Results 10,981-11,000 of 34,618 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: Bandon and Skibbereen.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: That is fine. I wanted to put them on the record more than anything else. Why was a surplus of €5 million surrendered to the Exchequer at the end of 2017, with all the demands?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: In other words, far more people visited Kilmainham, Castletown House, Kilkenny Castle and various other places and the OPW got so much money that it did not know what to do with it and handed it back. Is that what the witnesses are saying?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: This is extraordinary.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: The receipts have gone up from €32 million to €33 million. That does not explain it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: What is 2018 looking like?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: What was the number of reasons? When Mr. Buckley makes a statement, he is guaranteed it will be picked up on. What was the number of reasons?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: I am happy if Mr. Buckley sends it in writing to the committee but the bottom line is that the OPW took in more money at these events than it could handle and handed it over. It is fantastic. With all the money required for flood risk management etc., it is extraordinary that more than €4.5 million was handed back.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: Which page?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: I also mentioned Kilmainham Gaol at the beginning. That is fine. People will be disappointed to hear that the OPW spent less last year, whatever the reason, whether it was the result of cycles of capital investment or 2016 being an exceptional year. People would expect more, although projects are ongoing. I have more questions. On page 22 of the appropriation accounts it states,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: No, I refer only to the four cases mentioned in the accounts. That is all I am asking about. Do our guests have the information relating to those cases?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: I am saying this to every Accounting Officer watching these proceedings. When there is something in the appropriation account, we expect representatives to bring the details with them when they come before this committee. The appropriation account lists four things and what those four things were is an obvious, stand-out question. The OPW will send the information to us but our guests will...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: Okay, what is it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: Some are paying upfront?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: Well done. I refer to the annual report for 2016. I have not yet seen the 2017 report. Why has that not been published yet?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: Will it will be published by Christmas? It is almost mid-October. I have before me a document of only 15 pages summarising the OPW's activities for 2016. How is it taking close to 11 months to produce the report for 2017?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: How soon can we expect to see that on the OPW's website?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: I accept that it is just heavy text. I understand that. I can read it but it is not attractive.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: I understand. However, the point I am making is that it has taken almost 11 months to produce a relatively short report. I refer to the move from Hawkins House. The OPW seems to want to lease rather than build property for the State. In circumstances where the OPW is moving out of a building it owns, namely, Hawkins House, to a building on which the State has a 25-year lease, is this...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Seán Fleming: I will pose a simple question. The landlord of the former Bank of Ireland headquarters on Baggot Street bought the site for €50 million. Is there any conception of what he spent to bring it to standard before the OPW came along?