Results 1,321-1,340 of 7,777 for speaker:Joe Costello

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: Has anyone been held responsible for it? Has the finger been pointed in a particular direction? Has anyone been asked to explain how taxpayers’ money was wilfully thrown around like confetti, particularly when it was obvious before the purchase took place that the property was unsustainable and could not be used for the purpose for which it was bought? The intention was –...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: I presume no person has been identified as being culpable in this matter. It appears that people can make the most perverse decisions and get away scot free for doing so. The new board is stating this is the legacy of the previous board or executive and washing its hands of the matter. It is riding off into the sunset in the aftermath of taxpayers’ money being wasted.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: In view of the fact that there was no reasonable basis for the action taken, it seems the current board and executive had a duty to do so. There was blatant negligence on the part of the previous board and executive in using taxpayers’ money for a purpose which they knew beforehand to be invalid and contrary to what was originally envisaged. Mr. Meaney has stated he is going to seek...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: What does Bord na gCon propose to do with the site now?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: Has Bord na gCon put together a portfolio of assets of which it might dispose in order to reduce its debt?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: I note that the track I am going to visit tomorrow night has been identified as being expected to be disposed of. I think an overall figure of €8 million has been placed on the old head office building, the land at Meelick and Market’s Field. It is also stated the Harold’s Cross site is included in the list. Why does Bord na gCon propose to dispose of the site at...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: Bohemians and Shelbourne Football Clubs are located approximately one mile from each other.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: The football clubs to which I refer are operational commercial entities.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: The profile of those who attend both tracks is different. Shelbourne Park is a more up-market venue, whereas Harold's Cross is the ordinary working man's track. Ordinary people are the mainstay of greyhound racing.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: When Croke Park was redeveloped, the GAA did not dispose of Parnell Park.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: Do I take it that neither Shelbourne Park nor the track at Harold's Cross is a loss-making venture but that the racetrack in Limerick is incurring losses?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: Therefore, both operations are successful.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: I do not wish to pursue this matter to any great degree, but is it not the case that too many race meetings are being held, that less prize money is on offer as a result and that the average number attending meetings is 392, which is an extremely small level of attendance?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: It is not necessarily true that if a racetrack remains closed on a particular night, it is not interfering with business elsewhere. It is not good to have too many race meetings.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: How can an organisation operate without a chief financial officer? When, how and why did this happen? Did the new board ask these questions?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: Is it not a serious defect, in terms of the debts incurred, that nobody was in charge of finances?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: We are moving forward, but we must look back because that is what the auditor's report compels us to do. It seems decisions were made on the purchase of the original site, the Meelick site, when it should have been obvious to anyone that it was not satisfactory. As a result, it was purchased for €1.75 million, of which €1.6 million has been written off. What was the...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: It was not a good decision; it was an atrocious one. Any right-thinking person would not decide to buy a site where problems relating to access had been identified prior to purchase. The site was bought and, of course, the issue of lack of access prevented development. If the problem was identified in advance and if it was obvious that there was no access, is it not perverse that a...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: I welcome everybody here, both from Bord na gCon and the Department. Tomorrow, I will be going to Harold's Cross for races sponsored by the local football club, St. Finbar's in Cabra. I am sponsoring the politicians' race and I hope there is no conflict of interest between my asking the witnesses a few questions and turning up at one of their racetracks.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 86 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Bord na gCon (27 Nov 2014)

Joe Costello: No, I am afraid I have never indulged in training a greyhound. Harold's Cross and Shelbourne Park are very much part of the Dublin landscape and it is a very serious matter. I have carefully examined the briefing the IGB provided, the Comptroller and Auditor General's statement, which was a very strong and robust analysis of what has happened over recent years, the current situation and how...