to scrutiny. The first area I want to focus on is non-compliance with procurement rules. Page 4 of the appropriation accounts refers to 47 contracts with a spend of €3.9 million. We have put all Accounting Officers on...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: That is a positive and that is exactly what we want Departments to do so I commend the Department on that. Is it a self-reporting system the Department has for non-compliance?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: I want to move on to the carbon emissions targets for the Department. Mr. Gleeson will have seen the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, report which is out today. Unfortunately, it does not make good reading for the Department. Agriculture emissions have increased by 1.9% in 2018. We are all in a situation now whereby we must reach the targets that were set for 2030 and 2050. We are...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: I will get to the national herd in a moment. Does the Department have an obligation to ensure that agricultural emissions are reduced? Is that now one of the clear remits of the Department given that we are being told there is an all-of-government approach and a special committee of the Oireachtas to hold Secretaries General and Ministers to account? I accept it might be the case that...
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: Does the Department have an obligation to make sure that the figures go in the opposite direction?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: Does Mr. Gleeson expect that next year we will be looking at a decrease or will there be a further increase?
- Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019) David Cullinane: I sit on the Joint Committee on Climate Action. I think Mr. Gleeson came before it recently.