Results 13,681-13,700 of 26,610 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: Were there any concerns about the facts in the report, by which I mean the content?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: I accept that. We will deal with the issue of powers because the matter is now with the Attorney General and we will get advice, not only on the Waterford report, but the powers of the HEA to do these types of reports.

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: If I was legal looking at it this, there is the issue of whether the HEA has the powers to do this. There is also what is in the report, its content and the facts that were established. Were there concerns about the facts that were established? Was it more-----

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: This is very important for me. We have established facts that are in a draft report and a modified report, which we cannot see and may never see. The facts are there so the issues do not go away. We will deal with whether the HEA has these powers but the issues still remain. I want to paint the scenario and maybe Mr. Beausang can help me with this matter as well. The Attorney General...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: That is the same thing. At some point, the Department is going to have to make a judgment call. Actually, it will not be the Department. Will the HEA make the final call?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: I ask Mr. Beausang to stop for a moment because I am going run out of time and I have a number of other points to make. The HEA will make that call at some point. The call will be that it cannot publish the report, based on the legal advice and the advice of the Attorney General. Dr. Love said that, in principle, he wants to publish the report but that it may be out of his hands; it may...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: If it is the case that the report is dead in the water - let us hope it is not - then the Department and the HEA will have to come back. In light of that advice, we will then discuss what is next. My point is that the matter cannot be let go; it cannot end there. It is not going to end with a conclusion that the report cannot be published, that we must forget about the 50 people who...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: That is what I wanted to flesh out in a bit more detail. It may not be the current modified report. Come what may, there has to be some process that does exactly what Mr. McLoone did, but within whatever remit and powers-----

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: -----are appropriate. The established facts are never going to change. The facts are the facts and they have to be made public at some point, because that is what public accountability involves. That is my point. I have very real concerns about the way I, as a member of this committee, was treated. I want to put them those concerns to Mr. Ó Foghlú and Dr. Love. Mr. Ó...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: Would Mr. Ó Foghlú see that as an appropriate response from the accountable person?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: Here is my concern. We have a HEA examination into an institute. The accountable person - the head of the relevant organisation - went to local media in the constituency of a Deputy who is member of the Committee of Public Accounts and called into question the motivations of that member in asking questions. This person said that the member, referring to me, was trying to deconstruct 20...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: Sorry?

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: I am not asking Mr. Ó Foghlú. I do not need his-----

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: I will stop Mr. Ó Foghlú there. That was a flippant response.

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: Mr. Ó Foghlú may bear with me for one second. I will be very straight with him, as the Accounting Officer for the Department. If the head of an institute comes before the Committee of Public Accounts, is asked questions and then raises questions outside the committee about the motivation of the member who asked the questions in the first instance and if all of the questions asked...

Public Accounts Committee: HEA Financial Statements 2017 (18 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: That is an acceptable response. We will have the Accounting Officer before the committee again at some stage and we will address those issues. If I can just make a final observation to the Chair, this issue has given rise a larger one, namely, the remit of the HEA in the context of conducting reviews. That is actually quite serious for our work. It could call into question previous...

Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Statements (11 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: It must be said that this is quite unprecedented. Many Members came into the House with questions they wished to put to the former Minister, Deputy Naughten, not only on meetings he had but more broadly on the broadband scheme. Deputy Naughten made a quite incredible statement. He was very angry and upset, did not take any questions, resigned as a Government Minister and left. He said he...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: I agree with the previous speakers. I will be as brief as I can. Questions were asked of the Department and Bord na gCon when they were last before us. Casting my memory back to the exchanges, it was not a good showing from the board and its CEO. Their performance left much to be desired. The overall question related to whether a bailout had been given by a Department to an organisation...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: What does that mean? Expand on that.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (11 Oct 2018)

David Cullinane: Is Mr. McCarthy saying that that in itself was not a formal property valuation in the normal context?