Results 1,521-1,540 of 8,015 for speaker:Jonathan O'Brien

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: That is-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: I appreciate that, but I have limited time. My final question relates to the external consultants employed by the OPW to negotiate the terms of the lease. Was that the case?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: Did they conclude that a rent-free period and a lease-break option could be traded for a lower rent? Was that the advice of the external consultants?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: The difficulty I have is that we are also being told there was no economic appraisal carried out.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: How did the OPW know at that time, therefore, or did those involved just take the word of the external consultants? Was documentation provided by the consultants? Did they outline what could happen if the OPW required a rent-free period? Did they provide information on the other options? Was an economic appraisal done and presented to the OPW?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: Would the Committee of Public Accounts be allowed to have a copy of those reports?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: Perhaps I am getting the consultants mixed up but if I am sure Mr. Buckley will be quick to correct me. Are they the same consultants the OPW employed on a previous project and then it was decided to give them this project as well? I think they were doing work on the Hawkins House project.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: Is it correct that they were not initially employed to look at the Miesian Plaza project? Is it not correct that they were looking at Hawkins House? Is it also not correct that the OPW then decided to extend it and give them the additional space and it did not look for any expertise but just decided to go with this particular consultant?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: Would the OPW do that differently now given the figure of €325 million over five years which is under discussion here?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: On the procurement issues, can the Comptroller and Auditor General confirm whether it is okay in terms of procurement rules to hire an external consultant for one job and then tack on an additional one?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: I thank the Chair. I will come back in on the second round.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: The payments started in December.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: It crept or slipped in.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works
Chapter 6: Lease of Offices at Miesian Plaza (11 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: How do we know that?

Financial Resolutions 2019 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (10 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: I will be brief. I want to touch on three particular topics. One is the rainy day fund. The Minister might be able to enlighten us on how we are actually going to access those funds. We know that under the fiscal rules we are unable to do so. We know that because we got the information from a freedom of information request to the Department of Finance. That outlines the circumstances in...

Financial Resolution No. 3: Value-Added Tax (9 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: I will be brief in order that as many Members as possible will be able to speak. This measure goes too far. No doubt, as has been said, the hotel sector in Dublin is booming. One of the difficulties, however, is that one cannot have a regional VAT rate outside Dublin. Therefore, we must look at it in the round. The difficulty my party has is that the measure is being extended across...

Financial Resolution No. 2: Capital Gains Tax (9 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: It is a bit disingenuous of the Minister to say we have to do it tonight before-----

Financial Resolution No. 2: Capital Gains Tax (9 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: I will shout if the Ceann Comhairle wants me to.

Financial Resolution No. 2: Capital Gains Tax (9 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: It is a bit disingenuous of the Minister to say the reason we have to do this tonight is because companies may reorganise their tax affairs. Companies know this is happening. They know a directive has been set down and that all EU member states must introduce an exit tax. They all know it has to be done by 1 January 2020. It is not coming as a huge surprise to companies. There is no...

Financial Resolution No. 2: Capital Gains Tax (9 Oct 2018)

Jonathan O'Brien: It needs to be put on the record that we are in favour of this particular measure but we cannot support it being rushed through tonight with a rate being set at 12.5%. It would not be responsible on our behalf and it is very irresponsible on the Minister's behalf. He needs to reflect on this.