Results 13,401-13,420 of 21,204 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: It is a huge write-off and I suggest that, given its scale, it merits a dedicated examination to ascertain why that is the case. I am troubled by this.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not questioning the process; Mr. Pollock has made that absolutely clear. However, in terms of PM Group, the legal teams, health policy designers, people in charge of the business case and so forth, these were essentially consultancy contracts. Is that the case?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. Pollock will be aware of the legitimate public anxiety about expenditure on consultants. We need to return to this issue because I am taken aback by the scale of the impairment. We will move on to the here and now. I have a couple of questions on the report the board forwarded to the committee and the current status of the project. The report states that following approval of the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I welcome the witnesses. I see from Mr. Pollock's curriculum vitae that he received a first class honours degree from Cork. Congratulations on that achievement.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I have looked at the synopses of the very impressive careers of the witnesses. As members of the board, how much of their time is taken up on this project? Are they full-time?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: What about Mr. Costello?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I appreciate that. Without going through each of the individuals, am I correct that, notwithstanding their commitment to the project, some are still working in their chosen lines of expertise?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: They would not be retirees.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I appreciate that clarification. The lion's share of the €40 million is business services team costs at €24.5 million. That obviously runs from 2007 to 2012. Can one of the witnesses explain what business services team costs means?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
2012 Accounts of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: That is very helpful. Mr. Pollock identified four clusters. How does the €24.5 million break down across those four?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Deputy Ross is correct in asking us to seek exactly the decision-making process and what happened with those moneys. The matter has given rise to public comment. On the issue of Positive Action, I am sure it no longer exists. I would like us to be conscious that it was an advocacy and service group that represented people who were poisoned by the State and suffered as a result of direct...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (23 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I agree with Deputy Deasy that this is a reasonable question and does have to be clarified. I am curious to know who requested the legal services to send the letter. The Chairman has indicated, as has the clerk, that the opinion was not sought by either of them. It stretches belief that this happened on the basis of a comment. With all the commentary on Irish Water, meters, who can pay...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services Waiting Lists (21 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 362. To ask the Minister for Health the number of children on the waiting list for dental procedures at the children’s dental clinic at St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8; the average length of time child patients are waiting for various procedures provided by the clinic. [39754/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services Provision (21 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 363. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department or the Health Service Executive have plans to close on a permanent or temporary basis the children’s dental clinic at St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8; and if so, the alternative arrangements his Department or the HSE will put in place to ensure that no child is left waiting for essential dental treatment. [39755/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services Provision (21 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 364. To ask the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22, will be provided with another appointment for urgent dental treatment following the cancellation by the Health Service Executive of an appointment that was scheduled for 14 August 2014 at the children’s dental clinic, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8. [39756/14]

Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Who is to know? The Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris, mentioned the Grangegorman project, which is, in many ways, the flagship project of this Administration and located in the heart of my constituency in Dublin's inner city. It is a large-scale project and there has been much disquiet locally among unemployed people, those hoping to complete apprenticeships and small local...

Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am aware that the committee is due to deal with these matters on Tuesday, which is to be welcomed. The Committee of Public Accounts has paid attention to them also and I have done considerable work on them in recent years, with other colleagues. I acknowledge and welcome the work of the committee.

Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am not arguing that everything is signed, sealed and delivered in the North, but the former Northern Ireland Minister for Regional Development, Mr. Conor Murphy, MP, successfully unbundled contracts and introduced social clauses. I do not mean to bleat about the excellence of Sinn Féin, I only offer an example to show that there is experience in the North on a range of procurement...

Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill 2013: Referral to Select Committee (17 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform pursuant to Standing Orders 82A(3)(a) and (6)(a) and 118 of the Standing Orders relative to Public Business.

Social Clauses in Public Procurement Bill 2013: Second Stage [Private Members] (17 Oct 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I also thank each of my colleagues present for engaging in this debate and with this Bill in such a spirited way, albeit for one moment in a slight rancorous way. There is a commonsense logic to all of this. The fact that we are all supportive of the concept of social clauses reflects that fact. It simply makes good sense that for every...