Results 14,061-14,080 of 36,274 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I would like to return to some of the questions asked earlier. The Secretary General at the Department of Health and the Minister for Health were made aware in late August that there was a €191 million overrun and a potential additional €200 overrun. As Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, does Mr. Watt believe that that information should have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Mr. Watt might be getting the numbers mixed up. The figure of €191 million had crystallised at that point in time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It was another €200 million. I will outline the point in case Mr. Watt did not understand. At the time the Minister for Health and the Secretary General of the Department were aware that there was a crystallisation of the figure of €191 million and potentially something above it, but that information was not relayed to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The other number did not. The figure of €191 million stayed the same. Should that information have been relayed to the Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: The problem is that whatever has happened with the national children's hospital has happened. If possible, we must find a way to drive down costs, while delivering the project in a timely manner. Mr. Watt is the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I want to have confidence that he believes that in the course of developing a budget for 2019, if a Secretary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Does Mr. Watt think it was appropriate for that Department not to tell him at that point in time of the-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Actually, this is the first time Mr. Watt has been before the committee to discuss this issue-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I am not on the other committee and do not know if it asked him this question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Did Mr. Watt give it an answer?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It appears from the opening statement that this has nothing to do with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, even though-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I am just laying out the case. The sanctioning body was the Government and the appropriate Department was the Department of Health. We see from the minutes that have been released that the Department of Health was seeking to meet officials of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform for a number of weeks to discuss the issue, but that meeting did not take place. It took place at a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It brought it to the Department's attention three months later, after the budget had been passed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Mr. Watt thinks it is completely appropriate. Let me be plain. If the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is telling this committee that it is okay for a Department to be aware of an overrun of hundreds of millions of euro-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: No, an overrun of €191 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It is an overrun that was crystallised and would materialise if the project continued and the Government approved it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: National Children's Hospital: Discussion with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: It did not inform the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, which was preparing Estimates to be brought before the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Further Revised) (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Cuirim fáilte riomh an Aire Stáit. The burning issue when dealing with the Estimates is that the OPW is currently reviewing the most appropriate means of achieving its required capital rescheduling of €3 million in the flood risk management area. The big question for many of the community groups the Minister of State has worked with on the alleviation of flooding in their...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Further Revised) (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate the level of additional investment that has come at a time when the Minister of State has responsibility for the area. We both agree that every euro - possibly more - is needed to deal with communities at risk of flooding. Did I understand the Minister of State to say that the Department will not take any conscious decision to delay any project and that he expects the full...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Further Revised) (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: I appreciate that. Has the OPW investigated more natural flood defences such as the slow-flow model? Is there a danger that an approach from the OPW that sees physical concrete defences as the best way of preventing flooding to communities and property is causing delays resulting in difficulty for homeowners and businesses in being able to avail of insurance? Has the OPW examined other...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Further Revised) (7 Mar 2019)

Pearse Doherty: Given the work the Department has done on flood defences, is the Minister of State satisfied that is now being matched by insurance companies offering property and business insurance? What engagement has the Minister of State or his Department had with the industry on the matter? We repeatedly hear frustration from business owners and homeowners who cannot get insurance despite flood relief...