Results 16,461-16,480 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: I wish to say one thing about this report. Obviously, the progress of the work depends on the material provided and the format of that material. This may be pertinent not only to this inquiry but to other inquiries in future. Page five of the statement refers to where NAMA has believed it has been unable to access and verify the completeness of relevant documentation. This could be...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: I do not know what we can do.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: People should have their information protected. Data protection is in place for good reason. However, when it works against the common good or has the potential to work against the common good we need to consider it. If a process is not a public inquiry but rather a commission of investigation, we should question whether something needs to be looked at. There is a delay and potentially a...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: People have serious concerns about the costs of tribunals and inquiries, understandably. Anything that adds to those costs is of some concern to us.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: The letter states that the original tender process for the Grangegorman PPP project was completed at a time of historically low construction costs. It also references building inflation, particularly in the Dublin region. As I understand if there was a tender process, a price was agreed. Where does inflation come into an agreed price to the extent that has happened in this instance? I can...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: There is a different issue then that we potentially need to examine, namely, delays in the courts which have the potential to increase costs, which questions the robustness of the process to begin with. We have come across a few situations where the process around PPP projects was flawed. This may not be the case in this instance but we need to learn some lessons from this because it can...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: It might be worth looking at the judgment.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: It is interesting that the State is fully vindicated and it cost €45 million.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: That is €45 million in construction costs and there will probably be additional legal costs.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: The letter references delayed receipt of sale proceeds of existing DIT buildings at Kevin Street, Cathal Brugha Street, Rathmines and Sackville Place. There are other DIT buildings that I presume are to be sold as well. The buildings at Mountjoy Square and Aungier Street come to mind. Are all DIT buildings being closed and sold?
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: It sounds like summer reading.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: The Chairman is correct about the 24 hour turnaround. It is a minor miracle, especially considering how stretched this organisation is. We wrote to the Department of Finance about the resourcing issue but we have not had a reply.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: I wish to agree with the Chairman on stakeholders. There is a certain mindset about stakeholders but whistleblowers are stakeholders. Sometimes they are the real stakeholders in that they are looking after the public interest.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: I wish to make one quick point. I have seen this over the years with different things. I note that that process was in August 2017. We are all human beings as well. It is a recess month. It is when people are likely to take holidays and maybe the scrutiny would not be there. I see controversial planning applications being submitted on the August bank holiday weekend and other stuff tied...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: Generally, we need to look at the subsidies and the value for money. Some of it may come up in the context of this morning's discussion on green bonds. We all know we need to change over and there are costs in terms of potential fines for polluting where carbon is emitted. At the same time we need to ensure we get value for money for the clean energy that will replace it. I am not sure...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: I want to make it very clear that I fully appreciate the need to swap over to clean energy; my only interest here is the finances involved.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: My concern was whether we got value for money in respect of the use of the public services card. I refer to the final page of the correspondence, on which it is stated, "Not all of these ... are now valid and for that reason we now propose to extend the NDLS Front Office contract for a further year up to February 2020. The €7 million annual cost reflects the approximate ... cost of...
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: The issue relates to the use of the public services card or the requirement for a public services card-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: Yes. Essentially, €2 million was spent and now the RSA has reverted to a previous system because I do not think it had the power to use the public services card. Whether the €2 million was wasted is a matter at which, I believe, we like to look.
- Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (12 Jul 2018)
Catherine Murphy: Yes.