Results 11,761-11,780 of 27,334 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

David Cullinane: The way we were presented with the figures is very unsatisfactory. I had to contact the secretariat to figure out what exactly the figures meant. It is not the way to present figures to the Committee of Public Accounts. We sought the deficit year on year but what we received was a copy and paste of a chart from what I imagine is a set of accounts. It is not clear what exactly the figures...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

David Cullinane: Our reply needs to be clear. It should state it is unsatisfactory for WIT to give such a response, and that we want a detailed explanation of the deficit year on year and the reason for the deficit, because it seems to have increased. There are also consolidated accounts, given that a consolidation exercise was carried out in 2014.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

David Cullinane: There has been some positive movement in the past year and the institute seemed to address the deficit. A cost containment plan was put in place, for example. Nevertheless, there has been an increase from €2.4 million to €9.5 million. It is my understanding that institutes of technology are not allowed to be in deficit.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Oct 2019)

David Cullinane: We are only guessing.

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...