Results 18,101-18,120 of 26,579 for speaker:John McGuinness

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: There were recent newspaper articles on portraits organised by CIT. Did the Department investigate the matter?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: What was the explanation?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Was it good value for money?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Was there travel involved in the work?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Can we find out for completeness?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Quite a lot of information on CIT was sent to me as Chairman of the committee which I will make available to members and the Department. It is too detailed to go through here and in any event, it would be unfair to ask questions, given that the Department is not aware of it. I will have it passed on and the Department might provide a general comment in response.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: I want to ask about the school transport scheme, about which I have asked before and many articles have been written. While I do not expect the Department to comment on any of the legal aspects of the scheme, it is worrying to see so much being written about it. I am anxious to know from a public accounts point of view whether the Department has the necessary oversight of the millions the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: The procurement.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: No; I am asking about the Department's oversight of the lump of money that goes into Bus Éireann.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Yes. I am referring to what we have been reading in the newspapers. It is about Bus Éireann procuring individuals or companies to provide transport.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: How much was claimed in expenses in either one of these organisations? Can Mr. Ó Foghlú demand that information from the organisation?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Can Mr. Ó Foghlú give me that information? Can he state who was on the boards over the years? What are the names that were common to both? Can he outline the payments and expenses arrangements?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: My second question, which again concerns County Cork VEC, concerns the number of human resources cases over the years. How many of the VEC's staff have taken cases against it, for one reason or another, in respect of their employment? How much did it cost? How many settlements were made out of court and how many were made through the courts? Is there an ongoing issue regarding staff...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Across the report-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Would that report cover legal fees, etc.?

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: I have a general question relative to that. I would have believed, given that there is a special section in the Department overseeing the VECs and institutes, that an audit committee, board or oversight committee would be reporting odd things to the Department. Is that not the case? Do the officials not regard it as part of their duty and good governance to report something that arises...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: Would Mr. Ó Foghlú have had many negative findings from the reports or audits reported to him over the years that would have raised alarm bells as to how the whole sector was being managed and staffed? Deputy O'Donnell raised the issue of one particular VEC and the letter that the Department was discussing with him. However, other issues arose — in regard to Wexford VEC,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: I refer to the big decisions, the ones that are a source of contention, be they associated with legal fees, accountancy fees or other big issues concerning the human resources problem. These are the types of issues I would have believed would have been made known to the Department so action could be taken. I ask these questions because of the volume of letters on the various issues...

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: There are major issues in that regard that have to be dealt with. I will not go into them because we have to wait to see what the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report will tell us about some of them.

Public Accounts Committee: 2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education and Skills
Chapter 4 - Vote Accounting
Chapter 12 - Contract Management in Education PPP Projects
Financial Accounts 2012 (15 May 2014)

John McGuinness: How are the institutes of technology managed in the context of oversight?