Results 11,261-11,280 of 26,433 for speaker:David Cullinane

Climate Change: Statements (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I welcome that there will be a climate strike tomorrow across this land and in many parts of the world over the next number of days. This week, thankfully, a spotlight will be again shone on the issue of climate action and change. The protest is being led by schoolchildren. Millions of people around the world will, in my view, come out to support the logic of uniting behind the science....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: We have lengthy correspondence and I have a letter about the public services card, PSC. There is a hearing about it next week and I wondered whether there was a chance to have a discussion, at some point, about that meeting, particularly in the context of some of the issues that have been raised since the publication of the report. I have in mind a quick couple of minutes on the matter.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: The point I wanted to make has been covered.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Is the Comptroller and Auditor General looking at the sustainability of the model?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Very good.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Can the Chairman not write to the HSE then and find out about that? There is no point in saying it is terrible if we do not follow it up. Perhaps it is the case that it is simply not putting in place contingencies for-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: -----staff cover. Obviously, we have no problem with staff going on holidays. That is not the question.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: It is management that needs to make sure that it has a contingency plan.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Or whatever. Can we just point out the problem, say it has happened over the summer and that we do not want to see it happen at Christmastime, and ask whether it will guarantee that it will put in place contingencies, or outline to us what contingencies it will put in place, to make sure that people are not left without services?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: There are a lot of issues in the area of home helps and home care. It is a vast area, one that really should be dealt with by the Joint Committee on Health. We can come back to it and ask questions when representatives of the HSE are before us, but it is a very substantial issue. There are issues surrounding creeping privatisation and achieving value for money. If the service is not...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: A new wing at University Hospital Waterford, the Dunmore wing, was completed in July and has been kitted out. It consists of five floors, with the bottom two due to be used to provide a new palliative care services unit, the first such unit in the south east. It is to be operated by the CHO. The top three floors will have 72 acute beds which will be managed by the hospital. A joint...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: When I raised it in the Dáil, with Deputy Mary Butler, the Minister for Health agreed to meet a delegation of Deputies, which might help to answer some of the questions. If it is happening in this case, it is probably happening elsewhere. We are not joining capital funding with the revenue funding necessary and not getting value for money. Can we ask at what stage the project is and...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Just as we did with the timely presentation of their accounts, when we made life a bit difficult for them, I am recommending that from here on, every time our attention is drawn to non-compliance in procurement, for example in the case of the €5.4 million, we write back to the Department or agency and ask for a breakdown of the sum, how many contracts there were, why they were...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: I think we should let them write to us specifically. It is us basically acting as some sort of brake and saying we want them to justify why they are not complying.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Coming back to Waterford Institute of Technology, could the Comptroller and Auditor General elaborate? This has been an ongoing issue for a number of years.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Am I correct that institutes of technology should not be in deficit in the first place?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: How long is Waterford Institute of Technology now in deficit?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: Can we get a note on when the deficit first started and the changes year on year? Cost containment measures have been put in place, which have had an impact on services. I am concerned if, even with them, it is still going up. Something is not right.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: The Data Protection Commission, DPC, was due to appear before the committee routinely anyway. The public services card issue has since emerged, with a report on it published the day before yesterday. The issue has been in the public domain in recent months. Will the Chairman clarify what we can deal with at next week's meeting with the DPC? A section in the report refers to a chapter in a...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (19 Sep 2019)

David Cullinane: When the Comptroller and Auditor General prepares a special report, he must provide a draft of it - perhaps he does not have to, actually - to the agency or Department under review. There was an extraordinary, almost unprecedented, pushback from the Department against even engaging. It sent 400 scanned pages with no numbers as its response. This is incredible stuff. The Department will...