Results 14,381-14,400 of 19,032 for speaker:Ruairi Quinn
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, line 10, to delete "fund manager" and substitute "Minister". This refers to some of the concerns expressed by Deputy Perry, although I did not anticipate them. This concerns transparency and accountability. The Minister of State has informed me there were protracted negotiations between the Department and the US-Ireland Alliance. The effect of my...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I do not mean to make an issue about this. Our interests are shared on this matter. I can see the practicalities if all of these operations are on the other side of the Atlantic. One would not necessarily expect the Minister or the Department to have the expertise. I suggest this after the financial turbulence we have had and the difficulties we have had with very reputable firms. This...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I move amendment No. 2: In page 4, line 30, to delete "or Northern Ireland". I must take responsibility for having misread this provision. We thought that it should not be for us to decide what will happen to Northern Irish public moneys. I appreciate, from a proper reading of the section, that this measure is to protect the separation of the two accounts. Therefore, on that basis, my...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I wish to follow up on the question posed by Deputy Hayes. I assume that the commitment of â¬20 million is over a period of five years and it would be â¬4 million per year.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: The commitment is to spend â¬20 million over a period of five years but it is not to spend â¬4 million per annum and the matching funds. In other words, if the funds raised on the private sector side fall short of the target, would that pull the gross amount down for that year? Is the commitment to have 12 scholars per year ring-fenced and secure irrespective of the flow of cash in any...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: If the alliance commits to a programme of 12 scholars and the funding is in place on our side, and it is subject to matching funds being raised on the private sector side, if for whatever reason in this difficult fund-raising climate the alliance cannot raise as much money as the target for, say, 2012, is the commitment in expenditure limited ultimately to how much the alliance side can raise?
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: If it raises only â¬1.5 instead of â¬4million, could we spend only â¬3 million as distinct from â¬8 million? That is the essential question I am asking.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: It was spending money that it had raised in previous years.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I might put the question another way. The Minister of State said that the original â¬2 million was given by the State and that for a period of time money was not coming from our side. Is that correct?
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: Can the alliance retrospectively get credit for money that it raised in the past towards matching funds in the future?
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: "(3) The Comptroller and Auditor General may, without prejudice to the arrangements for auditing of accounts under this Act, carry out an audit of the accounts of the Fund.".". I briefly discussed this amendment informally with the Minister for Education and Science. It is a belt and braces proposal. The...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: They do not do that on Marlborough Street.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I suspect if the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was drafting this legislation instead of the Department of Education and Science the culture of transparency and modern standards of accountability which permeates the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment would be different to the culture in the Minister of State's Department. It was used to administering education in...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Committee Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: It is a clash of administrative culture, with one emanating from the Anglo-Saxon world of accountability and the other emanating from Rome, where accountability is rather opaque. We have seen some evidence of that in the past few days. The Minister of State said the accounts will be laid before the House. Deputy Brian Hayes and I might consider asking the chairperson of the committee, if he...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I wish to share time with Deputy Morgan.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: Like previous speakers, I welcome the Bill which is a positive and constructive step. I accept that it has taken somewhat longer to appear than many on both sides of the negotiations might perhaps have desired. However, a difficult labour is no blot on the arrival of a new child and we welcome the legislation nevertheless. The Bill before us builds on the work done by a departing generation...
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: Deputy Crawford would not go to Limerick and feel safe.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: They cannot even make it to the Joint Committee on Education and Science.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: If the Government was put in control, it would only lose more.
- George Mitchell Scholarship Fund (Amendment) Bill 2010: Second Stage (18 Feb 2010)
Ruairi Quinn: I have tabled three amendments on Committee Stage but I am withdrawing one. If the House agrees, I propose that Second Stage be extended to 3.10 p.m. to facilitate the Minister of State's reply.