Results 17,961-17,980 of 26,408 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: The witness is waiting for the complete audit report before any action is taken, if any action is to be taken at all. Is that what the witness is saying?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Mr. Waters is the Secretary General of the Department.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: One of his predecessors was the Accounting Officer at that time. I am not asking Mr. Waters to account for that person. There is a strong possibility it was wrong and there is certainly an allegation it was wrong. These accounts would have been signed off on from 2000 to 2003 by the Department. References were made by a Mr. John Barrett, who is the executive director of human resources,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: I will read, if I may, from the dossier we received from Mr. John Barrett. It is from a letter sent to Mr. Niall Kelly, who is head of internal audit, dated 12 October 2016. It states:I am particularly concerned about how this matter was deliberately and systematically kept outside the purview of the statutory audit committee? How it came to pass that reports specifically prepared on the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: That is the question I put to the witness. Of course we need to establish that. We will do our work and internal audit will do its work. With respect, it has its job to do in An Garda Síochána. I am asking what the Department will do, as we need to get to the bottom of this. Is Mr. Waters not concerned there was an incomplete internal audit report from 2016 which could have...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Are the witnesses aware of the time period being examined by the incomplete report?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: If I was in the witness's position I would not presume anything and I would want to be clear. Have they sought clarity from the internal audit of An Garda Síochána about the period being examined in the incomplete audit from 2006?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: With respect, I know about the 2008 report, as well as the 2010 and 2015 reports. I am specifically asking about the 2006 report. We need to establish that if all the agencies were doing their job, we might have been able to get to the bottom of all this much more quickly. It took until 2016 and it was 2015 before the Department became aware of all this. There was a flag that would...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: If the Comptroller and Auditor General says that, would the Department also indicate it should have been informed in 2006?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Was it informed?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: When it became aware of the 2006 report, it would have been more appropriate for the Department to establish the period being examined by the 2006 report. Why was that not established? Why has the Department not asked internal audit for a breakdown on that? What was the Department doing and what was the look-back exercise seeking to achieve? What years was it covering? The witnesses read...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Why has it not been done?

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: What work has the Department done to make sure of that? I ask Mr. Waters to illuminate us on what work the Department has done.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Okay. I have one final question on this issue and then I want to move on-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: I will come back in on the second round to ask some questions on direct provision but I have one final question for Mr. Waters on this issue. It is very important for us to get a sense of where people who have responsible positions in the public service sit on all these issues. While the Department is no longer the Accounting Officer, obviously there is still a relationship between it and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: I am not going to accept that as Mr. Waters' final point because I did not suggest that the Department was a back seat driver at all-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: I am very clear about this. I established, at the beginning of my questioning, the relationship between the Department and An Garda Síochána. We established that prior to 2005 the chief Accounting Officer for the spending of money by An Garda Síochána, including by the Garda training college, was Mr. Water's predecessor. That is the issue and my questions were framed in...

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: I ask the Chair to put my name down for a second round of questions.

Public Accounts Committee: 2015 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriations Account (Resumed)
Vote 24 - Justice and Equality (Resumed)
Chapter 6 - Procurement and Management of Contracts for Direct Provision (Resumed) (11 May 2017)

David Cullinane: Two more speakers indicated that they want to come back in and we have 15 to 20 minutes for both. People have been in their seats for there hours and I will offer them the choice of a break for a few minutes or we can keep going.