Results 15,221-15,240 of 21,499 for speaker:Mary Lou McDonald

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: 118. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide in tabular form a list of all professional fees, including but not limited to legal, consultancy, IT-related, advisory, capital, advertising and accountancy fees; the company name and the amount invoiced between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2013, and the same for all agencies under the aegis of his Department....

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: While the documentation is comprehensive, it contains a table that is misleading. What about customer engagement? It states there is €4 million for brand development and customer engagement.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I will come back to that. I accept the Minister and the Secretary General are busy and their sole focus is not Irish Water. However, this is no ordinary development. This is about the establishment of a brand new public utility. For householders across this State, this will mean another tax and bill. It is very politically sensitive. Accordingly, and given its novelty, it would merit...

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Ms Maria Graham helpfully told us earlier the Department had gone to the trouble of querying the organisation as regards flexibility in consultant contracts and establishing a ceiling on payments. The Department claims it went to a very detailed level of scrutiny on the issue of the use of external consultants in Irish Water. Is it the case that in March 2013, the Department had the figure...

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I understand that.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Why?

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I am sure Ms Graham can appreciate my scepticism. With the greatest respect to both ladies, Ms Graham and Ms Tallon, I am highly sceptical about the scenario they have painted of how €50 million was spent on consultants, unless they regard it as micro-management. That is the position the Minister has taken. I believe it stretches all credibility to suggest the Minister had all this...

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I do not believe I am. This meeting is about parliamentary oversight of the spending of public moneys, good governance and democratic accountability. This goes to the very heart of the issue as far as the committee is concerned. Is it correct Irish Water and BGE require ministerial clearance in respect of capital investment?

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Mr. John Tierney has claimed the consultancy works are not just reports that will gather dust on a shelf but are the building blocks of the utility, therefore representing assets and capital investment. Is it not the case that in making that investment and acquiring these assets, ministerial consent would have been required, should have been sought and would have been granted?

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Bord Gáis equally requires that clearance.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: So consent ought to have been requested from the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte?

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Does that refer to the consultancy costs alone?

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Were Ms Graham or Ms Tallon surprised when they heard the Minister, Deputy Hogan, say he knew nothing about this €50 million? If I were in their shoes, I would have been rather taken aback by that.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Can I say, by way of conclusion, Ms Tallon is a lot more understanding than the average taxpayer and citizen watching this debacle might be.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I need you to speak to me in English and tell me exactly what that means.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Of course.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Can Ms Graham help me here? We need to step our way through it. I sense a little evasiveness here and I do not want that to happen because we need to be clear. Can I surmise that, by March 2013, the report on the lots and their value was received? I presume it listed the successful tenderers and so on. In March 2013, the Department knew that €50 million was the cost - the quantum...

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: No offence, but is that not very sloppy? Ms Graham has clarified one point for me. By March 2013 - last March - we knew we were looking at €50 million, albeit a ceiling, in respect of outside consultancy. The Department went to the trouble of communicating with the organisation to get clarification vis-à-visflexibilities and so on. Ms Graham understands that this is a ceiling...

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: Of course.

Public Accounts Committee: Oversight of Irish Water: Discussion (15 Jan 2014)

Mary Lou McDonald: I thank Ms Graham for that. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Members of the Oireachtas are asking questions, naturally enough, because that is their job. A number of these questions were asked of the Minister and found their way to Ms Tallon’s Department. The answers that come back are in the category of non-answers. The Department knows the Oireachtas has an appetite for establishing...