Results 11,321-11,340 of 20,094 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I welcome the clarification as to who the board member is. She has been there from the start.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Does Mr. Griffin have a concern in respect of the fact that crucial decisions would have been made in the lead-up to that time but there was no one at that table representing the State?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I am asking a different question. Does Mr. Griffin have concerns in respect of the fact that the one nominee of the Minister was not at that table until July 2020?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Critical decisions would have been made in that period.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: There is a bond of €20 million that was withheld until the end of January or February. Has that bond been released?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The bond has been rolled over for 12 months. One of the questions we have tried to tease out several times relates to the reason for going with this model when the contribution from the private investor is so small, at just over 9% of the contribution by the taxpayer, which accounts for in excess of 90%. Why would the Department go with this? We have learned that the investors are getting...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The uncertainty is with the State now.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The risk in respect of take-up falls back on the State. The way it is structured, all the investors have to do is to fund a very small portion of the roll-out. Where is the risk to the investors in that regard?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The bigger picture is that once they pass the premises, that is their job done with the roll-out of it. That is their job done.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The vast bulk of funding has been put up by the State. Well in excess of 90% of the funding had been put up by the State at that stage.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: A subsidy of 90%.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Okay. On 16 April 2019, the then Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform wrote to Mr. Griffin. He opened the letter by stating "Against that background, I feel I must write to [Mr. Griffin] again in relation to the National Broadband Plan". The Secretary General continued: Having expressed our concerns on a number of occasions at this stage in relation to the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Mr. Griffin disagreed with those views at the time. Does he still disagree with them?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: He does. That is okay.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform made the point in the letter: As against this €3 billion Exchequer investment that is at risk [it turned out to be €2.6 billion or €2.7 billion] the private sector operator is only risking €175m of their own funds. I note that by 2028, the private operator is projected to have received [redacted] in dividends and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I will share our perspective with Mr. Griffin. I have fundamental concerns when the Department which oversees public spending, and I am not trying to diminish the expertise in Mr. Griffin’s Department in any way-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: It is horses for courses. However, the Department which has the expertise in respect of handling the money bag in respect of State spending, and which oversees that process, raised serious concerns about this project not just once but several times, according to this letter. As a public representative, it leaves a doubt in my mind regarding what the taxpayer is stumping up here and the risk...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: Briefly, because a couple of the Deputies have final questions.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Environment, Climate and Communications
National Broadband Plan Expenditure and Related Matters (10 Feb 2022)

Brian Stanley: I understand that.