Results 11,841-11,860 of 26,448 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: Ms Burke mentioned consultancy costs. They amounted to €305,000 in 2017. Some €155,000 of that was related to the office of communications and corporate services within the EPA. What is the nature of these consultancy costs?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: That is fair enough. I want to move to the topic of wastewater. I was reading the report on urban wastewater treatment in 2017, which in many respects is quite a damning report on wastewater infrastructure. In my own county of Waterford we are very lucky to have wastewater infrastructure of a very high quality. Is that the most recent EPA report or has there been a subsequent report? I...
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: It found that in 28 of the 179 large towns and cities, wastewater treatment did not meet mandatory standards set to prevent pollution and protect public health; in some 38 towns and villages untreated wastewater flowed into the environment every day; there were 57 areas where wastewater is the sole threat to rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters at risk of pollution; three urban areas...
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: When did the Commission commence infringement proceedings?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: My understanding is that the Commission commenced proceedings in September 2013.
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: Does one of Ms Burke's colleagues know? The date is important.
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: Who was the Minister in 2013?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: It was a very uneventful Minister.
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: What point have those infringement proceedings reached at this point?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: What does that mean? What is the next step in that process? If the Commission finds against us, are fines automatically attached to that finding or is there another process whereby we have another chance to invest before the fines kick in? Have we already incurred the costs?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: We have not incurred the costs but at some point we may.
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: What happens next?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: The EPA's role is to provide the report to the Department to alert it to problems with wastewater in certain towns, cities and areas. It points out the places where we are not meeting our obligations. Are the reports that have been given to the Department ignored? Have the investments simply not been made? If things have got to a point where the EPA has consistently been pointing out that...
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: Is there any working group or interdepartmental group on which the EPA sits that relates to this issue? It strikes me that this is a long-running issue. It also strikes me that maybe investment was cut during the austerity years, which potentially had an impact. My understanding was that previously, in housing committees, €620 million was made available from 2017 to 2021, which...
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: The EPA just publishes a report. Aside from that, what engagement does it have with the Department on that issue?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: The buck obviously stops with Ms Burke within the EPA.
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: As head of the EPA, is Ms Burke satisfied that the investments are being made in this area to ensure we can reach our obligations under the EU framework directive and avoid fines, penalties or costs from the European Commission? Is she satisfied, given all of the reports and information that have been given either indirectly or directly to the Department by the EPA, that the Department has...
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: Is Ms Burke satisfied that the investments are being made and the issue has now been sufficiently addressed?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: That report was published in 2018. Has there been dramatic investment since? Has there been an increase? Has more attention been paid to this issue in recent times that would lead Ms Burke to think that the Commission might be more satisfied with the position? Is the Commission more satisfied, less satisfied or at the same level of satisfaction as it was in 2017 when that report was done?
- Public Accounts Committee: Environmental Protection Agency: Financial Statements 2017 (18 Apr 2019)
David Cullinane: Irish Water is not investing that amount. That is the point.