Results 12,061-12,080 of 21,179 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank Mr. Moran. When the Minister decided to go this particular route and ask the special liquidator to carry out what amounts to an internal review, whom did he seek advice from within the Department? I am working on the assumption that there was a departmental discussion on options and approaches that might be taken on this matter.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Did Mr. Moran or Ms Nolan suggest this approach to the Minister, or was it his initiative?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: So Mr. Moran suggested that KPMG be appointed and that the review be carried out in the manner that was subsequently announced by the Minister because he thought it the “most efficient and the most effective” approach. I hope I am quoting Mr. Moran correctly.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Let us just take it step by step.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: So what Mr. Moran is telling us is that not alone did he think it would be the most efficient and effective approach, but that it would also be the most illuminating approach?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. Moran used the word "illuminate". Therefore I am extrapolating that the review was to be illuminating.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: To cut to the chase, I put it to Mr. Moran that the Department, albeit not under his leadership, has not exactly cloaked itself in glory in respect of illuminating very much, it seems, certainly in respect of Siteserv and potentially further transactions. Mr. Moran’s consistent theme this morning has been that all of these things happened and that he was unaware of them because he was...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am aware of who the liquidator is.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: The Minister was at sixes and sevens, and he was not on his own because the Taoiseach and Tánaiste were also at sixes and sevens, in terms of how to deal with the issue and how to kick it to touch. What options did the Department suggest to the Minister other than this approach?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Do the officials accept, given the recommendation made to the Minister, that there is now a very deep concern and a strong perception that what was suggested and recommended to the Minister fell short of what was required? Do they also accept that, having been wrong-footed, sidelined or whatever term they wish to use, it is extraordinary that they would be happy to allow an arrangement in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: There is no guarantee of any second phase, so Mr. Moran should not presume that there will be. That will not be Mr. Moran’s decision to make. What the officials have done is to select an option for the purposes of citizens and taxpayers which is the least transparent method they might have adopted. That is what they have achieved.

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: How does one remove the real concern that from the very get-go, trusting the review to KPMG, in and of itself, represents a clear, immediate conflict of interest? What does the judge do about that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: We are clearly not going to have a meeting of minds on this issue. I think the officials have done the Department a disservice in recommending that approach to the Minister. More to the point, I think they have done a disservice to taxpayers and citizens who are concerned by this turn of events in all of its dimensions. I want to put that on the record, as it was most unwise. It was,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: In the original relationship framework, where does it say the Department was debarred from attendance at or membership of the board or from receipt of minutes? Where is that written down?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: It also said that one of the objectives was the minimisation of costs and other risks to the public. Is that right?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: As such, the Minister, through the Department and officials such as the witnesses, was centrally charged through the relationship framework with being a watchdog or guarantor to minimise costs and other risks to the public. Who interpreted the relationship framework? How was it interpreted?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: We had the original framework and, of course, anything like this is open to a minimalist interpretation, which is essentially hands off, or a fuller interpretation, which is more interventionist. Between the Department, the bank and the Directorate General for Competition - the Commission, in plain English - there was an agreement to a minimalist approach. Am I on the right track?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: We heard the previous Mr. Moran referred to as having expressed an interest, whether for him personally or otherwise, in membership of the board. Had a formal approach been made at any stage with respect to a departmental presence on the board? Was a formal approach made? Was there a request, for example, for board minutes at any stage?

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Without labouring the point too much, having listened to the witnesses and read the documentation, I have formed the view that the Department was very passive in this relationship. The witnesses tell us that there was daily contact between officials in Mr. Reid's unit, one presumes, and the bank itself. There were monthly meetings and so on. However, at the core of this, in terms of the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2013 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 7 - Office of the Minister for Finance
Chapter 1 - Exchequer Financial Outturn for 2013
Chapter 2 - Government Debt and Finance Accounts 2013 (14 May 2015)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. Moran-----