Results 1,581-1,600 of 5,388 for speaker:John Deasy

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 33 - Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Chapter 9 - Accounting for National Gallery of Ireland Expenditure
Financial Statements of the National Library 2012 and 2013 (29 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I have a question about airstrips. I have a conflict of interest because my wife comes from Inishmore. The annual subsidy for Aer Arann Oileáin is €1.8 million and there have been issues with this funding for the past few years. The service has been provided for 42 years. Mr. Hamill mentioned a figure of €300,000 or €400,000 for maintenance, for maintaining the...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 33 - Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Chapter 9 - Accounting for National Gallery of Ireland Expenditure
Financial Statements of the National Library 2012 and 2013 (29 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: Mr. Hamill's initial comments were about the Irish Coast Guard and the possible disposal of these assets. Approximately 1,100 people live on the three islands and 40 jobs are at stake. The service is critical. I suggest Mr. Hamill consider bolstering it by receipts that can be gained from the sale of assets to ensure it will continue. Jurisdictionally, it involves not only his Department...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 33 - Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Chapter 9 - Accounting for National Gallery of Ireland Expenditure
Financial Statements of the National Library 2012 and 2013 (29 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I take Mr. Hamill's earlier point, that there were tens of millions of euro going into this area ten years ago and now it is down to €600,000. I face the same situation in Waterford with the regional airport. I understand where Mr. Hamill is coming from. However, if the Department offloads assets and additional revenue is gained from that, it needs to be put into the critical...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (29 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: St. Angela's College in Sligo has been in contact with the committee arising from last week's meeting where it was referred to as a school in which the Department of Education and Skills had concerns. The college is of the view that there are no issues and it wants this stated on the record.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I thank the Chairman.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I wish to ask the clerk whether he knows off the top of his head how many times the Department of Social Protection and the HSE come before the committee per year. Is it normally once or twice?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: That is my point. The Department of Social Protection spends approximately €20 billion. The amount has been reduced slightly in recent years. The Department of Health spend is probably approximately €13 billion. We must deal with every agency, and in some cases we deal with them once every two or three years. Some of the agencies do not see the inside of this room during...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: Will the clerk respond to my question?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: Ultimately the question is for the Comptroller and Auditor General. Given its budget of €21 billion can he really deal with the Department of Social Protection in one meeting per year considering the complexity and variety of issues? I know what I deal with in my constituency offices. The problems people experience usually take up half a day because they are complex. Policy issues...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I welcome everyone to today's meeting. I am beginning to think we might have an oversight problem in the area of education generally.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: Obviously, the oversight or lack of oversight by the Higher Education Authority is the issue we are discussing here. The other members of the committee have dealt with that. I do not want to stick with that. I am going to get into the merger between the institutes of technology in Waterford and Carlow. The historic governance issues within Waterford Institute of Technology, which have...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: Are you characterising this as a forced merger?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: What I said was it is a failed process to date and it is. Whatever happens in the future, that is what I am interested in. There is a process in bits. Let us be clear about the situation now.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: So you were under no illusions with regard to negotiations or discussions between the two entities that there was a problem. Who was assuring you that there were no issues?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: This involved public money. Can you give us an idea what those issues were? Let us get down to the nitty-gritty.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I am getting a different story. The difficulty is that those assurances or opinions given to you by those individuals were wrong. I am afraid the HEA accepted those assurances or opinions and it was incorrect to do so. Perhaps the Secretary General could give the Department’s-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: There is too much form here in respect of governance not to take a really forensic view of this merger. If I was in your position I would have kept a very close eye on everything that was occurring when it came to that merger between Waterford and Carlow. I do not think the HEA gave it the kind of oversight that was necessary. I want to hear from the Secretary General.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: I have to correct you. Waterford has made it clear that it is not going to engage with regard to any other entity or Carlow and that it would prefer to go it alone.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements of the Higher Education Authority 2013
General Report No. 85 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: Accountability and Governance on the National College of Art and Design (22 Jan 2015)

John Deasy: That was two weeks before the announcement.