Results 11,921-11,940 of 26,448 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: Was it copied to them?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: This is the important point here. The Accounting Officer states:It was also stated: "... somebody in the research office had written to Professor Donnelly, who was the vice president, raising concerns about the process and asking that the memorandum be circulated higher up. However, this was never done". The Accounting Officer further states:The Institute's position is that this last...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: That is my point. I do not accept the response from the Accounting Officer at all when he says that it was dealt with sufficiently because it is clear even from the Comptroller and Auditor General today that the original memo was to be circulated to those higher up and it did not happen.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: That is the factual position and the Accounting Officer is saying that is not factual because he is citing a different memo. In any event, I just cannot understand why we cannot get a copy of this memo. It is being said that there is legal advice from third parties but it is a memo that was from somebody who worked in the institute to somebody who was high up in the institute and was the...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: -----which we were examining ourselves as part of our work. It is a memo that is in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. We have sought a redacted version, which I imagine would block out the names of the individuals, and they are saying that they still cannot give us this memo, yet they can still cite the memo in a lengthy letter taking the Committee of Public Accounts to task....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: It is not about the board at this point. If the HEA cannot do the report, what was discussed at the last meeting with the Department, when it was in with the HEA, was that it can appoint a statutory inspector to do the exact same work that the author of the HEA report, which cannot now be published, carried out. We have to make a decision as a committee whether we are satisfied or content...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: No, that is to do with the memo. The memo is somewhat separate. Again, that is a different matter that we are not getting the release of the memo, citing legal reasons. Even a redacted version cannot be given to us. The broader issue is the HEA report which cannot now be published. The issue is whether or not we accept that to be the end of the matter.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: We are conflating issues. The memo was in the context of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and it was a memo that cited, so in the course of any hearing we have, if memos are cited and we do not have them, we can request them. We requested them when the Accounting Officer was here and the Accounting Officer said he would send on the memo. Subsequently, he obviously would have...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: I do not want to delay the meeting because the Accounting Officer from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment is coming in. This raises questions beyond WIT. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General cited a memo which we looked for but which we were told we could not get for legal reasons, even in a redacted form. I do not know what the legal basis is for...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: Is it the point here that if there is a document or an email which we want to have for any of our hearings, a Department or an agency can say they cannot give it to us for legal reasons?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: Even a redacted version?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: A reasonable explanation for that has to be given but I do not see one yet.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: I am more concerned about the bigger issue of the HEA report, which cannot be published.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: Is it acceptable for it to be parked and for that to be the end of the matter?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: The HEA's examination came on the back of our work and a commitment was given to this committee by the former head of that organisation to do a deeper dive into the issue of intellectual property at WIT. More than 50 people were engaged in the process and the report was concluded but it cannot be published. We then had a discussion with the Department of Education and Skills, whose...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: I suggest that we write to the Department as well because it has oversight of this area. On the back of the Thorn report into this issue and the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Department recommended changes in the governance of ETBs. Given that many decisions were not approved by the board, perhaps we need to ask the Department what changes it is making to tighten that up...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: It may have been captured in the-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: I welcome Mr. Griffin and his team. Mr. Griffin said that the assessment process of the final tender is nearing completion and that as part of concluding that process, the Minister will then bring a recommendation to the Government. We hope it will recommend that the plan proceeds and contracts are then signed. Are the contracts signed at that stage?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 29 - Communications, Climate Action and Environment
Broadband Service Provision: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Mar 2019)

David Cullinane: A recommendation could be made as part of this process that there is a preferred bidder.