Results 14,441-14,460 of 34,663 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: Given that it is the agency's line of business to deal with PPPs and that there is a report out there, would the witnesses not have read it, even if they were not obliged to? Would they not have an interest in the topic? I find it extraordinary that there is a report available and that nobody has chosen to be even interested in reading it?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: I am a bit exasperated at the way in which this meeting is going. Everybody is in favour of publishing them but they have not been published. The Department of Justice and Equality published one and nobody has looked at it. I would have thought the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the NDFA would have gobbled it up and learned lessons from it. Nobody has even taken the time...

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: It was a partial review.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: It was a limited review but lessons could still be learned regarding the process for future PPPs.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: We have not any post-project review.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: We have to take the witness's word for that because we have not seen the reports.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: Is there a timescale for the publication?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: We must wait and see. I have eaten into Deputy Burke's time again.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: I will take up the Deputy's suggestion and suspend the meeting now. The committee will go into private session. We would have thought that we would have some information on the review. None is available. What we can do is seriously limited until we get some of these reports. Perhaps there is a limited value in carrying on.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: That is fine.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: We have the questions, whether the witness are able to supply the answers. I ask members to remain for a few minutes while we go into private session.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: I thank the witnesses for coming back. The committee met briefly in private session to discuss the progress of the meeting. The committee is disappointed that none of the post-project reviews has been published. It would have been of tremendous assistance to the public, the national Parliament and the Committee of Public Accounts to have a meaningful discussion in respect of value for...

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: Okay. We will continue with the meeting but, as we have said, we will not be in a position to conclude.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: As Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, I want to say that billions of euro of taxpayers' money has been invested in PPPs. The public is entitled to know if it is getting value for money.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: And we agree with that. We have not got to that point yet. Previously, contractual agreements and confidentiality were in question. We are now slowly edging to a position where we might see some of these reports published, but it is the mission of the Committee of Public Accounts to see that these are published in due course.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: As I have said, we are moving in the right direction in respect of publication but we are not there yet. I think Mr. Watt would accept that the reports are not out. As I said, we will not be able to complete our consideration of the PPP chapter in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General until we see some of these reports published. They will help us conclude. I do not think...

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: We will come back to that later. I take Mr. Watt's point. I call on Deputy Cullinane.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: I want to come in on one point. Is the public spending code finalised? Is it currently under review?

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: These gentlemen indicated that they are waiting for the public spending code to be finalised.

Public Accounts Committee: 2016 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 4 - Overview of Public Private Partnerships (22 Mar 2018)

Seán Fleming: I will quote something that Mr. Watt wrote last September, seven months ago, which he referred to a minute ago. It is paragraph 4.46 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. He stated "no post project reviews have been published." He made a recommendation and the response from Mr. Watt was "Part agreed." It could have been last August but was probably last September at the latest....